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Why was On Ben Peles saved from Korach's rebellion while others perished? The Talmud (תלמוד) credits the wisdom of his wife versus the foolishness of Korach's wife. A wise woman nurtures her husband's potential rather than trying to reshape him into someone else.
This shiur explores the profound difference between a wise woman and a foolish woman through the lens of Parshas Korach, drawing from Talmud (תלמוד) Sanhedrin 119b. Rabbi Zweig begins with a personal anecdote from his yeshiva reunion, where he observed that his predictions about students' futures were consistently wrong - those he expected to succeed often didn't reach their potential, while those he dismissed became community leaders. This led him to question what factors truly determine success. The Talmud explains that during Korach's rebellion, all conspirators were destroyed except On Ben Peles, who was saved by his wife's wisdom. The Gemara (גמרא) quotes Mishlei: "Chochmas nashim banah baysah" - the wisdom of women builds the home (referring to On Ben Peles' wife), while "iveiles b'yadeha techaresena" - a foolish woman destroys her home with her own hands (referring to Korach's wife).
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Sanhedrin 119b
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