In this week’s portion we learn about Moshe’s cousin, Korach, who challenged
Moshe’s authority claiming that, out of nepotism, Moshe chose his brother Aharon to be
the high priest. Korach alleged that Aharon’s position should have gone to him.
Korach was a 130-year-old holy man who spent his life faithfully serving Hashem.
Indeed, he had רוח הקודש (“Divine Spirit”), which means that he could see into the
future. We see the proof of his holiness in that he was one of the four men chosen to
carry the Holy Ark with the Tablets. Anyone who is less than perfectly righteous would
die on the spot for just touching the Ark, let alone carrying it. For his 130 years Korach
pursued a life of holiness and purity to reach this high level.
To quell the rebellion, Moshe Rabbeinu, the humble leader who had successfully
intervened many times to save the Jewish people, even putting his own life on the line,
uncharacteristically presented Hashem with an ultimatum: Either You kill Korach and his
cohorts in a miraculous way, or I am not Your servant sent to lead the Jewish nation
(Numbers 16:28-30).
וַיֹּאמֶר משֶׁה בְּזֹאת תֵּדְעוּן כִּי יְדֹוָד שְׁלָחַנִי לַעֲשׂוֹת אֵת כָּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים הָאֵלֶּה כִּי לֹא מִלִּבִּי.
(כט) אִם כְּמוֹת כָּל הָאָדָם יְמֻתוּן אֵלֶּה וּפְקֻדַּת כָּל הָאָדָם יִפָּקֵד עֲלֵיהֶם לֹא יְדֹוָד שְׁלָחָנִי.
(ל) וְאִם בְּרִיאָה יִבְרָא יְדֹוָד וּפָצְתָה הָאֲדָמָה אֶת פִּיהָ וּבָלְעָה אֹתָם וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם וְיָרְדוּ חַיִּים שְׁאֹלָה
וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי נִאֲצוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים הָאֵלֶּה אֶת יְדֹוָד
28) Moshe said, “Through this shall you know that Hashem sent me to perform all these
acts, that it was not from my heart. 29) If these die like the death of all men, and the
destiny of men is visited upon them, then it is not Hashem Who has sent me. 30) But if
Hashem will create a phenomenon, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them
and all that is theirs, and they will descend alive into the pit – then you shall know that
these men have provoked Hashem!”
As Moshe finished speaking the Earth under Korach and his entire family opened
up and swallowed them alive. The Earth’s “mouth” then closed as if nothing had ever
happened. Unlike an ordinary earthquake, which often leaves deep cracks and fissures
in its wake, here the Earth returned to its previous undisturbed state.
But why had Moshe demanded a miraculous demise for Korach and his co-
challengers? Why did Moshe not try to save them as he had the Jewish nation so many
times before?
Moshe understood, and Hashem concurred, that Korach’s challenge threatened
to undermine the integrity of the Torah’s transmission through Moshe to the Jewish
people.
Korach alleged that Moshe had on his own made up the laws of the Torah
instead of having brought them straight from Hashem. When appointing a leader for the
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Kehat family, Moshe passed over Korach and appointed Elitzafan instead, someone
who was inferior to Korach by a league. Korach concluded that Moshe must have had
something personal against him and therefore chose the less qualified individual. He
reasoned that Hashem surely knew that he, a 130-year-old sage and one of only four
people holy enough to carry the Holy Ark, was the most qualified member of the Kehat
family to be its leader. So, it couldn’t have been Hashem Who chose the inferior person;
it had to have been Moshe. So, if Moshe could choose a leader that Hashem didn’t
choose, so, too, Moshe could invent laws that Hashem didn’t give.
Moshe needed to act. If Korach’s challenge was left unaddressed, later
generations could conclude, “Moshe couldn’t even convince the people of his time that
he was Hashem’s agent, so why should we believe him? Look at Korach! He challenged
Moshe’s authenticity. And although Korach may have been killed, Hashem killed him out
of respect for Moshe, not because Korach was incorrect!”
