Machlokes and the Shabbos unity of opposing middos

בזוה"ק מחלוקת פלוגתא דשלום שבת שמא דקוב"ה כו'.

In the Zohar HaKadosh: "A dispute (machlokes) — a division (pelugta) of peace; Shabbos is the Name of the Holy One, blessed is He," etc.

The Sefas Emes opens with a cryptic passage from the Zohar that links the machlokes of Korach to the idea of a "division of peace" and to Shabbos, which is called the Name of Hashem. He will unpack how true division and true unity relate.

הענין הוא כי הכהנים ולוים הם מדריגות חלוקות כדפי' בזוה"ק בוקר ויודע כו' אהרן בחי' יומם יצוה ה' חסדו.

The matter is that the kohanim and the leviim are distinct levels, as explained in the Zohar HaKadosh: "In the morning [Hashem] will make known"... Aharon is the aspect of "by day Hashem commands His chesed" (Tehillim 42:9).

Kohanim and leviim represent two different spiritual modes. Aharon and the kohanim embody "day" — the open shining of Hashem's chesed (loving-kindness), the attribute of the right side.

ולוים בחי' בלילה שירה עמי ימינא ושמאלא.

And the leviim are the aspect of "by night His song is with me" (Tehillim 42:9) — right and left.

The leviim embody "night" — the avodah of gevurah, the song that rises specifically from concealment, the left side. So kohanim are "right" (chesed) and leviim are "left" (din/gevurah).

והנה בשורש העליון הכל אחדות אחד.

Now, at the supernal root, everything is one unity.

Although right and left, day and night, appear opposed below, at their source above they are completely unified — one indivisible whole.

וע"ז מברכין יוצר אור ובורא חושך הם בפרטות כל אחד בפ"ע זה ביום וזה בלילה.

And about this we bless "Who forms light and creates darkness" — these are in their particularity, each one on its own, this one by day and this one by night.

The blessing "yotzer or u-vorei choshech" reflects the differentiated state: light and darkness, day and night, each functioning separately in the realm of multiplicity.

עושה שלום ובורא הכל הוא בחי' השבת שבו מתחדש אחדות כלל הבריאה.

"Who makes peace and creates all" is the aspect of Shabbos, on which the unity of all of Creation is renewed.

The phrase "oseh shalom u-vorei es ha-kol" corresponds to Shabbos, the day on which all the differentiated forces are reunited and the underlying oneness of Creation is renewed.

ובימי המעשה הוא בפרט כל יום בפ"ע.

And on the weekdays, it is in particularity, each day on its own.

During the six workdays each day stands separately, in the mode of division and multiplicity.

וכתיב ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר בכל ימי המעשה ולא בשבת כי בשבת הכל אחד.

And it is written "and there was evening and there was morning" on all the days of Creation, but not on Shabbos, for on Shabbos all is one.

The Torah marks each weekday with "evening and morning," denoting boundary and division, but the seventh day has no such phrase — because on Shabbos the divisions dissolve and everything is one.

וכל אלה הענינים הם גם בפרט כל עובד ה' שיש באדם עצמו מדות חלוקות.

And all these matters apply also within each individual servant of Hashem, for within a person himself there are distinct middos.

This same dynamic of division and unity plays out inside every Jew, who contains within himself differing and even conflicting middos (character traits).

וזה המחלוקת באדם עצמו שמדה זו ממשיכו לכאן וזה לכאן.

And this is the "machlokes" within a person himself, that this trait pulls him in one direction and that one in another.

The internal "dispute" is the tug-of-war between a person's opposing traits — one drawing him this way, another that way — the inner counterpart of Korach's machlokes.

ובש"ק שזוכין לסייעתא דשמיא שורש העליון בהארת נשמה יתירה נק' יום מנוחה שבו מתאחדין כל המדות להיות אחד.

And on Shabbos Kodesh, when one merits siyata di-Shmaya (heavenly assistance), the supernal root, through the illumination of the neshamah yeseirah, it is called a day of rest, on which all the middos become unified into one.

On Shabbos, with the extra soul (neshamah yeseirah) and heavenly help, a person is connected to the supernal root, and his conflicting traits are harmonized into one — which is the true "rest" (menuchah) of the day.

כדאיתא בשם הרמב"ן ז"ל בעוה"ז מי שאוהבו אינו ירא ממנו וכמו כן להיפוך.

As it is brought in the name of the Ramban, may his memory be a blessing: in this world, one who loves someone does not fear him, and likewise the reverse.

The Ramban observes that in worldly relationships love and fear are mutually exclusive — we do not fear the one we love, nor love the one we fear; they pull in opposite directions.

רק בעבודת הבורא ית' אהבה ויראה מתאחדין.

Only in the service of the Creator, may He be blessed, do ahavah and yirah become united.

In avodas Hashem alone, the opposites of ahavah (love) and yirah (awe) are not contradictory but join together as one — the supreme example of unifying opposed middos.

והכלל כפי סייעתא דשמיא שזוכה האדם להפיק רצון מהשי"ת זוכה אל השלימות כמ"ש ברצות ה' כו' גם אויביו ישלים אפילו היצה"ר כדכתיב בכל לבבך:

And the principle is: to the degree of siyata di-Shmaya that a person merits, finding favor with Hashem, he merits to wholeness — as it is written "When Hashem is pleased with a man's ways, even his enemies make peace with him" (Mishlei 16:7), even the yetzer hara, as it is written "with all your heart" (Devarim 6:5).

The overarching principle: the more a person merits Hashem's favor through siyata di-Shmaya, the more he reaches inner shleimus (wholeness). Then even his "enemies" are reconciled — even the yetzer hara is brought into his service of Hashem, as hinted in "with all your heart" (be-chol levavcha, with both inclinations).

Summary: Drawing on the Zohar, the Sefas Emes explains the machlokes of Korach as a question of division versus unity. Kohanim (chesed, day, right) and leviim (gevurah, night, left) are distinct levels that nonetheless share one supernal root. The weekdays — "yotzer or u-vorei choshech," "evening and morning" — are the realm of division; Shabbos — "oseh shalom u-vorei es ha-kol," with no "evening and morning" — is where all becomes one. The same struggle exists within each person, whose conflicting middos pull him in opposite directions, but through the neshamah yeseirah of Shabbos and siyata di-Shmaya they unite. Like ahavah and yirah, which only in avodas Hashem can coexist, a person who finds favor with Hashem reaches wholeness in which even the yetzer hara is reconciled and serves Him — "with all your heart."