Divisiveness, Diversity, and Distinction

E T H I C S O F O U R F A T H E R S




Divisiveness, Diversity, and Distinction

Which is a dispute that is not for the sake of Heaven?
The dispute of Korachand all his company - Ethics of the Fathers, 5:17


Korach, Moses' mutinous cousin, earned the dubious distinction of father and prototype of all quarrelers and divisors. His very name became synonymous with disharmony and conflict. The Talmud goes so far as to proclaim: "Anyone who engages in divisiveness transgresses a Divine prohibition, as it is written: `And he shall not be as Korach and his company' when the Torah wishes to tell us not to agitate disputes and perpetuate disunity, it does so by saying: Don't be like Korach...."



But Korach was no ordinary rabble rouser. He was a leading member of Kehotties, the most prestigious of the Levite families. Joining him in his mutiny against Moses and Aaron were "two hundred and fifty men of Israel leaders of the community, of those regularly called to assembly, men of renown." Korach's difference with Moses was an ideological one, motivated by the way in which he understood Israel's relationship with the Almighty and by the manner in which he felt the nation ought to be structured. And Korach went a lot further than engaging in divisive community politics. He rebelled against the authority of Moses and contested G d's appointment of Aaron as Kohen Gadol (High Priest).



So how is it that every petty squabbler is included in the prohibition ``not to be as Korach''? Obviously, there is something at the heart of Korach's contentions that is the essence of all disunity.



Often, the antithesis of a certain quality is superficially identical to it. This is especially so when it comes to the "root" of a matter: a hairline distinction between two seemingly similar concepts actually translates into all the difference in the world.



The same is true of "peace" and "divisiveness." The source of all divisiveness is something that misleadingly resembles true peace. It is this pseudo peace that lay at the heart of Korach's misguided vision and which ultimately led to his corruption and catastrophic end.


What Exactly Did Korach Want?

What is peace?

"Just as their faces are not alike, so, too, their minds and characters are not alike." Such is the nature of the human race: individuals and peoples differ from each other, divided by distinctions in outlook, emotional orientation, expertise, vocation, and the many other differences, great and small, which set them apart from each other.



Often, these differences give rise to animosity and conflict. And yet, at the core of the human soul is the yearning for peace. We intuitively sense that despite the tremendous (and apparently inherent) differences between us, a state of universal harmony is both desirable and attainable. But what exactly is peace? Is peace the obliteration of the differences between men and nations? Is it the creation of a "separate but equal" society in which differences are preserved but without any distinctions of "superior" and "inferior"? Or is it neither of the above?


But let us examine Korach's dispute. If we understand Korach, we will also understand the fine line that divides true peace from the essence of divisiveness.


What exactly did Korach want? His arguments against Moses and Aaron seem fraught with contradiction. On the one hand, he seems to challenge the very institution of the priesthood (kehunah), maintaining that "as the entire community is holy, and G d is within them, why do you raise yourselves over the congregation of G d?" But from Moses' response we see that Korach actually desired the office of the Kohen Gadol for himself!



This paradox appears time and again in various accounts of Korach's mutiny, in the midrashim and the commentaries. Korach comes across a champion of equality, railing against a "class system" that categorizes levels of holiness within the community (Israelites, Levites, Priests and the High Priest). Yet, in the same breath, he contends that he is the more worthy candidate for the High Priesthood.

Heavenly Waters, Earthly Waters


In the Torah's account of G d's six day creation of the world, each day's work concludes with the statement: "And G d saw what He had created, and behold, it was good." Each day, that is, except the second day, the day that "G d made the firmament [of the heaven], and divided between the waters which are below the firmament and the waters which are above the firmament."


Explains the Midrash: "Why does it not say `it was good' on the second day? Because on that day divisiveness was created; as it is written `it shall divide between water and water.'" However, the Midrash then goes on to point out that on the third day the Torah says, "it was good" twice, because then "the work of the waters," begun on the second day, was completed. In other words, the division effected on the second day was a less than desirable phenomenon, but only because it was not yet complete; on the third day, this divisiveness itself is deemed "good."


Our sages tell us that G d's six days of creation correspond to the six millennia of human endeavor that follow. Therein lies the significance of the Midrash's words: in the third millennium of the world's existence, the element that resolves the conflicts created by diversity was introduced into our lives. This is the Torah, revealed to us at Sinai in the year 2448 from creation.


The Torah "was given to make peace in the world" : peace between the conflicting drives within the heart of man, peace between individuals, peace between peoples, and peace between the creation and its Creator.


