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Dissension in the Ranks
An illustration of the deaths of Korah, Dathan and Abiram as described in the Book of Numbers, by Gustave Doré, 1865. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – The rabbi was busy doing marriage counseling with a couple in distress. He listened attentively to the wife’s tale of woe, and then nodded his head sympathetically, saying, “You’re right.”
Then he listened, with equal sympathy, to the husband’s side of the story. When the husband was done, he nodded his head in agreement again, saying, “You’re right.”
Whereupon the Rebbetzin who was standing outside the door listening said to her husband, “How can they both be right?!”
And the rabbi nodded his head, saying, “You’re right, too.”
In most conflicts, everyone is right and everyone is wrong. Both sides always bear some responsibility for the disagreement.
Yet this week in the biblical story of Korach, we read of an exceptional disagreement in which one side was completely right and the other side was absolutely in the wrong.
Korach was the clever, wealthy, aristocratic cousin of Moses who disputed Moses and Aaron taking the highest positions of leadership for themselves. Though it was God Himself who instructed Moses to become the leader of the Israelites and appoint his brother Aaron as the High Priest, Korach challenged their positions, accusing them of brazen nepotism.
In the end, God created a supernatural disaster for Korach and his henchmen. The earth itself opened and swallowed them into the abyss. It was a clear, Divine sign that Moses was 100% correct and Korach was 100% wrong.
But that is the exception. In most cases, whether the fault can be divided 50/50 or 80/20, there is always some responsibility for the disagreement on both sides.
I remember my wise grandfather once saying, “When two Jews fight, both are wrong.”
Chapter 5 of Pirkei Avot, “The Ethics of the Fathers,” distinguishes between a dispute “for the sake of heaven” which is a genuine, ideological disagreement, and one which is not “for the sake of heaven,” but is rather personal and vindictive. The former is illustrated by the classical Talmudic debates between Hillel and Shammai, whereas the latter is represented by the dispute of “Korach and his assembly.”
Commentary points out that the Mishnah deliberately does not call it the “dispute between Korach and Moses,” but rather “the dispute of Korach and his assembly.” Moses was completely innocent in this dispute. To even mention his name here would be justifying Korach and giving him some merit as an equal disputant to Moses. Not so. There was no moral equivalence whatsoever to Korach’s argument. It was completely subjective, cynical and malicious. And Moses was completely innocent here.
And yet, we read how Moses continued to make peace with Korach and his henchmen up until the bitter end. He even reached out with a message of peace to his two nemeses who had been provoking him from the early days back in Egypt—the infamously diabolical Datan and Aviram. Defiantly, they spurned his invitation and, in the end, they too went down with Korach.
Concerning the Korach catastrophe, Rashi goes so far as to say, “Come and see how grievous the effect of dispute is, for the earthly Beth Din does not punish a person until the age of majority and the Heavenly Beth Din does not punish until age 20. Yet here, even suckling babes perished.”
If dissension and conflict are the cause of such tragedy, then surely, we should be doing everything possible to avoid it in the first place or to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand.
How sad and tragic to see dissension in our ranks, not only in politics, which is “normal,” but in families and communities on a personal level.
A congregant once told me he had experienced a miracle in his family. His two warring nephews had made peace. He never imagined it would happen. He was more excited than I’d seen him in years.
Conversely, how many family members never make peace until they are forced to say Kaddish and sit shiva together when they lose a parent? Sadly, I’ve also seen two separate houses of mourning for the same parent because two siblings refused to sit together even then.
Not long ago, I read of what must be the worst such tragic story. Two brothers were the only survivors of their whole family from the Holocaust. And at some point, there was a disagreement between them, and they never talked to each other for 30 years. And they died not talking! I can think of nothing sadder.
If there is a conflict in your family, I beg of you, please don’t wait for the other party to apologize. You take the initiative. You be the man or the woman and extend the hand of peace. Rise above it. Even if you are convinced that they are wrong, do the right thing.
Be a Moses, not a Korach, and be blessed for it.
The post Dissension in the Ranks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Improved Food for Security Prisoners
Israel’s Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday instructed the Prison Service (Shabas) to guarantee adequate food supplies for security prisoners, ruling that current conditions fall short of minimum legal standards. The decision followed an appeal filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
In a 2–1 ruling, the court found that the food situation posed “a risk of non-compliance with legal standards.” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez stressed that the matter concerned “basic conditions necessary for survival, as required by law,” not comfort or privilege. Justice Ofer Grosskopf agreed, noting the state had not shown the policy was consistently applied to all inmates.
Justice David Mintz dissented, maintaining that the existing policy already met legal requirements.
The court underscored that Israel’s legal obligations remain binding, even in light of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza and the fact that many of the prisoners include Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ruling, arguing that while hostages in Gaza lack protection, “terrorist murderers, kidnappers, and rapists in prison” benefit from the Court’s intervention. He added that prisoners would continue receiving only the minimum conditions required by law.
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Ukrainian Government Building Set Ablaze in Record Russian Airstrike
Illustrative. More damage caused by the Russian drone that hit the Perlina school in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo: Jewish community JCC in Kyiv, Kyiv municipality, and Yan Dobronosov
i24 News – The Ukrainian government’s main building in Kyiv was hit overnight Saturday by Russian airstrikes for the first time since the war, igniting a fire in the building, authorities said. Firefighters are working to put out the flames.
“The government building was damaged by an enemy attack — the roof and upper floors,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said. The blaze is is burning in the area of the office of the prime minister.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Ukraine — a record number since the start of the war.
Also as a result of the strike, a baby and a young woman were killed after a nine-story residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, also in Kyiv. Rescuers are still looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also reported killed in the strike in Novopavlivka village.
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but also with actions. We need to increase sanctions pressure – primarily against Russian oil and gas. We need new restrictions that will hit the Kremlin’s military machine. And most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Something that will stop the terror and prevent Russia from trying to kill Ukrainians every day,” wrote Sviridenko after the attack.
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‘Trump’s Legacy Crumbles’: Israelis Call on US President to End Gaza War
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages.
Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists.’
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.
Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials.
Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.
“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.
Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
There are 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that around 20 are still alive. Palestinian terrorists abducted 251 people from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led its attack. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war.
A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare.
The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.
“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since it launched its retaliatory war after Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack on southern Israel.
The terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering.
The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war.
Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.