Moshe was exceedingly distressed and he said to Hashem, “Do not accept their offering.” (Bamidbar 16:15)

Moshe went out of his way to say a special prayer to Hashem not to accept Korach’s offering. Why did Moshe do this? It seems like it was a waste of time. Why would Hashem even consider listening to Korach? Korach was extremely wicked. The laws that Moshe taught to us is the foundation of Judaism. If Korach was successful in saying that Moshe was a liar, Judaism would not exist anymore. There would be no reason to keep any of the laws that Moshe taught to us and, of course, Hashem did not want this. So, why would Moshe even think Korach would be successful when he brought his offering?

The reason is because there is no Mazal for Jews. Certain events in life are pre-destined and once they have been determined there is no way to change them. This is not true by the Jews, though, because we can change pre-destined events. The way we change them is with our prayers and acts of chesed. Our prayers are extremely strong! Even when the “stars” say that something bad is going to happen and it seems hopeless, when we pray we can change that. Moshe was concerned because he knew how powerful prayers are and Korach knew this also. Through Korach’s prayer (his offering), Korach could change the results of his future. Even though Korach was a wicked person, he could change the outcome of the future through his prayers. That is how strong prayers are!

As we know, there are three teenagers who were captured in Eretz Yisrael last week. What can we do? The answer is that we can pray with everything we have. If a wicked person’s prayers could have destroyed the entire Jewish religion (if Moshe didn’t pray not to listen to Korach’s prayers), then certainly our prayers for something good can save those who were captured. When we recite Tehillim, do not treat it lightly. Pray with all of your heart because your prayer is extremely important and powerful!

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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