Korach - Quality of Sobriety 

"The entire community is holy and Hashem is amongst them; so why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of Hashem?"--Numbers 16:3

This week we read of Korach, a cousin of Moshe, who led a rebellion against Moshe and his brother, Aaron, the High Priest, charging them with unduly taking high offices for themselves. Although both Moshe and Aaron were divinely appointed to their posts, Korach suspected that they were merely grabbing power for themselves and trying to assert their superiority over the rest of the nation. "The entire community is holy and Hashem is amongst them," said Korach, "So why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of Hashem?"

Moshe and Aaron had held their positions long before Korach's rebellion in the second year in the wilderness. What prompted Korach to challenge them at that time?

In last week’s reading, we read of the scouts sent by Moshe and how they feared entering the Land. The scouts enjoyed the nomadic life in the wilderness where they were free to study, pray and meditate all day. They were thus reluctant to establish a homeland for fear of being distracted from their spiritual pursuits. Their grave error lied in failing to appreciate the importance of serving Hashem not just in speech and thought but in action.

Korach took this episode to heart and drew his own conclusion. Since action is of paramount importance and since everyone performs the same commandments, there is apparently no difference between one person and the next. The fact that people like Moshe and Aaron have a heightened sense of understanding and appreciation for the commandments should be irrelevant. Action is action and we all follow the same code, reasoned Korach.

As such, Korach resented the very notion that Moshe and Aaron should be recognized on the basis of their greater spiritual sensitivity.

But Korach was wrong. Granted, right action is more crucial than right thinking or feeling. But that does not mean that thoughts and feelings are insignificant. The same deed may be done with various degrees of awareness and feeling. Those who perform the commandments with greater intellectual and emotional depth are rightly placed in their positions as mentors, teachers and guides.

There is a direct application of this lesson to our experience in recovery. We all work the same Steps. We all take the same basic actions: admitting our powerlessness, turning our life over to a Higher Power, taking moral inventory, making amends, etc. In this regard, everyone who works the program is the same as everybody else. But we must not make the same mistake as Korach by thinking that technical execution of the deed is all there is and that everybody is on the same level. There is such a thing as “quality of sobriety,” and we should humbly recognize that in this regard there are those who surpass us.

We all know what it means when we hear that “so-and-so works a good program.” It’s not just about action. It’s about internal growth — intangibles such as serenity, courage and wisdom. It can be a hard pill for such an insecure lot as us to swallow, but if we know people who have real quality sobriety, we should admit it and aspire to be like them. In order to "stick with the winners" we have to give the winners their due.

The reason that Yitzchok wanted to give the berachos to Aisav (it's true that Aisav managed to fool him to think he was a tzadik, but he certainly knew that Yaakov was the one who sat and learned Torah all day while Aisav had shortcomings) is that Yitzchok  felt that only one who has nisyonos and challenges is worthy to get the berachos.
Therefore, Yitzchok felt that only Aisav could get the berochos because even though Yaakov actually learned more and may have behaved better, Aisav did have the nisyonos that would make him worthy.
In reality, Aisav was not worthy, because he had not overcome his nisyonos, and Yaakov’s nisyonos were yet to come.

From Torah Wellsprings Vayeishev 5782
We know Eishes Potifar thought she was acting Lshem SHamayim, having see that she would have a descendant form Yosef. Divrei Shmuel says, Yosef knew this as well. he thought it meant he would end up sinning with her. He could have just give in, since he would be doing it anyway. But instead he said, at least this time I wont do it, I'll pass the test for now. And in the end he had Siyatta Dishmaya and never sinned.

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For an entire year, the wife of Potifar had tried to seduce Yosef every day. Yosef had used his own righteousness and free-choice to avoid her for a full year. He had already done all he could do with his own free will, but his madrega wasn't "complete" because there was no way for him to avoid the feeling deep down of "I was able to overcome this great test"... As great a Tzadik as Yosef was, there was no way for him to not have a slight feeling of "Kochi Ve'Otzem Yadi" in his overcoming these great tests. Therefore, his great Medrega was still missing the true recognition that everything he had achieved was really from Hashem. In order to bring Yosef to the madrega of Tzadik Yesod Olam, he had to come to a complete recognition of this reality. And that was the purpose of this final test. Yosef was shown clearly that he could NOT withstand this last time without clear divine intervention. He saw that he indeed would have fallen had Hashem not stopped him. And with this recognition, Yosef was able to achieve the "Bitul" that completed his Madrega, and through this he reached the high level of Tzadik Yesod Olam.

