The Torah's Most Surprising Contradiction - Rabbi Shlomo Horwitz

You would not believe what I learned about Parshas Eikev. Does the Torah ever speak Lashon Hara? We know we're not allowed to speak negatively about people. But isn't the Torah full of negativity about other people? We hear about all the terrible foibles and things done by Esau, Korach, Dathan, Abiram, a rogue's gallery. So, how is it that the Torah tells us all these terrible things about people and that's okay? I'd like to share with you a Rambam in the Shmona Prakim, his eight-chapter introduction to Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of Our Fathers. The Rambam says in chapter five that the Torah shares no more and no less than exactly what we need to know in order to live a proper life. There's nothing gratuitous in the Torah. Everything there is to teach us a lesson. And this is very consistent with the laws of Lashon Hara, actually, which allow you to say something negative about somebody if there is a to'eles, a constructive benefit to prevent harm. The Divrei Shaul, Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson, otherwise known as the Shaul U'Mayshiv, was a leading rabbi in Galicia in Eastern Poland in the 1800s. I'm a huge fan of the Shaul U'Mayshiv. He says, based on this Rambam, we can understand why the sin of the Dor Haflagah, otherwise known as Haflagah, those who built the Tower of Babel, their sin is not mentioned clearly in the Torah. We only know the specifics from our tradition. In the text, it's very obscure. He says it's because of this Rambam. The Shulhan Arukh says that their sin was based upon having one common language, which allowed them to collaborate in rebelling and fighting against God. But once God multiplied their language, there was no longer that same threat of the entire world conspiring together to battle God. So therefore, Rabbi Nathanson says, "Since there's no longer a threat, there's no longer a benefit to tell us exactly the specifics in the Torah. It's not relevant any longer." And he goes on to say, "This is why God had to tell Abraham, Avraham Avinu, about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah." This is so amazing. He says, "Hamkhasse Ani me Avraham asher Ani oseh." "Can I conceal from Abraham what I'm about to do to Sodom, all their terrible things that they've done?" And then he says something that seems irrelevant. "Ki yadativ lemaan asher yetsavve es banav es beiso." "I know that Abraham is going to command his children and his household and descendants to follow in my way." What does that have to do with revealing what's going on with Sodom? What do Sodom and its actions have to do with Avraham and his descendants? The answer is it's this Rambam. Hashem is, so to speak, justifying how he is even allowed to tell Avraham about Sodom. It's lashon hara. The justification is not to put down the people of Sodom gratuitously. It is so that Avraham will be able to command his children and his grandchildren to follow the path of Hashem by learning from the evil of Sodom and staying far away from it. The Shalom Achshav says, this explains something that's going on in our parsha, parshas Eikev. In parshas Eikev, Moshe talks about the terrible things that Dathan and Abiram did. And the Ramban wonders, what happened to Korach? The Shalom Achshav says, it's not a question. We already know about Korach. There was another pasuk earlier that said, "Velo yiyakek Korach v'achav daso." There should never again be among the Jewish people somebody like Korach who tries to become a kohen, a priest, when he is clearly not one. The Shalom Achshav said, "Okay, that's already covered. Case closed. Hashem does not want to gratuitously put people down in the Torah, even Korach. But we already dealt with him. The lesson was learned. And nobody in Jewish history ever pretended to become a kohen who was not. So, there's no need to repeat it. But Dathan and Abiram is another story. They rebelled against leaders and rabbis. That is still a threat that needed to be addressed by Moshe Rabbeinu in his final words to the Jewish people. So, what you see here is Hashem did not want any unnecessary disparagement of Korach to be repeated. The lesson for us is that negativity sometimes must be expressed to teach ourselves, to teach our children, to protect ourselves and our children or friends. But only up to a point. Beyond that point, it becomes lashon hara. Enough said. Have a great Shabbos.