Parashat Korach - TOO STRINGENT

A rabbi says, "Listen, you should start you know becoming more modest. You should start keeping Shabbat, start learning Torah." You bring this to some local rabbi and say, "Ah, he's too stringent." They create all types of convoluted arguments and you know, 300 years ago the families of married together and of course this creates some type of connection between them and they'll create a very sophisticated argument of why this Godol's opinion should not be listened to because it's biased. This is exactly what Korach did. Up to now, it's exactly what Korach did. Why? Korach, the Gemara says, Korach was Korach was A FOOL. NO, KORACH WAS BAAL Ruach Hakodesh. Korach got to a level of having Ruach Hakodesh. Ruach Hakodesh, Rabotai, is not something you get from the street or from the deli. Ruach Hakodesh, Korach was a very bright person. Also got 250 of the biggest rabbis that were not Moshe Rabbeinu, Aharon Hakohen, Yeshua Bin Nun, Betzalel, Kalev Bin Yefuneh, and Pinchas, and Nachshon Bin Aminadav. PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY ELSE HE GOT TO JOIN HIM. KORACH WAS A VERY SMART PERSON. But Korach, in his Ruach Hakodesh, the Midrash says, Parshat Korach, Korach saw the Ruach Hakodesh that Shmuel Shmuel Hanavi will come from him. Shmuel will come from him and the Gemara says Shmuel is like Moshe and Aharon. So he figured, if Shmuel is going to come from my seed, surely my thoughts that I'm right and Moshe Rabbeinu is wrong, surely I'm right even more so. So how could it be that I'm right and Rabbeinu is wrong? Ah, because Moshe, although he did good things, he has a bias. He has an agenda because look, all of the korbanot, all the the where they going? They're going to uh his brother. His brother, they're going to Aaron the Cohen. The ma'aser goes to him. And the other ma'aser goes to the Cohen, goes to him. He constantly everything is to him, to his brother, to him, to his brother. So really Moshe only once is telling us all of these rules in the name of Hashem, not because Hashem said it, but rather because he has a vested interest. So Korach with all of his brilliance, who saw that where it's coming from, and then because of that little bit of knowledge that Hashem gave him, took it in the wrong fashion and manipulated an entire argument that therefore that means that everything he says is right. It's like somebody getting a uh good chiddush. A good chiddush, and after he gets a good chiddush that's valid, that people are complimenting him about, he thinks he's like a talmid chacham, and he can tell the rabbi and give to the scholars what to do from now on. OR BEST YET, THE GUY JUST DID TESHUVAH two years ago, and he prays when he prays when I say it's he takes 25 minutes to pray. And he sees that the community that's been going to synagogue for 30 years before he was even born, they're taking 6 7 minutes. Starts looking at them with frowning upon them. Ah, these people don't know how to pray. Ah, I should leave THIS COMMUNITY. 25 MINUTES I SPENT PRAYING. He doesn't realize that the only reason why he's praying 25 minutes because he's not comfortable with the words he's not because he has more kavana than them. I have a budget prayed also in a few minutes. So a person has to understand that sometimes just because something looks one way doesn't necessarily mean that it is. But unfortunately, even people that are chachamim like Korach made such a mistake that one good thing that they did or one good thing that gave them made them conclude that everything is kosher. And therefore, anyone that is against them, he must be not kosher. Oh, you disagree with me? You must be a criminal. You must be a heretic. You must be enemy of the state. And they literally look for enemies. Instead of looking for friends, they look for enemies. And unfortunately, this is one of the things that happens. And it's not one of those things that is a pleasant thing to deal with, but nonetheless, it's something that is a part of life. It's a part of getting closer and closer to you. You're going to see this in different communities. You're going to see this with different places, different communities. Now, of course, Korach thought that he was right, and showed him not only that he's wrong, but him and all of his followers are still inside of them. 3,333 years later, screaming, Moshe is is Torah is and we are liars. And one of the says that one of the men was shown exactly the place. Shown exactly the place by an Arab that lived by there, where once a month there's the screaming comes out of the ground. He says, "How do you know the exact timing?" He says, "Once a month, every day, same month, I've been living here for generations already. Every year, every month, same exact time, we hear this." That's your Korach. He says, "Why once a month?" He says, "Because once a month, they cook them, and the cook the cook turns in such a fashion where the ear is facing closer to the entrance, and he's screaming. That's how Korach and all of his followers have being cooked in Gehenna for 3,333 years later, which has enough coming out. There's enough coming out for this world. What's enough coming out? Why does it Why