How Not to Argue (Korach 5780)

The Rabbi Sacks Legacy

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 601 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2020

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Here is the audio recording of Rabbi Sacks' Covenant & Conversation commentary essay on this week's Torah portion of Korach 5780. (Please note: Israel is currently one week ahead in their parsha readings, so if you are living outside of Israel, you may receive this podcast one week early). You can download a PDF of this commentary, as well as an accompanying Family Edition, from rabbisacks.org/korach-5780/ Covenant & Conversation is kindly sponsored by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Korach. How not to argue.
0:04.4	Karach was swallowed up by the ground,
0:07.6	but his spirit is alive and well
0:09.5	and in the unlikeliest of places,
0:12.6	British and American universities.
0:15.6	Karach was the embodiment of what the sages called
0:18.4	argument not for the sake of heaven.
0:22.2	Mahakot Shalul al-Lashem-Shamei.
0:25.2	They contrasted this with the schools of Hillel and Shamai who argued
0:28.9	Mahloket Leshem Shamae.
0:31.7	They argued for the sake of heaven.
0:33.7	The difference between them according to Barthinura
0:36.2	is that the argument for the sake of heaven is an argument for the sake of truth.
0:42.1	Argument not for the sake of heaven is argument for the sake of victory and power.
0:47.2	And there are two very different things.
0:49.9	Karach and his followers came from three different groups.
0:53.4	Karach was from the tribe of Levi.
0:56.0	Datana and Aviram came from the tribe of Ruvain,
0:59.1	and there were 250 leaders from different tribes.
1:03.0	Each had a specific grievance.
1:06.0	The 250 leaders resented the fact that leadership roles had been taken from them after the sin of the
1:13.2	golden calf and given instead to the tribe of Levi. Datan and Aviram felt aggrieved that their tribe,
	...

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