Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch
STAM TORAH
PARSHAS KORACH 5773
“WHO YOU FOOLING”
And man said: Let there be a division among all the peoples of the earth. Let there be a dividing line, or a wall, between those that are for me and those that are against me, and it was so. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
And man said: Let us gather all of our resources into one place, and let us create instruments of power to defend ourselves: Let us make a radio to mold men’s minds, and a draft to control their bodies, and flags and symbols of power to capture their souls. And it was so. And there was evening, and there was morning, the fifth day.
And man said: Let there be censorship to divide the light from the darkness. And it was so. And man made two great censorship bureaus, to control the thoughts of men, one to tell only the truth that he wanted to be heard abroad, and one to tell only the truth he wanted to be heard at home. And it was so. And there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day.
And man said: Let us create weapons that can kill millions and hundreds of millions from a distance, and let us make clean bombs, and let us learn sanitary germ warfare, and let us make guided missiles. And it was so. And there was evening, and there was morning, the third day.
And then, on the last day, a great cloud went up over all the face of the earth, and there was a great thunder over all of the face of the earth, and there was a great cry that reached up from over all of the earth, and then man, and all of his doings, was no more. And the earth rested on the last day from all of man’s labors, and the universe was quiet on the last day from all of man’s doings, which man in his folly had wrought. And there was nothing. There was no more evening, and there was no more morning–there was no more day.
It is mind-boggling that despite Moshe’s warning to Korach and his followers of what would occur if they persisted in their rebellion, they did not waver or even hesitate. “Moshe said, ‘Through this shall you know that G-d has sent me to perform all these acts, that it was not from my heart…. G-d 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 G-d.2” Korach’s assembly was composed of people who had witnessed all the miracles Moshe initiated, including his standing atop Sinai during the revelation of the Giving of the Torah. Yet here they brazenly persisted in their coup, undeterred. It seems analogous to imprudent sailors who refuse to abandon their sinking ship even as it plunges into the depths with safety boats available.
The gemara3 states that “even at the doorway of purgatory, the wicked will not repent.”A person can be so utterly blinded by his opinions and feelings that he may fail to adhere to logic and reason. He can become so consumed and convinced by the veracity of his mission that there is no convincing him otherwise, even though the truth of where he is heading seems so glaring to everyone else. This does not hold true merely for simpletons and naïve people. Even the greatest of men can – and do – fall prey to their own machinations and intrigues, as did Korach and his worthy followers.
Rav Shlomo Levinstein relates4 that a person once approached the Tchebiner Rav, Rav Yissocher Dov Berish Weidenfeld zt’l, to inform the Rav that he had appointed himself a Rebbe, and he planned to invite people to seek his blessing and advice.
The Rav knew the man well and knew that he was far from worthy of such a title. When the Rav asked him why he felt he was worthy of the position, the man emphatically replied, “Why not? If the Bais Yisroel can be the Gerrer Rebbe, and Rav Aharon Rokeach5 could be the Belzer Rebbe, why can’t I become a Rebbe as well?”
The Tchebiner Rav6 was stunned by the man’s words. He replied to the man by quoting the aforementioned statement from the Gemara in Eiruvin which states that the wicked do not repent, even at the doorstep of purgatory.
The Rav asked him how it is possible for a wicked person not to repent when he sees an ignominious end awaiting him?
The Rav explained that we are taught that at times a sinner whose soul has been sent to Gehonim to be purged of its iniquities may be on the verge of being released, but still requires a little more time. But then the soul of a righteous person being led to Gan Eden may be led past Gehonim, so that he sees those lingering souls he can seize them and insist that they ascend with them.
The Rav looked into the self-appointed Rebbe’s eyes and said, “A wicked person while being led into purgatory will still not repent because he will continue to delude himself of his righteousness. Even at that fateful moment, he will be convinced that he is being led towards Gehonim so that he can rescue the lingering souls while on his way to his eternal reward. He won’t even be able to fathom his own culpability.”
