Parashat Korach - The Danger of Mockery and Rectifying Character Traits

"And Korach Gathered Against Them" - The Danger of Mockery

"And Korach gathered against them" - with words of mockery (Rashi)

It is told of someone who was constantly making a mockery; he would tell jokes and was used to making fun of things. Once, he was with R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. They sat to learn and debated a point in their learning, and the Berditchever told him, "In Heaven, they rule like me." That person answered him with mockery, "Even in Heaven there can be a mistake." Immediately, he became terrified!

R' Levi Yitzchak said to him: "Do you see where you have arrived with your mockery!? Make a vow that you will no longer speak words of mockery!" Immediately, he caught himself and truly took upon himself not to engage in mockery. He stopped completely, to the point that he almost died from it!

Because he used to receive his life-force from mockery, because he was so accustomed to mockery and jokes, and now he had done true teshuvah (repentance) and stopped completely, he almost died from it! He had no life-force! He had no life-force left! To such an extent that in the mikvah, they could see his internal organs; he became skin and bones! And this is called true teshuvah (repentance).

Uprooting Bad Habits from the Root

A person must transform his entire essence! All of his bad habits! He has a habit of speaking lashon hara (derogatory speech), he has a habit of speaking mockery. A person gets used to making a mockery, and in the end, he will mock tzaddikim; in the end, he will mock his wife and children.

A person has an incorrect audacity, a despicable audacity; in the end, he gets used to being brazen, and in the end, he will also act with chutzpah toward someone! In the end, he will act with chutzpah toward someone important; in the end, he will act with chutzpah toward his wife. If he is used to shouting at secular people, in the end, he will also shout at his wife! In the end, he will also shout at the children at home!

Today, we are forbidden to shout at any Jew! We must only speak with them gently; if you accomplished something, you accomplished it! And if you didn't accomplish it, tomorrow you will accomplish it! Pray, and you will accomplish it in Heaven at the root of the souls! Because if you shout at some Jew today, this habit is acquired in your soul, and tomorrow you will also shout in your own home at your wife and children.

Holy Audacity: Remaining Silent When Disgraced

A person is on the border of sin, on the border of transgression; every small bad habit, every small incorrect movement can bring him to a storm of spirits, can cause him to lose his temper. In truth, we need audacity! We need audacity against those who mock, as brought down in the Shulchan Aruch:

"He should not be ashamed before people who mock him in his service of the Creator, may His Name be blessed. But nevertheless, he should not answer them with words of audacity, so that he does not acquire in his soul the trait of being brazen-faced, even when not in the place of His service, may His Name be blessed." (Orach Chayim, Siman 29)

And similarly, one should not quarrel over a mitzvah, such as leading the prayers before the ark, or going up to the Torah, and the like, as we find regarding the Lechem HaPanim (Showbread): even though it is a mitzvah to eat it, the modest ones would withdraw their hands, while the gluttonous ones would grab and eat.

When the Tur tells you to be audacious against those who mock, the intention is not that you should shout at them! Not that you should disgrace them! Rather, when they shame you, remain silent! As it is written about Mordechai the Jew, that Haman shouted at him and he "neither stood up nor trembled." The moment Haman shouts at you, you do not need to shout back! When someone disgraces you, you do not need to answer! Rather, you simply need to remain silent, and this is called audacity against those who mock.

Seeing the Virtues of Our Friends and Not Their Flaws

The moment a person distances himself from the tzaddik, the moment he lacks the light of the tzaddik, he begins to look for flaws in those who act with self-sacrifice for the sake of the tzaddik. He begins to speak about them, he makes a mockery of them: "What... they don't learn at all!? They don't know halachot!?".

He makes a mockery of all those who toil to pray with intention, of all those who learn with self-sacrifice, who wake up in the nights to recite Tikkun Chatzot. Specifically those who wake up the latest, specifically those who barely learn, are the ones who make a mockery and look for flaws in others.

The simple foundation is not to speak about any Jew in the world! One must walk with the perspective that I am the worst Jew in the world, there is no one worse than me; every Jew is better than me, holier than me, wiser than me. How can I speak about another!? How can a Jew reach the point of speaking about another Jew?

For a non-Jew, perhaps, he still has work to do in this area not to speak! He needs to overcome it! Because for a non-Jew, this is his entire goal! His entire goal is to speak about the other: he is like this... and he is like that... that one is not like me! But for a Jew, this work is not applicable at all! A Jew must be all day in "pleasantness in Your right hand forever"; he must be in a world of melody, in a world of emunah (faith) twenty-four hours a day! How can he suddenly fall to such low levels! To such terrible levels!

Accepting the Truth from Whoever Says It

And if a person thinks - certainly I must speak about him! After all, he spoke about me! A person must know that if someone spoke about me, then he spoke correct things! After all, he says that I am not a tzaddik; in truth, I am not a tzaddik!! He is right!! He says that I am not Breslov; he is right! In truth, I am not Breslov! In everything, he is right!!

What, am I Breslov!? Breslov speaks from "Orchot Tzaddikim," Breslov speaks from "Mesillat Yesharim," Breslov speaks from "Shaarei Teshuvah," from the "Chofetz Chaim." Breslov does not speak lashon hara! Breslov does not speak mockery! Breslov speaks from all the holy books! Breslov speaks from all the tzaddikim!

If a person speaks lashon hara and mockery, then certainly he is not Breslov! So if they said about you that you are not Breslov! It is true! You should even thank them! Blessed is Hashem that there is someone who tells you the truth! You should even pay them a salary of a thousand dollars a day!

Filling the Intellect with Torah Study

The Rebbe says that if there is no intellect and no mind, it is impossible to serve Hashem! If a person does not learn Torah, does not learn Gemara, then there is nothing to talk to him about at all! There is nothing to explain to him! He is simply desecrating the name of our Rebbe!

Today, we are not like the simple, earnest Jews who lived in the time of the Baal Shem Tov, who could just recite Tehillim and be tzaddikim. Today, there are almost no such Jews! There are no such simple, earnest Jews like there were 200 years ago! Today, either one learns Gemara and has intellect! Or there is no intellect, and then one falls into transgressions and lawlessness, may Hashem have mercy. The Rebbe wants people with intellect, people who are Torah scholars, and then all the bad character traits and bad habits are subdued.

When the mind is empty of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, when the mind is empty of intellect, a person will always cause a blemish! He will be blemished! He will speak mockery! He will speak lashon hara! He will speak profanity! He will speak irrelevant things! He will insult! He will mock! He will be jealous! He will hate! All because his mind is empty.