This is why it was imperative that Hashem heed Moshe’s ultimatum and create a
new type of death penalty, one never seen before. Korach’s miraculous demise would
prove beyond any doubt that Hashem had chosen Moshe to give His Torah to the
Jewish people.
There is deep significance in that Korach and his family were swallowed up alive,
instead of dying first.
The verse in the Torah that describes the creation of man says (Genesis 2:7):
(ז) וַיִּיצֶר יְדֹוָד אֱלֹקִים אֶת הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה:
- And Hashem God formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into his
nostrils the soul of life; and man became a living being.
Rashi comments:
ויפח באפיו – עשאו מן התחתונים ומן העליונים גוף מן התחתונים ונשמה מן העליונים. לפי שביום ראשון
נבראו שמים וארץ. בשני ברא רקיע לעליונים. בשלישי תראה היבשה לתחתונים. ברביעי ברא מאורות
לעליונים. בחמישי ישרצו המים לתחתונים. הוזקק בששי לבראות בו מעליונים ומתחתונים ואם לאו יש
קנאה במעשה בראשית שיהיו אלו רבים על אלו בבריאת יום אחד (ב”ר פי”ד וע”ש יח):
Hashem made man from the lower realms and from the upper realms, the body from the
lower realms and the soul from the upper realms because on the first day the heavens
and the earth were created. On the second day He created the sky for the upper realms
and on the third day He created the land for the lower realms. On the fourth day He
created the lights for the upper realms, and on the fifth day He created the fish for the
lower realms. On the six-day He needed to create something of the upper realms and
the lower realms, for if He did not, there would be an imbalance in nature.
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We see that, from the world’s inception, Hashem was careful to create it with a
balance between the upper and lower realms. There had to be peace in the world. It
could not be a place where an imbalance would exist.
Similarly, we say in our daily prayers that Hashem is:
יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ. עוֹשֶֹה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הַכֹּל
The Creator of light and darkness, makes peace and creates everything.
The world exists on a very delicate balance between many opposing forces all of
which coexist peacefully with each other. All nature’s forces are extremely fine-tuned
and operate in perfect harmony with one another. Creating an argument upsets the
world’s balance such that the arguer is no longer entitled to remain here.
The Earth’s swallowing up Korach and his family alive, is announcing,
“Although your time to die has not come, you cannot stay here. You have
upset the balance in the world through your argument, and your presence on this
earth is no longer warranted. Therefore, I am swallowing you up alive.”
In addition to Korach and his family being swallowed alive, 250 people from the
tribe of Reuven who joined with Korach in his rebellion for other reasons all died
instantaneously when they attempted to bring an incense offering that Hashem had not
commanded.
Despite all of this miraculous activity, the Jewish people were not completely
convinced that Moshe was right. The Torah tells us (Numbers 17:6):
(ו) וַיִּלֹּנוּ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמָּחֳרָת עַל משֶׁה וְעַל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר אַתֶּם הֲמִתֶּם אֶת עַם יְדֹוָד
6) The entire assembly of the Bnai Yisroel complained on the morrow against Moshe
and Aharon saying, “You have killed the people of Hashem!”
This complaint itself triggered another plague from Hashem, which killed another
14,700 people. What would be necessary to convince the Jewish people completely
once and for all? If all of these miraculous events did not suffice to convince them, what
would?
Hashem, of course, knew the answer, and related it to Moshe (Numbers 17:17-20).