The Midrash expresses the peacemaking quality of Torah with the following metaphor:

Once there was a king who decreed: "The people of Rome are forbidden to descend to Syria, and the people of Syria are forbidden to ascend to Rome." Likewise, when G d created the world He decreed and said: "The heavens are G d's, and the earth is given to man." But when He wished to give the Torah to Israel, He rescinded His original decree, and declared: "The lower realms may ascend to the higher realms, and the higher realms may descend to the lower realms."


The schism and decree to separate the heavenly from the earthly, effected by G d's "division of the waters" on the second day of creation, was thus alleviated on the third "day" of history with the revelation at Sinai. No longer were the material and the spiritual two irreconcilable realms. On that day, ``G-d descended upon Mount Sinai,'' ``And to Moses He said, come up to G-d.'' G d reached down to impart of His holiness to the world, and man was empowered to achieve a closeness to G d.


But the Torah does not come to blur the distinction between the holy and the mundane. Nor does it endeavor to create a uniform world society. This would hardly qualify as a state of "peace" any more than a single hued painting or a symphony composed entirely of identical notes could be said to be a "harmonious" creation.


The Torah makes peace in the world by defining the differing roles (man and woman, Jew and non Jew, Israelite, Levite and Kohen, scholar and layman) to comprise the overall mission of humanity.

This is why the Torah is associated with the number three: a single entity or collection of identical entities can spell unanimity but not peace. If "one" represents singularity and "two" connotes divisiveness, then "three" expresses the concept of peace: the existence of two different or even polar entities, but with the addition of a third, unifying element that embraces and pervades them both, containing their differences as diverse but harmonious components of a greater whole.


The "third day" does not undo the divisions of the second. Rather, it introduces a "third" all transcendent element that they all apply their own unique qualities to serve. And it is this introduction of harmony to diversity that "completes" it and renders it "good."

Back To Korach

In light of this, Korach felt, how can we speak of "higher" and "lower" roles in G d's world? How can one say that the High Priest is loftier than the common laborer? True, the Kohen Gadol's life is wholly devoted to spiritual pursuits while the "ordinary" Israelite must contend with the mundanity of the marketplace. But "within them is G d" they serve the Divine purpose no less in the fulfillment of their role than does the Kohen Gadol in the fulfillment of his.


Korach was not opposed to division of the community by vocation, nor to the distinction between spiritual and material. On the contrary, he himself yearned for the spiritual path of the High Priesthood, to serve the Almighty utterly disinvolved from worldly affairs. What he did contest was the way in which Moses defined the division of roles within the people.


"Why do you raise yourselves over the congregation of G d?," he argued. Why this "ladder" of spirituality on which the Moseses and Aarons of the generation occupy a higher rung than the farmer who works his land or the merchant engrossed in his accounts? Why is the "ordinary" Jew told to see Aaron as the one who represents him in the Sanctuary and who facilitates his relationship with G d? Is G d closer to heaven than to earth? Is serving Him by transcending the material more important a part of humanity's mission than utilizing the material existence to fulfill His will? Give me the High Priesthood, said Korach, and I will eliminate the connotations of "leadership" and "superiority" that Moses and Aaron have given it. To me, the most spiritual and the most material bond of lifestyles, and all gradations between, are all distinct but parallel paths in our endeavor to serve the Almighty.



Korach's vision seems the paragon of harmony: diverse elements unified by a common goal. And yet, in neglecting to incorporate a crucial aspect of the Torah's conception of peace, it became the source of all divisiveness and discord.


Korach's "separate but equal" world may unite its various components in that they all serve the same overall goal, but it fails to provide for any connection between them. The paths may converge at the destination, but they are separated by walls which isolate and divide them. And without a give and take relationship between them, without any sense of where they stand vis-a-vis each other, their separateness will inevitably disintegrate into factionalism and conflict.


If we refer back to the Midrash's parable of the Romans and the Syrians, we can see where Korach's vision departs from with the Torah's definition of peace. The distinction between the two realms (the material and the spiritual) is preserved, but there is movement and interrelation between them. And their relationship is defined in terms of "higher" and "lower": the heavenly descends to earth and the earthly ascends to heaven.



As seen by Torah, the gradations of spirituality among the various segments of the people does take the form of a "ladder" a ladder on which the material bound individual looks up to the his more spiritual brother, and the more spiritual reaches down to provide direction and inspiration to the material bound. The farmer gives of his produce to the Kohen; he regards this gift as the holiest part of his yield, as it represents the spiritual focus of all his endeavors. The businessman looks to the scholar as the ideal; he feels trapped and stifled by the demands of his vocation and lives for the daily few minutes which he manages to devote to study.


And the spiritual leader descends to uplift his community. G d defines Aaron's role as one who "raises the lamps" : in addition to (and because of) his "personal" spiritual service of the Almighty, Aaron is the flame which ignites the "soul of man a lamp of G d" calling forth its luminary potential.



