In the newest episode of “Pretty Little Liars,” Hanna finds herself feeling very guilty over the art gallery ticket she provided to Aria’s mom. Had her mom actually made it to the exhibit, she would have seen Aria with Ezra Fitz, which would have gotten her into a lot of trouble. However, Hanna was worried about covering for her mother, who took an unauthorized loan (it’s pretty much stealing) from the bank she works for. The mysterious A texted Hanna that if she got Aria in trouble, A would give her back some of the money. Hanna listened to a bully- there’s a beautiful part in the last episode where Spencer is talking about the need not to give into bullying- and now she feels guilty. In a showdown this week, Aria claims that she would never do what Hanna has done, even if A threatened her with her secret getting out.
Bullying is found in an episode in the desert with a man named Korach. In Numbers 16, Korach and his followers inform Moshe that: “You take too much upon yourself, because everyone in this congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is amongst them. Why then do you lift yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” At first this question seems innocuous. Korach and his followers really don’t understand why Moshe has made a distinction between the Levites, the Israelites and the Priests (Kohanim). But the backstory to this episode shows that sadly this was not the case.
Sanhedrin 109b in the Babylonian Talmud recounts the story from the perspective of Korach’s wife. Having learned that a kinsman was appointed to a higher position than her husband, she became jealous and furious. She attacked her husband in her anger, making fun of him and pushing him to confront Moses.
In her words: “See what Moses has done! He himself has become king; his brother he appointed High Priest; his brother’s sons he has made the vice High Priests. If terumah is brought, he decrees: Let it be for the priest. If the tithe is brought, which belongs to you [i.e., to the Levite], he orders: Give a tenth part thereof to the priest. Moreover, he has had your hair cut off (according to the instructions in Numbers 8:7) and makes sport of you as though you were dirt… ; for he was jealous of your hair.” Said he to her, “But he has done likewise!” She replied, “Since all the greatness was his, he said also, ‘Let me die with the Philistines’ (a reference to Samson, who did not mind dying along with the Philistines so long as he killed them)…” With her unkind words and jabs, she effectively bullied her husband into taking on Moses in a catastrophic fight that ended with Korach’s tent, possessions and family being swallowed by the earth.
It was wrong for Korach to listen to his wife’s unkind remarks; they incited him to fight with Moshe and bring misfortune upon himself and his followers. Similarly, it was wrong for Hanna to allow A to bully her. Recently, Rabbi Burg wrote an entire article about bullying (you can read it here). As he put it, there is no place for bullying in God’s world.