(יז) דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְקַח מֵאִתָּם מַטֶּה מַטֶּה לְבֵית אָב מֵאֵת כָּל נְשִׂיאֵהֶם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר מַטּוֹת
אִישׁ אֶת שְׁמוֹ תִּכְתֹּב עַל מַטֵּהוּ
(יח) וְאֵת שֵׁם אַהֲרֹן תִּכְתֹּב עַל מַטֵּה לֵוִי כִּי מַטֶּה אֶחָד לְרֹאשׁ בֵּית אֲבוֹתָם
(יט) וְהִנַּחְתָּם בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לִפְנֵי הָעֵדוּת אֲשֶׁר אִוָּעֵד לָכֶם שָׁמָּה
(כ) וְהָיָה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר אֶבְחַר בּוֹ מַטֵּהוּ יִפְרָח וַהֲשִׁכֹּתִי מֵעָלַי אֶת תְּלֻנּוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֵם מַלִּינִם עֲלֵיכֶם
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17) “Speak to the Bnai Yisroel and take from them one staff for each father’s house,
from all their leaders according to their fathers’ house, twelve staffs; each man’s name
shall you inscribe on his staff. 18) And the name of Aharon shall you inscribe on the
staff of Levi, for there shall be one staff for the head of their fathers’ house. 19) You
shall lay them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 20) It
shall be that the man whom I shall choose – his staff will blossom: thus, I shall cause to
subside from upon Me the complaints of the Bnai Yisroel, which they complain against
you.”
Moshe conveyed Hashem’s message to all the tribes, each of whom gave a staff
to Moshe with their names carved on them. The staff with Aharon’s name was placed in
the Tent of Testimony among the other staffs.
The Torah then reports: (Ibid 23).
וַיְהִי מִמָּחֳרָת וַיָּבֹא משֶׁה אֶל אֹהֶל הָעֵדוּת וְהִנֵּה פָּרַח מַטֵּה אַהֲרֹן לְבֵית לֵוִי וַיֹּצֵא פֶרַח וַיָּצֵץ צִיץ וַיִּגְמֹל שְׁקֵדִים
(כד) וַיֹּצֵא משֶׁה אֶת כָּל הַמַּטֹּת מִלִּפְנֵי יְדֹוָד אֶל כָּל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּרְאוּ וַיִּקְחוּ אִישׁ מַטֵּהוּ
23) On the next day, Moshe came to the Tent of the Testimony and behold! The staff of
Aharon of the house of Levi had blossomed: it brought forth a blossom, sprouted a bud,
and almonds ripened. 24) Moshe brought out all the staffs from before Hashem to all
the Bnai Yisroel; they saw and they took, each man his staff.
That did it! This successfully quieted all the complaints against Moshe.
What? Another miracle conclusively settled the matter? What was wrong with all
the previous ones? And what an underwhelming miracle at that: A stick detached from
the ground grew a flower, a bud, and some almonds? That’s it? How could that compare
to an earthquake that pinpointed the people who needed to be swallowed up and then
closed up as if nothing ever happened?
Our Sages teach us that it wasn’t the miracle at all that convinced them. Rather,
the miracle’s inherent message made them realize that Korach’s claim to the High
Priesthood was not possible.
The Chidushei Harim (d. 1866) explains the significance of Aharon’s staff
blossoming and bringing forth a fruit in the Holy Tent of Testimony.
A branch cut from the tree can no longer grow because it has been severed from
its source of life, the tree. Aharon’s branch in the Tent of Testimony grew flowers, buds,
and almonds because it was still connected to its source of life, the Holy place in which
it resided. This was a clear give-away that Aharon’s roots and source of life was in the
Holy Tent of Testimony; his staff was still connected to its source of life so that it could
continue producing fruits. Therefore, because no one else shared his holiness, Aaron
was the one chosen for the job of High Priest.
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Rabbi Nosson Wachtfogel, the Lakewood Mashgiach זצ”ל (1910-1998), provided
the following explanation.
The Mishna in Pirkei Avot instructs us to be like Aharon HaCohen.
(יב) הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַהֲרֹן, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, אוֹהֵב אֶת
הַבְּרִיּוֹת וּמְקָרְבָן לַתּוֹרָה
Hillel said: “Be a student of Aharon the Cohen, one who loves peace, and pursues
peace. He loves Hashem’s creatures (humankind) and brings them closer to the Torah.”
