This week’s Torah portion tells the story of Korach’s dispute with Moshe. The Mishna in Pirke Avos 5:20 states :
“Any dispute that is for the sake of Heaven will be of lasting worth and one not for the sake of Heaven will not be of lasting worth. Which dispute was for the sake of Heaven? That of Hillel and Shamai. Which was not for the sake of Heaven? That of Korach and his company.”
The Mishna should have said that the dispute not for the sake of Heaven was that of Korach and Moshe, not between Korach and his fellow conspirators! Why didn’t the Mishna mention Moshe as the antagonist? Korach started the dispute for his own personal gain while Moshe was upholding the Almighty’s word and the Almighty’s honor.
Why then does the Mishna mention that a dispute not for the sake of Heaven is the one between “Korach and his company”? We might think that Korach and his company were united in their argument with Moshe. The Mishna is telling us that each of the 250 was challenging Moshe for his own gain (each one brought incense to see if he himself would be chosen as the Cohen Gadol, High Priest.) In truth, Korach and his congregation were in dispute amongst themselves as to who should be the High Priest.
What does this teach us? As Part of Klal yisroel Korach and his company weren’t in one dispute against Moshe which may have been a heavenly dispute, they were in a dipute of their own for pride and honour. When we go through our lives with daily disputes we may face, what is the real reason for these disputes, is personal honour pride or any other personal gain or is the dispute a heavenly dispute!?
