Parshat Korach: Arguments for the Sake of Heaven

The arguments between Hillel and Shammai: In their debates, one of them would render a decision and the other would argue against it, out of a desire to discover the truth, not out of cantankerousness or a wish to prevail over his fellow. That is why when he was right, the words of the person who disagreed, endured. An argument not for the sake of heaven was that of Korach and his company, for they came to undermine Moses, our master, may he rest in peace, and his position, out of envy and contentiousness and ambition for victory.

Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the G-d of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too . . .”

I cut out about half of the paragraphs from the article.

This is a good exposition on the nature of argument in biblical and rabbinical history that can be applied any time to politics and power.

If you ever think you're not informed enough to pick "which side" is speaking the truth, this might be a good tool for you to use to help you spot the liars...

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They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?”

The rebels’ rhetoric was pure incitement. They did not mean it, and he knew they did not mean it. Like the Russian revolutionaries in 1917, though they spoke the language of equality, what they wanted was power. This was argument not for the sake of truth but for the sake of victory.

What the entire episode shows is the destructive nature of argument not for the sake of heaven – that is, argument for the sake of victory. In such a conflict what is at stake is not truth but power, and the result is that both sides suffer. If you win, I lose. But if I win, I also lose, because in diminishing you, I diminish myself. Even a Moses is brought low, laying himself open to the charge that “You have killed the Lord’s people.”

The opposite is the case when the argument is for the sake of truth. If I win, I win. But if I lose I also win – because being defeated by the truth is the only form of defeat that is also a victory. There is a magnificent passage in the Talmud that gives expression to this idea:

Shimon the Imsonite – others state, Nehemiah the Imsonite – used to interpret every eth in the Torah, but when he came to the verse You shall fear [eth] the Lord your G-d, he retracted. His disciples said to him: “Master, what is to become of all the ethin you have interpreted?” He replied, “Just as I received reward for the exposition, so I will receive reward for the retraction.” When R. Akiba, however, came, he taught: ‘Thou shalt fear eth the Lord thy G-d’ implies that the scholarly disciples are also to be feared.

Shimon, a contemporary of Rabbi Akiva, held that no word in the Torah is superfluous. What then of the word eth, whose only function is to indicate the object of a verb, but which has no meaning in and of itself? Shimon’s answer was simple. In each case, eth came to include something not explicitly stated in the text. He used this principle successfully in a long series of interpretations – until he came to the command, “You shall fear [eth] the Lord your G-d.” Here, he suddenly realized, the principle broke down. What else could one include in this verse? To place the fear of something else alongside the fear of G-d was surely blasphemy.

Like a true scientist, Shimon realized that a single counter-example refutes a rule. Not only did he admit defeat in this case, but drew the logical conclusion that if the rule was refuted, he would have to retract all other interpretations based on it. In effect, he jettisoned his entire life’s work.

All who genuinely seek to learn, whether atheist or believer, scientist or mystic, are united in having not a faith, but faith itself. Its token is reverence, its habit to respect the eloquence of silence. For G-d’s hand may be a human hand, if you reach out in loving kindness, and G-d’s voice your voice, if you but speak the truth.

How can the very attribute that is the virtue of its texts be the vice of its people? The answer lies in the teaching with which we began. It depends on the nature of the argument. Is it, or is it not, “for the sake of heaven”? Is it a battle for truth or for victory? In the battle for truth, both sides win. In the struggle for victory, both sides lose.

The difference is not mysterious or elusive. In an argument for the sake of truth, each side is willing to listen to the views of its opponents and take them seriously. Each uses reason, logic, shared texts and shared reverence for texts. Neither uses ad hominem arguments, abuse, contempt, or disingenuous appeals to emotion. Each is willing, if refuted, to say, “I was wrong.” There is no triumphalism in victory, no anger or anguish in defeat. The story of Korach remains the classic example of how argument can be dishonoured. The schools of Hillel and Shammai remind us that there is another way. “Argument for the sake of heaven” is one of Judaism’s noblest ideals – conflict resolution by honouring both sides of the conflict and by humility in the pursuit of truth.

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