Moshe said to Aharon, "Take the fire-pan and place on it fire from the Altar and put on incense (ketores), and go quickly to the congregation... Aharon ran into the midst of the congregation... he placed the incense and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living and the plague was stopped" (Bamidbar 17:11-13).
Ibn Ezra (11) explains "the ketores", refers to, "hayedu'a - the already known". The definite article (the hei hayedi'a) is absent with respect to the ketores itself. He adds cryptically, "vehamaskil yavin". How can we understand this?
Aharon was told to put incense and only then go quickly to the congregation. However, Aharon ran into the midst of the congregation, and only then placed the incense. Why these two changes?
Moshe told Aharon that the ketores would stop the plague. But Aharon did more than that; he actually stood between the dead and the living. Apparently, the incense itself achieved atonement, but Aharon's presence was necessary to stop the plague. Why?
Perhaps the answer to all these questions is the source of the plague. The paradigmatic dispute not for the sake of Heaven is the dispute of Korach and his entire assembly (Avos 5:20). Dispute is so severe that even infants, who are not punishable in earthly or Heavenly court, perished (Rashi 16:27). The only way to stop a plague caused by dispute is to emphasize the importance of unity. The word ketores is related to the word kesher, a knot, which in Aramaic is "kitra" (Shabbos 111b) (see Zohar, parshas Vayechi). Just as a knot unifies two things, the ketores represents the unity of Am Yisrael. Moreover, the inclusion of foul smelling chelbana in the ketores mandates the inclusion of sinners in this unity (Kerisus 6b).
The ketores itself sufficed for atonement, but to stop the plague required Aharon's personal intervention between the dead and the living. Aharon loved peace, pursued peace, loved b'riyos - people - and brought them close to the Torah (Avos 1:12). The Tiferes Yisrael (46) explains the use of the word, "b'riyos", which literally means, "creatures", to refer to those who are undeserving of the title Adam, person. Even those who mistreat you should be loved and thereby be brought close to the Torah.
"Seek peace and pursue it" (Tehilim 34:15). Like Aharon, seek peace from your place, pursue it in another place (Avos D'Rav Nasan 12:6). Aharon was told to go only to the congregation, but to enter into the group of rabble-rousers would be inappropriate and take him out of "his place". Yet Aharon ran into the midst of the sinners, pursuing peace in "another place".
Furthermore, as the Ramban (16:4) notes, Aharon, in his mussar and holiness, was silent during the entire dispute, implying that Korach was greater than him. Only someone like Aharon, who was so devoted to peace and unity, could, with the help of the ketores that ties all Jews to one another, stand between the dead and the living and stop the plague.
Aharon was told to put the incense on the firepan before going to the assembly. Instead, he ran into the midst of the congregation and only then put the incense into the firepan. This change is reminiscent of the positions of the Tzedukim and the Perushim, respectively, regarding the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur (Yoma 19b). Aharon compared the holy Jewish people, even the sinners, to the Holy of Holies (Kodesh Hakodoshim). Only there, in the authentic tradition, is the incense to be placed in the firepan. Only Aharon, who loved all of Hashem's creatures, could recognize the holiness in each Jew. He connected, tied, and united even sinners, as the chelbana in the ketores represents. Thereby, he achieved peace and ended the dispute and the ensuing plague.
The known firepan was the one used in the Mishkan for the ketores. But, as Ibn Ezra writes, the ketores was an unknown. It was a foreign fire (aish zara, see Vayikra 10:1), typically forbidden and punishable by death, which was the fate of Nadav and Avihu (10:2) and the two hundred and fifty accomplices of Korach (Bamidbar 16:35, see Rashi 17:13). The Netziv (17:11) states that here, too, it was not authorized by Hashem, but was allowed because piku'ach nefesh - saving lives - which overrides all such prohibitions. Unlike his sons who perished when they brought an aish zara, Aharon was rewarded for his heroic pursuit of peace, even with sinners, not in his place. His ketores was accepted (niskabel), making known that he and his descendants are the true Kohanim forever (Ramban 16:5), deserving special gifts of service and holy foods (18:7,8).
We are all commanded by Hillel to be disciples of Aharon (Avos 1:12), loving and pursuing peace, loving Hashem's creatures and bringing them close to Torah. This mandate has even greater significance today when our soldiers are fighting a murderous enemy. Many have died, and many more barely escaped with their lives, like the living near the dead saved by Aharon.
What can we, and all of Am Yisrael, do to help save our soldiers? The Yerushalmi (Peah 1:1) teaches that Achav's soldiers, although idolatrous, won their wars because there was no infighting (dil'turia). David's soldiers were tzadikim but fell in war because of internal disunity and divisiveness.
If David's soldiers were tzaddikim, why was there disunity? Perhaps they were called tzaddikim only in the realm of bein adam lamakom. Possibly, however, they were complete tzaddikim and did everything with noble intentions from their perspective. Indeed, the Netziv (16:1) writes that the two hundred and fifty renowned leaders who joined Korach (16:2) had pure intentions (kivnu l'shem shomayim). How, then, can the dispute of Korach and his entire assembly be called a dispute not for the sake of Heaven (Avos 5:20)?
The answer is that a dispute that leads to constant infighting is characterized as lo leshem shomayim notwithstanding noble intentions. An amicable split is necessary to avoid continuous divisiveness (Mishna Berurah 150, s'if kattan 2). Even in our time, some righteous individuals with the best of intentions who were involved in bitter public disputes suffered greatly in their personal lives, perhaps because of their actions. Thus, the most important lesson for good people is not, "don't be like Korach" (17:5); this is obvious! Rather, "don't be like his assembly - adaso" (ibid.), well-meaning individuals who joined an inappropriate controversy and were punished severely.
Our heightened efforts to pursue peace with all Jews with love can spell the difference between life and death for our soldiers who are in constant danger. Parshas Korach will be read on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, a month which begins the commemoration of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, which was also caused by internal divisiveness and baseless hatred (Yoma 9b). May our pursuit of peace and unity, as disciples of Aharon, protect our soldiers and lead to the renewed service of Aharon's descendants in the Beis Hamikdash.
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