does it need us to know that Korah is screaming until this day, 3,333 years later? And you could hear him scream at a certain place in the desert. What's the What's the point of this story? The point is against all of the heretics that tell you that the maximum sentence in Gehenna is 12 months. How could it be 12 months maximum if Korah and everyone that followed him is still in Gehenna to this day? Why? They're the only ones that are there? Everybody else is more righteous than them? So, a person obviously, when he understands that the Torah is there, every story, every single page, every single line has a purpose behind it, and this is just one of many purposes to that story. But, needless to say, Korah thought he was right. His followers thought they were right. The Midrash says that uh Bnei Korah lo metu. The sons of Korah didn't die. So, this has a couple of meanings. The first meaning is that the sons of Korah didn't die because last minute, the Midrash says, LAST MINUTE, THEY realized their father is wrong, and they went to Moshe Rabbeinu's side. And this meant a lot. Why? Because that means you're going against Moshe Rabbeinu. They don't know that the ground is about to open and swallow Korah and everybody that's following him. They just know that there is a showdown between Korah and their father. Their father's the richest man of the land. That means they're going with his enemy. They're going to be excluded from any inheritance, excluded from any family gathering, lose everything that they have. What are they giving up everything for? To stand with Moshe Rabbeinu, the enemy of their father. Of course, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu opened the ground, everyone came down, including the sons of Korah, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu made a miracle that a piece of the wall came out to save the sons of Korach and he then lifted them back up above the ground with everybody else. So, the Midrash says that's what it means that Korach that the sons of Korach didn't die, meaning that everyone thought initially they're going to die because maybe it was too late for them to do Teshuvah, but no, Hashem saved them miraculously. But there is another meaning, the Midrash says. What's the other meaning that the sons of Korach didn't die? There's always descendants of Korach that like to create create machlokes, that like to create arguments that are not for the sake of heaven, that are against the Torah for their own name, to build their own name, to build their own reputation. A rabbi says, "Listen, you should start you know becoming more modest, you should start keeping Shabbat, start learning Torah." You bring this to some local rabbis and say, "Ah, he's too stringent." You shouldn't listen to him. Maybe it's because he's Sephardi, maybe because he's this, maybe because he's that. This is something that creates machlokes. Why? Because now all of a sudden the person that brought this to the rabbi, told him, "Listen, I heard this, you know, words of the living God, truth from this rabbi. He said such and such, maybe we should need to work on our community to fix some things." No, no, don't listen to him. He's he doesn't know what he's talking about. He's this, he's that. So, what does that do? So, that guy that that heard this from his rabbi, he has to conclude either his rabbi is a liar or the other guy really he's part of a cult or he I shouldn't like all Sephardis or I shouldn't like all baalei teshuvah or I shouldn't like this or I shouldn't like that. Creates machlokes, creates problems. The person needs to know that the Korach didn't die. There're always wicked people that are born in every generation that will create all types of issues not for the sake of heaven, but rather for the sake of their own name. Just like the people of the Tower of Babel that wanted to to build a building to build themselves a name. Says Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, there are people in every generation, especially the generation that he's alive in and thereafter, meaning our generation, that are building Yeshivots, that are building colleges and building synagogues, not for the sake of heaven, says Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, but rather they're building these places for their own name. They want to tell people, "Yeah, you know a Yeshiva? I built a Yeshiva." Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know a synagogue? Who do you think did it? Do I have to say? Do I have to say who did it? Do I have to say? AND THIS IS HOW THEY ARE. THEY BUILT IT, BUT THEY BUILT IT FOR THEMSELVES. They built it for their own name, for their own reputation. Yeshivots like this, like the Tower of Babel. No one needs this There's nothing good going to come out of such a place. But of course, my beloved ones, the issues that we have as a nation are not issues that are just because of the secular people and the ignoramuses. Even more so, we have issues among us religious people that have a unfortunately failing, have failed time and time again in these teachings, in these teachings. When they hear something that doesn't agree with their predisposition. All right, guys. Amen.