Parshat Korach from the mouth of the Gaon and Tzaddik

"The Tzaddik (holy person) does not punish anyone—a person who commits sins weighs two billion tons; with every opening of an eye [to look at forbidden things], he begins to weigh billions of masses, and he splits the entire earth. He cannot have any punishment, G-d forbid; he would be a righteous and simple man, but suddenly he saw twenty-two thousand men walking without peyos (sidelocks). He saw Nachman Zucker without peyos, Naftali without peyos. What happened? Why did they shorten your peyos a bit? Who confused you there?"

"Twenty-two thousand, three hundred—walking without peyos in the camp, walking around with such chutzpah (audacity), with pride, with such defiance, without peyos; they removed everyone's peyos. And Korach's wife was a 'chevramanit' (tough/socially savvy) woman, dominant; she said to him [her husband], 'If Korach removes your peyos, do not agree, I am warning you, that's it.'"

"The wife of On ben Pelet was a truly righteous woman; she said, 'Whatever Moshe says is holy,' 'The wisdom of women builds her house' (Proverbs 14:1). The wife of On ben Pelet was a righteous woman; she said, 'With peyos, without peyos, it doesn't interest me; whatever Moshe says is holy.' She told him, 'Go to sleep, drink wine,' and everyone fled when she uncovered a bit of the hair of her head."

"So twenty-two thousand men are walking around the camp, plus another three hundred firstborns. They are walking around without beards, without peyos; the women are going crazy, the girls are crying, 'What did they do to our father? They removed his beard and his peyos.' The wife of On ben Pelet was very dominant and productive; she said, 'I will arrange everything, don't worry,' 'And it was on the day that Moshe finished' (Numbers 7:1)."

"On the first day [of the Tabernacle's dedication], Nadav and Avihu were burned; that was the day the Red Heifer was burned. On the seventh day, they removed all the peyos; Rashi says that on the 7th of Nissan, everyone removed all their peyos. Why? Because they did not protest against the [Golden] Calf; all the women who did not protest the Calf ended up as widows in the end. Regarding the Calf, Hashem (G-d) forgave them because Moshe had disappeared from them, but with the Spies, Moshe is with you! There are Clouds of Glory, everything is fine! 'We saw some giants,' 'We saw Sichon and Og,' we already got confused. For this, Hashem does not forgive; for such a mistake that has no reason, Hashem does not forgive—Moshe was in heaven [during the Calf], therefore Hashem forgives, but here [with the rebellion] there was truly nothing [to justify it]!!!!"