The Hif’il Effect: Why Outrage is a Campaign Strategy, Not Leadership
With Israel moving toward elections, political campaigns are gathering pace. The public is hearing sharp debates, political alliances, and carefully planned attacks on opponents. At the same time, we are entering the Three Weeks, the period when we mourn the destruction of both Batei Mikdash. Chazal teach that the Second Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of **Sinat Chinam**—baseless hatred and division among Jews. It is at this very time that Parshas Pinchas gives us a powerful warning about what happens when influence is placed in the hands of those who thrive on creating division.
In this week’s parashah, a new generation stands at the border of Eretz Yisrael. Moshe counts the families who will inherit the Land. At first, it seems to be nothing more than a list of names and numbers. But when the Torah reaches the tribe of Reuven, it suddenly pauses to remind us about two men who died many years earlier: “The sons of Eliav were Nemuel, Datan, and Aviram. These are the same Datan and Aviram… who incited against Moshe and Aharon… when they rebelled against Hashem.”
Why does the Torah interrupt the census to bring back an old story?
Rashi points to an important detail in the Hebrew. The words *asher hitzu* (“who incited”) and *be-hatzotam* (“when they incited”) are written in the **Hif’il** form, the form that means causing others to act. Rashi explains that Datan and Aviram did not only rebel themselves. They caused others to rebel against Moshe and against Hashem.
This tells us how they operated. They did not simply complain. They knew how to stir up public feeling. They could take a difficult situation, turn it into anger, and spread that anger to others. In effect, they ran an ongoing campaign of division for their own purposes.
The Midrash shows that this was their pattern from the very beginning. In Egypt, when Moshe tried to stop two Jews from fighting, Datan answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?” Instead of accepting peace, he turned Moshe’s intervention into an attack. Later, when the manna fell and Moshe instructed the people how to collect it, Datan and Aviram deliberately ignored his instructions in order to weaken his authority. Finally, during Korach’s rebellion, when Moshe invited them to speak with him and try to resolve the dispute, they refused completely: “We will not go up!” They were not looking for peace. They wanted the conflict to continue.
When the Torah interrupts the census to describe Datan and Aviram as **kriei ha’edah**, men of importance within the nation, it is teaching us something important. They were respected and influential people. They had the ability to strengthen the nation, yet they chose to weaken it. The message to the new generation about to enter Eretz Yisrael is clear. One of the greatest dangers facing any nation is leaders who turn anger into a political tool.
How do we tell the difference between this kind of leadership and true leadership?
The answer comes immediately after the census. Moshe asks Hashem to appoint a new leader. He describes the leader as someone “who will go out before them and come in before them.” A true leader leads from the front. He shares the burden of the people. He does not stand on the sidelines criticizing others. He accepts responsibility.
Hashem tells Moshe to appoint Yehoshua, an **ish asher ruach bo**, a man with spirit. Chazal explain that Yehoshua had the ability to understand different people and different ways of thinking. He could bring people together instead of driving them apart. That is the real test of leadership, especially during an election campaign—not who can divide people most successfully, but who can unite a nation with many different opinions.
As the election campaign continues during the Three Weeks, voices like those of Datan and Aviram often become louder. Public debate can easily reward those who attack most fiercely, create the greatest outrage, and keep people focused on division. That is exactly the pattern of **Sinat Chinam** that led to the destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdash.
Parshas Pinchas calls on us to rise above that pattern. It teaches us not to be drawn in by loud voices or constant outrage. Real leadership is not measured by the ability to create anger, produce clever attacks, or refuse to engage with others. It is measured by responsibility, humility, wisdom, and a constant commitment to the unity and wellbeing of Klal Yisrael.
As we enter the Three Weeks, this is our challenge as well. We must be careful not to become part of the cycle of blame and division. Instead, we should strengthen **Ahavat Yisrael**, speak with respect even when we disagree, and look for what unites us rather than what separates us. In doing so, we begin to repair the **Sinat Chinam** that destroyed the Beis Hamikdash and help prepare the way for its rebuilding, במהרה בימינו.
