Those Who Trusted in Their Riches and Fell

(Proverbs 11:27): "He who earnestly seeks good seeks favor" - if you have seen a person who speaks well of his fellow, the ministering angels speak well of him before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said (Exodus 33:19): "And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." "But he who searches after evil, it shall come upon him" - this is the wicked Haman, who was searching out evil against Mordecai, and it was turned upon himself. What is written after it? (Proverbs 11:28): "He who trusts in his riches shall fall" - this is Haman; "but the righteous shall flourish like foliage" - this is Mordecai and Esther. Another interpretation: "He who trusts in his riches shall fall" - this is Korach; "but the righteous shall flourish like foliage" - this is Moses and the Sanhedrin. Rabbi Levi said: There were two great rich men in the world, one in Israel and one among the nations of the world, Korach in Israel and Haman among the nations; and both of them listened to their wives, and both of them fell. Korach listened to his wife and fell. How so? When he came from the study house, his wife said to him: What law did Moses renew for you in the study house? He said to her: He explained to us the matter of the blue thread. She said to him: What is this matter of the blue thread? He said to her: Thus he expounded and said: It was told to me from the mouth of the Almighty that you shall make for yourselves fringes upon the corners of your garments, and that one thread shall be of blue, as it is said (Numbers 15:38): "And they shall put upon the fringe of each corner a thread of blue." At that moment she was laughing and saying to him: See how he sits and makes sport of you. Know that it is so, for he says "upon the corners of your garments." If I make for you a cloak that is entirely blue - what then? What did she do? She arose and made for him a cloak that was entirely blue. He wrapped himself in it and stood before Moses. He said to him: This garment that you have made, what of it? He said to him: You said a little and I have done much. Moses answered and said to him: It is written (Deuteronomy 6:9): "And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates" - a house that is full of Torah scrolls, does it require a mezuzah or not? He said to him: Yes! He said to him: Let your ears hear what your mouth brings forth! Moses said to him: Korach, you have transgressed the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, and grown proud in your riches! At that moment he stood before the Holy One, blessed be He, in anger and said before Him: Master of the universe! If the words of Your Torah stand firm, bring upon them a decree, as it is said (Numbers 16:30): "But if the LORD creates a new creation, and the earth opens its mouth" - and which is this? This is the mouth of Gehinnom, that it should be created in that place. Rabbi Levi said: Why was his name called Korach? Because he made a baldness [korchah] in Israel. "Son of Yitzhar" - a son who heated [she-hirtiach] the whole world like noon [tzohorayim]. "Son of Kehat" - a son who set on edge [she-kihah] the teeth of those who bore him. "Son of Levi" - that he became an escort [levayah] to Gehinnom. What caused this for him? Because he trusted in his riches, therefore it is said "He who trusts in his riches shall fall." The wicked Haman - from where do we know that he listened to the counsel of his wife and fell? As it is said (Esther 5:14): "Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him: Let them make a gallows," and so on. Rabbi Levi said: This teaches that they were all of one counsel. He rose in the morning to speak evil against Mordecai before Achashverosh. As soon as he stood before Achashverosh, he said to him: Come and feast with me today at the banquet. The wicked one said in his heart: When I sit before the king at the banquet, I will say to hang Mordecai upon the gallows. The Holy Spirit answers him and says to him: Wicked one! Let your scheme return upon your head! And so it was done to him, as it is said (Esther 7:10): "And they hanged Haman upon the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai." As the proverb says: "Woe to the guilty, woe to him who shuts himself up in his own song." And all this why? Because he trusted in his riches, as it is written "He who trusts in his riches shall fall." And whatever he was scheming, the Holy Spirit would answer him and say: Not according to the thought that you have thought, but according to the thought that I have thought, as it is said (Isaiah 55:8): "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, says the LORD."