24 Jun KORACH: THE STRENGTH TO DO IT ALONE

Parashat Korah tells the
tragic story of the uprising
led by Korah against Moshe
Rabbenu. The first pasuk in
the parashah lists the names
of the other prominent figures
in this revolt, one of whom was

a man named On ben Pelet.
The Gemara observes that although On ben
Pelet is mentioned in this first pasuk, his name
never appears again anywhere in the story.
Unlike the other people mentioned, On ben
Pelet disappears. The Gemara explains that
although On was among the original
instigators of this rebellion, he eventually
rescinded. Thanks to his wife, he pulled out of
the revolt. Therefore, his name is never
mentioned again.
The Gemara says that this is why he was
named On ben Pelet. The name Pelet alludes
to the word peleh – “wonder,” something
extraordinary, almost hard to believe. It is
truly wondrous that somebody would do what
On ben Pelet did – pull himself out of a fight
that he helped to start. Usually, once
somebody throws himself into a controversy,
into some cause, it is almost impossible for
him to change his mind and do an about-face.
But On realized his mistake and pulled out of

the uprising, and so he was called ben Pelet,
someone who did something “wondrous.”
One of the commentators raises the question
of why On’s decision to withdraw was
considered so “wondrous.” After all, the
Torah says that Korah’s followers numbered
just 250 people. The rest of the 600,000 adult
men in Beneh Yisrael, plus the women and
children – around 2 million people!! –
remained loyal to Moshe. What was so
remarkable about On deciding to leave the
tiny group of rebels to join the mainstream?
Was this not the easier, more natural choice?
The answer given is that when a person is part
of a group, he sees only that group. Everyone
outside the group doesn’t count. Once On ben
Pelet got involved with this rebellion, these
were all the people he saw. From his
perspective, these were the only people who
mattered. And so his decision to leave them
was, indeed, nothing short of “wondrous.”
As someone who has been involved in high
school education for many years, I can
confirm this phenomenon. I’ll have a
conversation with a kid who is involved in
drinking, partying, and other things that he
shouldn’t be involved in, and he’ll tell me,
“Everybody does it.” Then I’ll have a
conversation with a kid who goes to shul three

times a day and is committed to learning
Torah, and he’ll tell me, “It’s not hard… This
is what everyone does.”
“Everyone” is the people somebody associates
with. Because everybody outside that circle
doesn’t matter.
This is what makes peer pressure so powerful.
A person’s peer group is his “everybody.” He
goes along with them because as far as he is
concerned, they are “everybody,” there is no
one else.
How do we handle this problem? How do we
resist the overwhelming force of peer
pressure, and how can we equip our children
with the strength to resist it?
The Rambam, in a startling passage in Hilchot
De’ot, writes that because we are so influenced
by our surroundings, if a person lives in a time
when everyone acts improperly, he should
live alone. If necessary, he should go live in
deserts and caves in order to avoid the
negative influences of the society.
I don’t know anybody who did this, and the
Rambam himself – despite writing that his
generation was this way – did not do this.
What the Rambam meant, I believe, is that a
person needs to have the resolve, conviction
and strength to “do it alone” when necessary.

Of course we are not going to live in a desert
or a cave. But we need to live with the courage
to do what other people aren’t doing, and to
not do what other people are doing. We need
to tell ourselves, and our children, that it’s ok
to be different, that we are strong and
independent enough to do what we know is
right even if the people around us aren’t.
When necessary, we are capable of living in a
“cave,” according to our principles and beliefs
that don’t align with those of other people.
True, it might seem like a peleh, a “wonder,”
to have this strength and conviction, to be
different from the people around us. But if On
ben Pelet could do it, then so can we, and so
can our children. It is an extremely difficult
challenge, but it can be done. Let us empower
ourselves, and our youngsters, with the
confidence to do the right thing even when it
isn’t the popular thing.