G-d has endowed man with a power of imagination that can help him build worlds and accomplish incredible feats. Yet, at the same time, if left to its own devices, without seeking the opinions and guidance of others, man can destroy himself and his world in the most horrific manner.
The Torah7 states that “the sons of Korach did not die.” Rashi8 explains that although Korach’s sons were at first part of their father’s rebellion, while the dispute was unfolding they had thoughts of repentance. Therefore, “a special place was designated for them in purgatory where they still dwell.”
Rav Shalom Schwadron zt’l noted that if the sons of Korach repented before the punishment began they would not have been affected at all. If they repented after the ground opened up beneath them, it would have been too late. So why does it say that they have ‘an elevated place in purgatory’? When exactly did they repent?
We must conclude that they repented as the earth was opening beneath their feet. They saw that they were about to be swallowed up, and, at that moment, they began to contemplate that they may have been mistaken. Even at that moment their repentance accomplished something.
What is truly frightening is that the rest of the rebels, including Korach himself, did not harbor any such thoughts of repentance, even then!
Moshe had warned Korach and his adherents about what would transpire if they didn’t desist, yet even when they saw it begin to happen, they obdurately maintained their position, even as they descended into Gehonim.
We often read about the tragedies of our ancestors in the Torah with a certain measure of disregard for the folly of their actions. We would be wise to realize that these ‘sins’ were committed by people of stature, righteous individuals, people who were privy to the greatest miracles ever performed. If they could stumble so profoundly we are surely far more vulnerable.
The Mishna9 states that “Jealousy, desire, and honor remove a person from the world.” The tragedy of the spies10 was the result of the pursuit of honor11, the rebellion of Korach was the catastrophic result of unbridled jealousy, and the tragedy in Shittim12 was the result of intemperate lust/desire. These three tragic accounts are generally read on consecutive Shabbosos during the weeks preceding the Three Weeks of mourning for the Bais Hamikdash 13: Parshas Shlach contains the story of the spies, Parshas Korach relates the story of the rebellion, and (Chukas-) Balak contains the story of Shittim.
These accounts demonstrate that even the greatest of people must be wary of the dangers of their own passions and pursuits. One always needs to seek the guidance and counsel of teachers and mentors to ensure that the path he is following and the pursuits he is engaged in are not the results of his own foolish machinations, despite his best intentions.
My Rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein, noted that the twentieth century was a ‘century of Korach’. In his words, “Rebellion against tradition and the old and the veneration of new theories of social engineering, morality and religion have been the unfortunate hallmark of this, the bloodiest of all centuries. Nowhere has this been more noticeable than in Jewish life. Socialism, Communism, Secularism, Nationalism, atheistic Zionism, Reform, Conservatism, Reconstructionism, Femininism and other assorted theories and movements arose in this century to claim the place of prominence in fashioning the Jewish people and its future. All of them have proven themselves to be woefully inadequate for the task set forth.
“Much of the ruin currently clearly visible in the Jewish world is directly traceable to the rebellion against Moshe and his Torah, against Holyoke and tradition, which marks every one of these theories and movements and is in fact the common denominator for all of them. From our perch just above the abyss of Jewish destruction and assimilation, there are determined Jews who shout out loudly that “Moshe is true and his Torah is true.”
“But there are many sons of Korach who still maintain the belief in the false shibboleths of this past century. After an intermarriage rate approaching seventy percent in America, one strains to hear the admission of error from these groups. Unless there is an honest reappraisal of theory and belief on the part of these groups, these sons of Korach will not survive.”
“Even at the doorway of purgatory…”
“The sons of Korach did not die”
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1 by R’ Jack Riemer
2 Bamidbar 16: 28-30
3 Eruvin 19a – האמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש: רשעים – אפילו על פתחו של גיהנם אינם חוזרין בתשובה
4 Umasok Haohr
5 Known as Rav Arele Belzer
7 Bamidbar 26:11
8 quoting Gemara Megillah 14a