YASHRESH YA’AKOV
Korach
Yashresh Ya’akov - Parshas Korach
   

Why was Korach’s speaking out against Moshe and Aharon considered as if he was speaking against Hashem?

(16,1) “And Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehas, the son of Levi took (himself) and Dasan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav, and On the son of Peles, descendants of Reuven.”

The meaning of the words “and Korach…took” has been discussed by many commentaries, but we can also explain it according to what I found written in the name of our Rav, the holy R. Yisrael from Ruzhin. The Rav said about himself that whoever speaks against him is like he is speaking against Hashem. At first glance this appears to be an astonishing thing for the Rav to say!

But the truth is that this statement indicates true humility, because someone who truly considers himself to be nothing knows that the power for everything that he does comes from above, and that he is merely a means of transmission of this power. Therefore one who speaks against him is like he is speaking against Hashem.

And these are the very words that Moshe Rabbeinu, the truly humble one, said in Shemos 16:8 when the people complained to Moshe and Aharon that they had no meat to eat. He said: “What are we?”- we are nothing and all the things that we do come from Hashem. Therefore, “not against us is your complaint, but against Hashem”.

This was the difference between Moshe and Korach. Korach was also a servant of Hashem, but he imagined that everything that he did was due to his own power. This is what the words “and Korach took” means - he imagined that all his actions he took himself by his own power. Therefore he sought to also take the status of the priesthood and become the Kohen Gadol.

But Moshe did not think like Korach - he acknowledged that no one does anything due to his own power but rather the power comes from above. Therefore he said to Korach “and Aharon what is he?” (16:11) - he is also nothing and all of his power comes from Hashem, “and therefore you and all of your congregation are gathered together against Hashem”.

How does the posuk allude to the number of men that Korach persuaded to join him ?

(16,1) “And Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehas, the son of Levi took (himself) and Dasan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav, and On the son of Peles, descendants of Reuven.”

Another way of explaining what Korach took is from the gematria of the first letters of the words “ויקח קרח בן יצהר בן קהת בן לוי” which is 252. That is, he took 250 men plus Dasan and Aviram. But On the son of Peles was saved by his wife as the midrash teaches.

What was Korach’s main sin?

(16,1) “And Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehas, the son of Levi took (himself) and Dasan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav, and On the son of Peles, descendants of Reuven.”

Another way of explaining why it says that “Korach took” is that when a person sins, G-d forbid, he is not completely culpable since his evil inclination coerced him, as it teaches in the gemora Kiddushin 63b, so that it is almost as if he was forced to sin. For this reason Hashem established that one can repent for his sins and the repentance will be effective.

But someone who causes others to sin was not coerced by his evil inclination, and therefore repentance does not help. As it says in Pirkei Avos 5:21 “anyone who causes many to sin will not be given sufficient ability to repent”. Therefore the Torah says that “Korach took”, because his main sin was his taking others to sin with him.

How could the fire-pans of sinners be used as a covering for the altar?

(17,3) “The fire-pans of these who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and they should be made into beaten plates as a covering of the altar, because they offered them before Hashem and became holy, and they shall be a sign for the Children of Yisrael.”

The previous posuk says that Elazar was commanded to retrieve the fire-pans, but then elaborates that these are “the fire-pans of these who have sinned at the cost of their lives”. The reason for this elaboration is to answer a difficulty you might have, that these were the fire-pans of sinners and therefore they should be thrown away and not used as a covering for the altar! Therefore the Torah explained that the reason why these fire-pans were to be used as a covering for the altar was because they sinned “at the cost of their lives”. Even though they belonged to sinners, nevertheless, they did this thing with complete dedication even if it meant that they would lose their lives. [The author is alluding to the concept of doing a sin completely for the sake of heaven, a concept which is discussed in other seforim]

What lesson did the princes of the tribe learn from the test with the staffs?

(17,24) “And Moshe brought out all the staffs from before Hashem to the Children of Yisrael, and they saw and they took each man his staff.”

Why does the Torah tell us that each man took his staff to his home? What difference does this make?

It seems to me that the meaning of the posuk is that the generation of the wilderness were actually men of a very lofty spiritual level. Because of this each one imagined that he was the greatest one of that generation, and that he could do all the things that Moshe and Aharon did.

But after they had been shown from heaven with this sign that it was specifically Aharon who had been chosen by Hashem to be the Kohen Gadol and no one else, “they saw and took each man his staff”. Each man took his way and his level, the way and the level that were fitting for him, and conducted himself accordingly, and they did not try to conduct themselves with a level of greatness that was beyond them.

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