There is a mitzvah in the Torah stating we are not allowed to behave like Korach and his companions. Korach came to Moshe with questions regarding certain mitzvos Moshe was teaching the Jews, but when Korach asked the questions, they were not being asked to get information; they were asked so Korach could mock Moshe. He wanted to get rid of Moshe and take over the leadership role of the Jews. Korach’s goal was to start a dispute and therefore, we are commanded not to behave like him because disputes are not something we want to get involved with.

The Chofetz Chaim, in his book Shemiras HaLashon, offers an amazing insight into why we should avoid disputes. As we know, the Bais HaMikdash, our beautiful Temple in Jerusalem, was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago because of baseless hatred and slander. Imagine there was a campaign to rebuild this Holy structure and the only thing needed was a few million dollars. Everyone would run to give as much money as they possibly could. Well, there is something we can all do and we do not need to pay any money at all! The Midrash says that in any generation the Bais HaMikdash is not rebuilt, it is like they destroyed it. Therefore, the sins that destroyed it thousands of years ago still exist in all of these generations it has not been rebuilt in, including our generation, and so, once we get rid of these sins, the Bais HaMikdash will be rebuilt. What terrible sin must we fix to be able to rebuild the Holy Temple? The answer is we need to bring peace between man and his fellow man. We need to avoid disputes and arguments. Just as everyone would run to donate money to rebuild the Temple, we need to run to bring peace and avoid these battles of hatred between people.

As we know, anything that happens in the world happens for the Jewish people. Last week, I wrote about a Philadelphia Phillies pitcher who pitched a perfect game. This week, I would like to share another story of a pitcher who pitched a perfect game, but this pitcher will not be in the history books for pitching to only 27 batters without letting up a hit, walk, or error. His name is none other than Armando Galarraga and the reason he did not pitch a perfect game was because the first base umpire, Jim Joyce, made a mistake on a close call at first base – it just happened to be the 27th batter and during the replay, it was clear that he was safe by a split second. Normally when something like that happens, a war would break loose, but that is not what happened. After the game and after he reviewed the replay, Jim Joyce realized he made an error. He modestly apologized to Armando Galarraga and Mr. Galarraga accepted the apology with a smile. The next day, Mr. Joyce was the home plate umpire and guess who delivered the line-up card to him before the game: Armando Galarraga. On national television, they patted each other on the back. These two people taught the world a great lesson: it is more important to make peace than to win a great trophy.

But there is something else to remember. Who are these two people? People whose life is dedicated to a game. They are not great Sages. They are not outstanding scholars. They are not the leaders of communities. They are two people: one can throw a ball and the other waves his arms to say if someone is safe or out – certainly not anything really that special. And we have heard all of the stories of what type of people baseball players are and as a group, they certainly are not the greatest nor most intelligent people in the world. So if these two people can avoid a dispute, then certainly we, who are part of the greatest people in the world (the Jews!), can also avoid arguments. If Armando Galarraga could accept an apology even though he will not be in history books as a perfect game pitcher, certainly we can. And if Jim Joyce can modestly apologize for doing something wrong, certainly we can. This event should inspire us to avoid committing the terrible transgression of being like Korach and his followers!

Good Shabbos!
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