Aharon’s life mission was to bring peace and harmony to people who were at
odds with each other. This could be husband and wife, business partners, neighbors, or
family members. The Torah teaches us that when Aharon died, the entire Jewish nation
mourned his loss, including the women. Unlike when when Moshe died, the women
didn’t particularly mourn him because he had little to do with them. But Aharon was
involved in bringing peace between husband and wife, and, as such, was beloved by
the women who benefitted from his peacemaking efforts as well.
The Midrash astoundingly shares that when Aharon died, 80,000 children who
had his name, accompanied his coffin. These children were born after their parents
were on the threshold of breaking up, whose marriages Aharon had saved. Out of
gratitude, they named the next boy born after him.
The Mishna moreover relates that Aharon was not only a peacemaker. He ran
after peace. When two people were in an argument, Aharon would go to one of them
and tell him that his friend really feels terrible about the fight and wishes to make up but
that he is too embarrassed to come forward. Aharon would then go to the second party
and tell him the same. When each person heard that the other wanted to make up,
when they crossed paths, each went over to the other and apologized.
Aharon’s being the peacemaker between people rendered him the natural choice
to be the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest. After all, what is the job of a Cohen? To bring
peace between man and his Creator. By bringing people’s sacrifices to Hashem and
bringing atonement to the person, the Cohen restores the peace between man and his
Father in Heaven.
Acquiring the trait of an,אוהב ישראל love of the Jewish people, the quality
necessary to bring peace between two arguing people, was something that Aharon
worked on every day of his life. It is not something that came naturally to him but is a
trait that he focused on and developed within himself step by baby step, one step at a
time. Throughout his life, Aharon worked on himself and ultimately became the perfect
agent for peace.
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This is what Aaron’s staff, which grew flowers, buds, and almonds, represented,
viz, that to become a High Priest, one must work on himself and grow into the person
worthy of bringing peace between man and Hashem. Only Aharon was qualified for this
job. Korach had no track record or experience in this area at all. Although he was a
great man in his own way and had worked on himself to get to where he was – a bearer
of the Holy Ark, in the matter of working in the trenches with people and their issues, to
this he had no connection.
This realization is what quieted the complaints of nepotism against Moshe for
choosing his brother as the High Priest. Of course, Aharon was the only man for the job!
He was supremely suited for this role, and Korach was not! How could we not have
seen this?
The Talmud (Yoma 52b) says:
והתניא משנגנז ארון נגנזה עמו צנצנת המן וצלוחית שמן המשחה ומקלו של אהרן ושקדיה ופרחיה
When the Holy Ark was hidden away, with it went the little flask of manna, the bowl of
anointing oil and Aharon’s staff with its almonds and flowers.
We see from the Talmud that Aharon’s staff simultaneously had the flowers and
almonds on it. This is very unusual. When a fruit grows on a tree, first come the
blossoms or the flowers. After pollination, the petals fall off, a bud is formed, and the
bud grows into the fruit. Aaron’s staff miraculously had both the flower and fruit at the
same time. What was the need for this miracle?
Rabbi Moshe Feinsteinזצ”ל explains that the flowers that precede the fruit
represent the preparation and toil that precede the mitzva (the fruit). This is because
learning Torah and performing mitzvot are unlike any other endeavor. In any other
pursuit, say learning a profession, all the study and practice that one puts in is only
beneficial if, in the end, he achieves his goal of ordination in that profession. But if he
fails his exams and despite all of his efforts cannot practice the profession for which he
so arduously prepared, he has wasted his time. All that information is of no use to him
at all. In Torah and mitzvot, contrarywise, all the effort put into performing the mitzvah or
trying to understand a piece of Torah are holy and are an eternal part of the mitzvah.
Moreover, even if it turns out that the person does not completely fulfill the mitzvah or
fully understand the piece of Torah, he will be rewarded for the effort alone. The toil is
holy because it is an effort to serve Hashem, and on its own merit is deserving of
reward.
