"They, and all they possessed, descended alive into the grave". (Bamidbar 16:33)
What sunk the Titanic?
In 1912, the Titanic was preparing for its maiden voyage. It was touted as being the largest, safest and most luxurious ship ever constructed. The captain was carefully selected for skills and expertise.
Before departing on what would be the ship's first and only voyage, the captain spoke to a group of journalists, where he described the honor of being selected to pilot this enormous and powerful ship, and he went as far as to say that the Titanic was unsinkable.
Halfway through the Titanic's journey, several other ships in the area sent warnings to the captain about seeing icebergs adrift. However, the captain, confident in his ship's invincibility and driven by his desire to show the world what the Titanic was capable of, ignored these warnings and refused to alter his speed and change course, leading the Titanic directly to its tragic end. An iceberg tore a while in the ship, sinking it and more than 1500 people lost their lives as a result.
This famous incident demonstrates how dangerous and damaging it is for someone to chase after honor and pride.
Wasting money for honor
Chazal taught in Prikei Avos (4:21), "Jealousy, lust and honor take man out of the world." The commentators explain, that the pursuit off honor will even prevent physical enjoyment in this world.
The Ramchal, zt"l, wrote in Mesilas Yasharim (chapter 11) that pursuing honor is the greatest waste of time, more so than chasing any other empty pleasure in this world. If not for one's honor, one would be content with any food he has, the clothing he can afford, and any house he can live in. Without this superficial desire to be lauded and celebrated by others, a person would be satisfied with his livelihood and would not exhaust himself pursuing wealth and riches, and he wouldn't try day after day to gain his peers approval, which is a fruitless endeavor without an end.
In 5713, I heard the Klauzenberger Rebbe speak about this very topic. The Rebbe explained that by his account, a person only needed 25 cents to survive an entire week, if they heeded the advice of Chazal who taught (Pirkei Avos 6:4), "Bread with salt you shall eat, water in small measure you shall drink, and upon the ground you shall sleep; live a life of deprivation and toil in Torah". Even if one wishes to live more extensively, the Rebbe explained, they can work part time and be able to enjoy the rest of their days.
However, when someone pursues wealth so that he can live a lavish lifestyle, or because he is envious of what others have, he will spend his entire life working, never satisfied with what he has, but always striving for more. In the end, he would have spent every day of his life working himself into exhaustion, and enjoying not a moment.
In this generation, we see how lavishly and carelessly people spend their wealth. They take extravagant vacations. They spend unimaginable sums of money on Yom Tov programs and extravagant simchas. And, they do all of this so people can know how important, powerful, successful they are. They seek honor and respect which is shallow and superficial and not worth the money they had to spend to achieve it.
Honor killed him!
The Peleh Yoeitz wrote that when someone pursues honor, their days are full of anguish and pain. When someone focuses solely on being respected and honored, eventually, someone will not show him the honor that he thinks he deserves, and it will hurt. His ego will be crushed. And that pain can lead to a fight or argument, as this person tries to avenge those who have "disrespected" him. If that revenge cannot be delivered, he will resent this offender even more. Such a person who pursues honor will live a life full of anger, hatred, disagreements and disappointments.
The desire for honor can even cost one his life. One of the wealthiest men in the city of Kovna, lost all of his money and he became impoverished. He could not even afford a loaf of bread. And, in the end, he died of starvation. The entire town mourned his tragic death. However, when R' Yisrael Salanter, zt"l, heard this, he remarked: "This man did not die of starvation. His desire for honor killed him. Had he accept his new circumstances, he would have found the humility to seek the charitable help of others and he would have had enough for food".
Pursuing honor is an empty ambition because you can never achieve your goal, your lust for that respect will never be satiated. You will always think that you deserve more respect than you are receiving.
Chazal taught (Eruvin 13:) "Whoever pursues honor, honor escapes him." R' Eliezer of Koshnitz explained this, that when someone chases after honor, they will always feel like it is beyond their grasp; they will always feel slighted and disrespected. They will always resent people for not showing them enough honor. And, as the Chazal continued, "whoever runs away from honor, honor pursues him", Meaning when someone feels unworthy and humble, they will always feel like they're being too honored.
The grave of honor
Korach and his entire congregation perished because of their pursuit of honor and glory. The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 18) explained that Korach challenged Moshe when he saw that Elitzafan ben Uziel was appointed as the leader, and he wanted that position instead. He felt that he deserved that honor.
This is the meaning of our pasuk that says: " They, and all they possessed, descended alive into the grave... " Korach and his congregation, and all the people who are identifying themselves with their lifestyle of pursuing honor, wasted their lives – their lives descended in the grave. Only someone who does not pursue honor can have a true life of joy and contentment.
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