All this is not because those who fill the more spiritual roles are more important to the Divine purpose than those who serve it through their involvement with the material. On the contrary, G d's purpose in creation, say our sages, is that ``He desired a dwelling in the lowly realms'' - that the lower realm of the material be transformed into an environment that is hospitable and receptive to His being. In carrying this out, those on the "lowest rung" must play the most central and crucial role. But their specialty lies precisely in that they deal with the lowest elements of creation (that is, those which least express the reality of G d in any manifest way) and direct them towards the higher purpose of serving their Creator.


The moment the material bound individual begins to feel comfortable in his environment, the moment he ceases his striving to escape the material, then, no longer can he truly sublimate it he is now part of it. Only by seeing himself on the bottom looking up, only when his involvement with the mundane is forced by the call of duty as his soul yearns for a more spiritual existence, is he in the position to truly elevate his environment.


Interestingly enough, although Korach disavowed this "vertical" connection between matter and spirit, he himself was a prime example of it. Korach's desire for the High Priesthood, his yearning upward for a rung on the ladder more spiritual than his own, was a positive ambition and the ultimate refutation of his own divisive "peace."



Introductory reading to Ethics of the Fathers:
All Israel has a share in the World to Come, as is stated: ``And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever. They are the shoot of My planting, the work of My hands, in which I take pride.'' (Sanhedrin, 11:1)

Chapter Five


1. The world was created with ten utterances. What does this come to teach us? Certainly, it could have been created with a single utterance. However, this is in order to make the wicked accountable for destroying a world that was created with ten utterances, and to reward the righteous for sustaining a world that was created with ten utterances.


2. There were ten generations from Adam to Noah. This is to teach us the extent of G-d's tolerance; for all these generations angered Him, until He brought upon them the waters of the Flood.


There were ten generations from Noah to Abraham. This is to teach us the extent of G-d's tolerance; for all these generations angered Him, until Abraham came and reaped the reward for them all. 3. With ten tests our father Abraham was tested and he withstood them all---in order to make known how great was the love of our father Abraham [for G-d].


4. Ten miracles were performed for our forefathers in Egypt, and another ten at the sea. Ten afflictions were wrought by G-d upon the Egyptians in Egypt, and another ten at the sea. With ten tests our forefathers tested G-d in the desert, as is stated, ``They tested Me these ten times, and did not harken to My voice.''


5. Ten miracles were performed for our forefathers in the Holy Temple: No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the holy meat. The holy meat never spoiled. Never was a fly seen in the slaughterhouse. Never did the High Priest have an accidental seminal discharge on Yom Kippur. The rains did not extinguish the wood-fire burning upon the altar. The wind did not prevail over the column of smoke [rising from the altar]. No disqualifying problem was ever discovered in the omer offering, the ``two loaves'' or the showbread. They stood crowded but had ample space in which to prostate themselves. Never did a snake or scorpion cause injury in Jerusalem. And no man ever said to his fellow ``My lodging in Jerusalem is too cramped for me.''


6. Ten things were created at twilight of Shabbos eve. These are: the mouth of the earth; the mouth of the well; the mouth of the donkey; the rainbow; the mannah; the staff [of Moses]; the shamir; the writing, the inscription and the tablets [of the Ten Commandments]. Some say also the burial place of Moses and the ram of our father Abraham. And some say also the spirits of destruction as well as the original tongs, for tongs are made with tongs.


7. There are seven things that characterize a boor, and seven that characterize a wise man. A wise man does not speak before one who is greater than him in wisdom or age. He does not interrupt his fellow's words. He does not hasten to answer. His questions are on the subject and his answers to the point. He responds to first things first and to latter things later. Concerning what he did not hear, he says ``I did not hear.'' He concedes to the truth. With the boor, the reverse of all these is the case.


8. Seven types of retribution come to the world, for seven types of sin. When some tithe and others don't, a hunger caused by turmoil ensues: some are hungry, others have their fill of food. When all are unanimous in their failure to tithe, a hunger by drought ensues. For not separating chalah, an utter, annihilating huger results.


Plagues come to the world for those capital crimes mentioned in the Torah that have not been given over to the beth-din, and for desecrating the produce of the sabbatical year.


The sword comes to the world for the procrastination of justice, the corruption of justice, and because of those who misinterpret the Torah.


9. Carnage by wild beasts comes to the world for false oaths and the desecration of G-d's name.


Exile come to the world for idol-worship, sexual promiscuity, murder and the failure to leave the land fallow on the sabbatical year.


There are four time-periods when plagues increase: on the fourth and seventh years [of the sabbatical cycle], on the year following the seventh, and following the festivals of each year. On the fourth year, because of [the neglect of] the tithe to the poor that must be given on the third year; on the seventh, because of the tithe to the poor that must be given on the sixth; on the year after the seventh, because of the produce of the sabbatical year; and following each festival, because of the robbing of the poor of the gifts due to them.