This is the lesson that Hashem wanted to teach us. The toil is part of the mitzvah
and remains forever. This concept applied to Aharon also. He was a person who toiled
greatly to achieve the level of אהבת ישראל – love of his fellow Jew. The ever-present
flower on his staff represented the toil that made him the perfect choice for High Priest.
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The vast difference between Korach and Aharon is remarkable. Korach disturbed
the peace in the world by creating an argument with Moshe, while Aharon spent his life
repairing the world by bringing peace back into it.
Our Sages teach us that making a personal sacrifice for the sake of peace will in
turn bring peace and salvation to the world.
Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Shlita, Israel’s current Sephardic Chief Rabbi, recently
delivered the following lesson to the people of Israel.
The Talmud (Taanit 25b) relates the following story concerning a draught.
מעשה ברבי אליעזר שירד לפני התיבה ואמר עשרים וארבע ברכות ולא נענה. ירד רבי עקיבא
אחריו ואמר, “אבינו מלכנו, אין לנו מלך אלא אתה; אבינו מלכנו למענך רחם עלינו,” וירדו גשמים. הוו
מרנני רבנן יצתה בת קול ואמרה לא מפני שזה גדול מזה אלא שזה מעביר על מדותיו וזה אינו מעביר על
מדותיו
It was very late in the winter, and it hadn’t yet rained. In those times an absence
of rain was a matter of life and death. There was no imported food, no storage freezers
and refrigerators, or bottled water to be purchased. Without rain, there would be no
water for drinking and people could die of thirst, and no crops would grow, so there
would be no food to eat. Therefore, the rabbis instituted a system of fast days on which
to repent and pray for rain. On that particular occasion, even after a battery of fasts and
prayers, no rain had fallen.
The people gathered to pray and cry to Hashem for rain, and Rabbi Eliezer (the
greatest rabbi of the time, and Rabbi Akiva’s teacher) stepped up to the podium to lead
the people in prayer. He recited the 24 special blessings designed to bring rain but was
not answered. Subsequently, Rabbi Akiva stepped up and said, “Our Father our King,
we have no King other than You. Our Father our King, for Your sake, please have mercy
on us!” Immediately, it started to rain. The people started murmuring – “How could this
be? Rabbi Eliezer said all 24 blessings and wasn’t answered, and Rabbi Akiva said just
a few words, and he was answered immediately? It looks like Rabbi Akiva is greater
than his teacher!” A voice came forth from heaven and said, “It is not because Rabbi
Akiva is greater than Rabbi Eliezer that I answered his prayers. It is because Rabbi
Akiva is forgiving of his honor and does not respond when disgraced.”
Rashi explains what it means to be מעביר על מדותיו – to forgo one’s honor.
המעביר על מדותיו – שאינו מדקדק למדוד מדה למצערים אותו, ומניח מדותיו והולך לו
He does not make it a point to respond in kind to someone who has wronged
him. Rather, he leaves his ego behind and carries on peacefully.
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We see that Hashem stopped the drought because of Rabbi Akiva’s quality of
forgoing his honor to keep the peace. When we are at peace with our fellow, we keep
the balance to the world, and Hashem, in turn, does His part to keep the balance in the
world.
This message is relevant to all of us. When we wonder to ourselves, “What can
we do to help the brave and selfless soldiers who are risking their lives to destroy the
evil enemy? What can we do to help our brothers and sisters in Isreal who are living
under a constant bomb threat?” The answer is that we can maintain the peace with our
fellow Jew by forgoing our honor. Even though I would be justified in responding with
(and even enjoying!) a zinger that will handily mortify the person who just insulted or
embarrassed me, I will swallow my pride and remain silent. With this I am modeling the
attribute of Aharon the High Priest and not the attribute of Korach. This will bring
salvation and peace to the world, and bring us one step closer to the end of the conflict
in the Middle East.
