When a Repeated Lie Rings True

In this week’s Torah portion, we read of the rebellion led by Korach against Moses and Aaron. Korach’s accusation was a classic populist play: he argued that Moses and Aaron had staged a power grab, appointing themselves to leadership without G-d’s mandate. His “glib” proof? Because the entire Jewish nation is holy, they didn’t need leaders at all. G-d did not appoint Moses and Aaron; they appointed themselves.

This rebellion occurred shortly after the disaster of the Spies. When the Spies returned with a negative report, Caleb (one of the two who remained loyal) argued that if Moses commanded them to go, they would surely succeed. He famously declared that even if Moses told them to build ladders to the sky, they would do it, because Moses’ word was G-d’s word. In contrast, the other ten spies argued that neither Moses nor G-d could make them win this war. G-d’s miracles were reserved for the desert, they argued, but in the “natural” world of civilization, the natural patterns rule. G-d doesn’t intervene.

The nation saw the gruesome death of those ten spies, and they saw their own sentence for turning against Moses: they were sentenced to forty years of wandering in the desert for their lack of faith. They would not be permitted to enter Israel; only their children would enter.

This raises a disturbing question: Why did the Jews succumb to Korach’s arguments so soon after seeing the devastating consequences of rebelling against Moses? Had they not already witnessed Moses split the sea, bring the Manna, and deliver the Torah? Did they not already know that Moses was a man of truth, a man of G-d?

The Power of the “Big Lie”

The Midrash explains that Korach spent the entire night before the rebellion recruiting, repeating his arguments with increasing insistence. Korach knew a psychological truth: if you repeat a lie often and vociferously enough, people begin to believe it. Most people cannot fathom that someone would speak with such audacity if there weren’t some truth to the claim.

We see this earlier in the Torah with Joseph. When his master’s wife attempted to seduce him, the Torah notes she spoke to him “day after day,” bolstering and justifying her demands, but he “did not listen to her” (Genesis 39:10). Joseph understood that truth speaks for itself and rarely needs to be repeated. The fact that she had to repeat her “arguments” daily was proof that she was lying.

Repetition doesn’t just convince others; it convinces the liar. Consider the man who tried to sell a high-mileage pickup truck on Facebook with no luck. A friend suggested he lie and list it as a low-mileage BMW. A week later, the friend asked if it sold. The man replied, “Are you kidding? Why would I sell such a nice car?”

When we repeat a lie, we eventually believe our own marketing. Korach bought his own story, and that conviction is what allowed him to sell it to others.

The Media and the “One No”

We see this same phenomenon in today’s media. The libel that Israel is committing “genocide” is repeated with such confidence and frequency that people begin to doubt their own eyes. They also fear that if they disagree, they will be labeled or ostracized.

How do we combat a lie fueled by volume and repetition? Job once asked, “Who can make pure from impure?” (Job 4:14). His answer was, “No one.” No one can extract good from bad, sweet from bitter, or light from dark. It can’t be done.

However, Chassidim offer a different reading of those words. “Who can make pure from impure? One who says “One No.” In Yiddish, there is a concept called, ain mol nein, a “Single No.” When, as a child, I made outlandish requests or demands, my parents would shut them down with ain mol nein.

Often, when we try to bolster our position with long explanations and adjectives, we accidentally concede that there is a legitimate debate to be had. By over-explaining, we feed the opposition. The Chassidic approach is to shut the door: A single, resolute “No.”

When someone peddles a vicious lie, don’t engage in a debate that gives their claim oxygen. Instead, speak with certitude. Tell them they are wrong, invite them to see the truth for themselves, and then walk away.

Don’t believe those who say it’s a waste of effort to confront these lies. They take Job’s words literally: “No one” can pull good from bad. The Chassidic read is that you pull good from bad with “one no.” You salvage the truth the moment you find the courage to face a liar down and then walk away. By walking away from the debate, you master your own impulses and stand firm in the power of ain mol nein—the “Single No.”

This is how we handle our own internal temptations: we don’t argue with the “Evil Inclination”; we simply say no. Ignoring the debate and engaging in the debate are both “Evil Temptations.” Instead, shut down the debate with One No.

By refusing to give a lie the “life” of a conversation, we extract the pure from the impure and stand firm in the truth.