10. There are four types of people: One who says, ``What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine'' is a boor. One who says ``What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours''---this is a median characteristic; others say that this is the character of a Sodomite. One who says, ``What is mine is yours, and what is yours is yours'' is a chassid (pious one ). And one who says ``What is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine'' is wicked.


11. There are four types of temperaments. One who is easily angered and easily appeased---his virtue cancels his flaw. One whom it is difficult to anger and difficult to appease---his flaw cancels his virtue. One whom it is difficult to anger and is easily appeased, is a chassid. One who is easily angered and is difficult to appease, is wicked.


12. There are four types of student. One who is quick to understand and quick to forget---his flaw cancels his virtue. One who is slow to understand and slow to forget---his virtue cancels his flaw. One who is quick to understand and slow to forget---his is a good portion. One who is slow to understand and quick to forget---his is a bad portion.


13. There are four types of contributors to charity. One who wants to give but does not want others to give---is begrudging of others. One who wants that others should give but does not want to give---begrudges himself. One who wants that he as well as others should give, is a chassid. One who want neither himself nor others to give, is wicked.



14. There are four types among those who attend the study hall. One who goes but does nothing---has gained the rewards of going. One who does [study] but does not go to the study hall---has gained the rewards of doing. One who goes and does, is a chassid. One who neither goes nor does, is wicked.


15. There are four types among those who sit before the sages: the sponge, the funnel, the strainer and the sieve. The sponge absorbs all. The funnel takes in at one end and lets it out the other. The strainer rejects the wine and retains the sediment. The sieve rejects the coarse flour and retains the fine flour.


16. Any love that is dependent on something---when the thing ceases, the love also ceases. But a love that is not dependent on anything never ceases. Which is a love that is dependent on something? The love of Amnon for Tamar. And one that is not dependent on anything? The love of David and Jonathan.


17. Any dispute that is for the sake of Heaven is destined to endure; one that is not for the sake of Heaven is not destined to endure. Which is a dispute that is for the sake of Heaven? The dispute(s) between Hillel and Shamai. Which is a dispute that is not for the sake of Heaven? The dispute of Korach and all his company.


18. One who causes the community to be meritorious, no sin will come by his hand. One who causes the community to sin, is not given the opportunity to repent. Moses was meritorious and caused the community to be meritorious, so the community's merit is attributed to him; as is stated, ``He did G-d's righteousness, and His laws with Israel.'' Jeroboam the son of Nebat sinned and caused the community to sin, so the community's sin is attributed to him; as is stated, ``For the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and caused Israel to sin.''


19. Whoever possesses the following three traits is of the disciples of our father Abraham; and whoever possesses the opposite three traits is of the disciples of the wicked Bilaam. The disciples of our father Abraham have a good eye, a meek spirit and a humble soul. The disciples of the wicked Bilaam have an evil eye, a haughty spirit and a gross soul. What is the difference between the disciples of our father Abraham and the disciples of the wicked Bilaam? The disciples of our father Abraham benefit in this world and inherit the World To Come, and is stated, ``To bequeath to those who love Me there is, and their treasures I shall fill.'' The disciples of the wicked Bilaam inherit purgatory and descent into the pit of destruction, as is stated, ``And You, G-d, shall cast them into the pit of destruction; bloody and deceitful men, they shall not attain half their days. And I shall trust in you.''



20. Judah the son of Teima would say: Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, fleeting as a deer and mighty as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven. He would also say: The brazen---to purgatory; the bashful---to paradise. May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days; and grant us our portion in Your Torah.



21. Ben Bag Bag would say: Delve and delve into it, for all is in it; see with it; grow old and worn in it; do not budge from it, for there is nothing better.

Ben Hei Hei would say: According to the pain is the gain.


22. He would also say: Five years is the age for the study of Scripture. Ten, for the study of Mishnah. Thirteen, for the obligation to observe the mitzvot. Fifteen, for the study of Talmud. Eighteen, for marriage. Twenty, to pursue [a livelihood]. Thirty, for strength Forty, for understanding. Fifty, for counsel. Sixty, for sageness. Seventy, for elderness. Eighty, for power. Ninety, to stoop. A hundred-year-old is as one who has died and passed away and has been negated from the world.


Studied at the conclusion of each lesson of the Ethics: Rabbi Chananiah the son of Akashiah would say: G-d desired to merit the people of Israel; therefore, He gave them Torah and mitzvot in abundance. As is stated, ``G-d desired, for sake of his righteousness, that Torah be magnified and made glorious.'' (Makot, 3:16)