וְ×Ö´× ×”×•Ö¼× ×žÖ·×—Ö²×–Ö´×™×§ בַּמַחְלֹקֶת עַל יְדֵי סִפּוּרוֹ עוֹבֵר עוֹד עַל לָ×ו דְּ”×œÖ¹× ×™Ö´×”Ö°×™Ö¶×” כְקֹרַח ש×Ö¶×”×•Ö¼× ×ַזְהָרָה, ש×Ö¶×œÖ¼Ö¹× ×œÖ°×”Ö·×—Ö²×–Ö´×™×§ בְּמַחְלֹקֶת ×›.
And if he gives strength to a dispute through his own speech, he has also transgressed the prohibition of “You shall not be like Korach and his followersâ€, this (commandment) is a warning to not strengthen a dispute. (Sefer Chofetz Chaim Chekek Alef, pesicha, Lav Yud Beis).
The Chofetz Chaim, on this lav, references the gemara in Sanhedrin (110a). ×•×™×§× ×ž×©×” וילך ×ל דתן ו××‘×™×¨× ×מר ר”ל מכ×ן ש×ין מחזיקין במחלוקת ד×מר רב כל המחזיק במחלוקת עובר בל×ו ×©× ×מר ×•×œ× ×™×”×™×” כקרח וכעדתו And Moshe got up and he went to Dasan and Aviram, Reish Lakish says from here (we learn) not to strengthen a dispute, as Rav says: anyone who strengthens a dispute has transgressed the prohibition of “You shall not be like Korach and his followersâ€. Rashi points out why it is that we learn this concept from the actions of Moshe: שמחל על כבודו ×•×”×•× ×¢×¦×ž×• הלך לבטל מחלוקת (Moshe) was mochel on his honor, and he himself went out to nullify the dispute.
There is a fairly common misunderstanding that the prohibition of being mechazek a machlokes is limited to those outside the actual machlokes. In other words, it’s telling us not to get involved in other people’s disputes. Yes, this is certainly prohibited, but this issur is not limited to that. The gemara is telling us that even those involved in the machlokes itself, and even those who are absolutely correct should do what they can to dampen or uproot the machlokes. We learn this from the actions of
לרפו××” שׁלמה ×—×™×” גיטל בת מלכה
Moshe who was on the side of Hashem, had been personally attacked, and was הֶחָש×וּב ש×ֶבְּיִשְׂרָ×ֵל the most important person in klal yisrael. Nonetheless, he “got up and went†to Dasan and Aviram in order to do what he could to quell the dispute.
The Midrash says that because Moshe went to the tents of Dasan and Aviram, four tzadikim were saved from Gehenom– the three sons of Korach and On ben Peles. The Chofetz Chaim in Sefer Shmiras HaLashon emphasizes the extent to which we need to go to seek peace. He explains the pusek in tehillim ×‘Ö¼Ö·×§Ö¼Ö´×©× ×©×Ö¸×œ×•Ö¹× ×•Ö°×¨Ö¸×“Ö°×¤Öµ×”×•Ö¼ Seek peace and pursue it as: Seek peace among your friends, pursue it among your enemies; Seek peace in the place where you are, pursue it in other places; Seek peace with personal efforts, pursue peace with your financial resources; Seek peace when it concerns you, pursue peace even when it only involves others; and Seek peace today, pursue peace even for tomorrow (if your efforts at peacemaking don’t bear fruit today, try again tomorrow).
THE TAKEAWAY: We have an obligation to avoid machlokes and to actively and incessantly pursue peace. Moshe, the greatest prophet to ever live, was willing to forego his honor in order to attempt to make peace.
THIS WEEK: Start building or working on the muscle of giving in. Give up on something that you feel is due to you in order to avoid or deepen a conflict.
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Shmira Bashavua will be published as a sefer containing several lessons from each parsha. For sefer sponsorship opportunities or to sponsor the weekly parsha sheet, please contact David Linn at connectwithwords365@gmail.com
