The following is a brief summary of some of the thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
[Due to a technical glitch, the audio failed during the broadcast of the end of the halacha portion and the first of the two parsha vorts. As such, this blog post will only summarize the second parsha vort. If you would like to see more from R' Frand on the parsha, please search using the search box above.]
The gemara states in Sanhedrin that On's wife saved him from destruction. The gemara recounts the conversation wherein his wife said to On - why are you getting involved? You still will be On and cannot rise to a position of power. On heeds his wife's advise and says - but what can I do? She then gets him drunk and sits outside the tent with her hair uncovered. When the men come for On they see that her hair is uncovered and they leave.
R' Frand quoted the sefer Siyach Ya'akov who made an interesting observation. He notes that the people were willing to challenge Moshe - the holiest man who speaks to Hashem. Yet, they saw a woman who was not dressed modestly and ran away. How can people be so holy that they won't look at her, but when they got involved in an argument, they got carried away? Clearly, they were not so holy.
R' Frand next quoted from the Haftorah which tells the story of Shmuel, who argues with the Jews. In Shmuel I (12:3), Shmuel says to them - have I ever taken anything from you? Have I been dishonest? They respond - no. This is similar to the parsha where Moshe states to Hashem in Bamidbar 16:15, I have not taken any of their donkeys, nor have I wronged even one of them.
The question can be asked - why is it that Moshe does not make the same speech to the people that Shmuel did? Moshe instead makes these comments to Hashem, but Shmuel is effective in relating this to the people?
R' Frand answered that the difference was that Moshe was dealing with people who were in the middle of a machlokes. When people are in the middle of machlokes there is no reasoning with them. People will not listen and do not want to listen when they are in the middle of a public argument. For people like this, the only solution is for the ground to open and swallow them.
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