This is the bechina of Moshiach ben Yosef. However, the Bechina of Moshiach ben Dovid required an even deeper internalization of this recognition, and that is why Dovid Hamelech was actually brought to sin by Heaven. In order to reach the level needed for Moshiach ben Dovid, he needed an even deeper recognition of this reality, and therefore he wasn't saved from the sin like Yosef was. He was brought to fall, and his Tikkun was accepting that it was brought about by Heaven. His struggle and test were not with the sin itself. That was preordained by Hashem. His test was what he would do AFTER the fall. Dovid retained his faith and didn't fall into Yiush - even though the shechinah left him for 20 years afterwards! That was Dovid's test - and his greatness.

Rav Yechezkel Levinson, the Mashgiach of Ponovitch, wrote in his sichos Mussar that everything that happens to us, including our sins, are really from Hashem. So Rav Yechezkel asks, if this is the case, what is asked of us? And he answers something amazing . What is asked of us is only to come to the recognition that our falls are from Hashem. As long as we feel WE did the sin, we are far from our Tikkun. Our Teshuvah is nothing more and nothing less than coming to the true recognition that Hashem brought us to fall and not to give up. At that point we can have a true Teffilah to Hashem to take us back. The new "Retzonos" that we develop as a result of our fall, that is the real Teshuvah.

In the yotzros of Parashas Parah we say:
מי יתן טהור מטמא לא אחד
This can be translated, "How does one become pure? How does one stop sinning? The answer is לא אחד ,by saying "No!" once and for always. Say "no" once, and you won't need to say no again.

To explain this idea, we share the following: An alcoholic recognized that his drinking was destroying his life, so he decided never to drink again. Around ten in the morning, he became thirsty for a drink, but he controlled himself and didn't take it.
At noontime, he started walking towards the bar, his old habits overtaking him. Midway, he reminded himself of his resolve and stopped himself. He wouldn't take a drink, and that was final. He returned home. He had several other tests that day, but he overcame each challenge. Ten o'clock at night, he told himself, "I had a very good day today. I deserve a drink to celebrate." So he went off to the bar and got drunk.
Tomorrow, if he decides once again to stay clean, he will need to say "no" again. Why? Because his first resolve wasn't strong enough. But the teshuvah we are talking about in the yotzros is לא אחד ,when one says "no," once and for always. This is indeed an approach to teshuvah, but there is also the gradual approach.

The Midrash (Tanchumah, Behaloscha 10) says, "The Jewish people said to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, 'Ribono shel Olam, You know the great power of the yetzer hara… [How can we conquer him?] Hashem replied, 'Send the yetzer hara away, step by step in this world, and I will totally remove the yetzer hara in the future. Today, improve in one thing; tomorrow, improve a bit more until you acquire a second nature." This Midrash refers to the gradual approach to teshuvah.

When one sets out on becoming a better person, he isn't always able to make one final and firm decision to change. Often, one needs to change gradually, step by step, day after day. If he doesn't give up, he will succeed.  

The Beis Avraham of Slonim zy"a, compared this to someone who drinks a cup of wine. It seems like nothing happened. He isn't drunk. He isn't even dizzy. Then he drinks a second cup, and then a third until he's intoxicated. Now he recognizes that the first cup also contributed to the end result. Similarly, when one overcomes the yetzer hara once, nothing seems to have changed. He seems to be the same person as before. But it isn't so. Something has changed. If he keeps at it, one step at a time, he will see that he has become a new person.

The Tanya (27) teaches: "Whenever one is victorious over his yetzer hara, even for just a short moment…for example, he desires to eat, but he pushes it off for an hour or even for less than an hour, and during that time he studies Torah… Or when one remains quiet and doesn't say what he strongly desires to say…even if it is merely for a brief moment… it sanctifies him… As Chazal say: 'When a person sanctifies himself a little bit below, Heaven sanctifies him a lot from above."

So, two things happen when one improves step by step: (1) Each time he overcomes the yetzer hara, he gradually becomes a better person. (2) Each small step in the right direction is significant because this small deed grants him siyata dishmaya. Hashem will sanctify him and help him win over the yetzer hara.

This might be beneficial for some of us...