Where Do We Stand? Reflections on Korach
Jun 24th, 2011 by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg in Portion of the Week, Spiritual Growth
Thales is usually known as the 6th Century BCE philosopher who coined the phrase; “Know thyself.” He also famously predicted the solar eclipse of 585 BCE.He once asked to be taken outdoors by a Thracian girl so he could continue his brilliant study of the heavens. She took him outside and he fell into a ditch as he was studying the stars. On hearing his cry, she said, “How can you expect to know about all the heavens, Thales, when you cannot even see what is just beneath your feet?”
I used to wonder why Moshe chose that the earth swallow Korach and his followers. Perhaps Thales’ Thracian girl has the key: Korach and his group wanted to soar to the heavens, even if their journey meant that they would have to challenge Moses, the man who had lived in the heavens. I can hear the girl challenging Korach; “How can you expect to know about all the heavens, Korach, when you cannot even see what is just beneath your feet?”
I often meet people who are so focused on the heavens, a.k.a. their spiritual lives, that they forget to see the earth beneath their feet. Picture the man slamming a door in the face of someone else so they can kiss the Mezuzah. (The story was recently twitted to me.) We are making the same mistake as Korach and Thales when we ignore others in order to soar closer to God.
We cannot afford to forget the three thousand year old question of a young Thracian girl: How can you expect to know about all the heavens when you cannot even see what is just beneath your feet?”
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R’ Shlomo gave over this classic torah from various rebbes:”v’Ahavta l’rei’acha camocha, Ani HaShem”(‘Love your fellow as yourself, I am G-d’)=>”Why is ‘I am G-d’ connected to loving one’s fellow? Say the rebbes:How can you expect to come closer to G-d if you can’t come closer to another human being?!!”.
Actually, R’Shlomo goes one step further=> He said our relationship with the Torah has to be on a very REAL level. While there may be certain ‘ivory tower’ aspects of torah, the proof of the pudding is how much it permeates our being; “how deeeep does it go? is it in your kishkes? has it gone into your toenails?” (preview for P’Chukat -”Zot chukat HaTorah” chukat as derived from chakuk = carved into one ===> the Torah has infiltrated to one’s deepest depths)
He used to tell a story how he went to a lecture at Columbia University where a ‘Professor of Judaism’ (R’Shlomo’s words)talked about T’fillin very movingly. After the lecture, R’Shlomo approached him asking if he could join the professor one morning to observe how he puts on t’fillin, because it must be amazing (based on his lecture).Sadly enough, the response was “what! that archaic ritual! I don’t put on t’fillin!!” So, R’Shlomo concluded, the professor wasn’t for real when he gave the talk.
It is good to recall the Midrash that lists the mouth of the earth that swallowed Korach and his assembly as one of the things created erev Shabbat bein ha-shemashot during the first week of Creation.
Rav Simcha once taught me that each of those particular creations listed in the Midrash had the potential to rectify all of Creation.
Rav Simcha was scholar in residence at the Carlebach Shul in New York City around 1996/97. Naturally I was there “with bell’s on.”
I had the zchut to be called up for an aliyah following my Rebbe. It happened to be parashat Korach. Before I could even ask (what was the message in the aliyah), my Rav asked me, “Did you see the Sfat Emet on this week’s Parashah? Did you see the Shem Mi’Shmuel?” I asked, which writeup per se in the Shem Mi’Shmuel. Rav Simcha taught me: just open the sefer and read whichever one catches your eye…
The Sfat Emet teaches: Moshe asked Korach, “You want the Kehunah for yourself?! That *AUTOMATICALLY* disqualifies you! The definition of a Kohen is that they are dedicated to *the OTHER* person.
[This is musar for every would-be Rav and oveid HaShem (servant of G-d). Parenthetically, the Sfat Emet says in another place "kol oveid HaShem nikra
kohen" (every servant of HaShem is called a kohen)].
I opened up the Shem Mi’Shmuel and the section that caught my eye teaches:
“Everything that happened (all the deaths, the social upheaval, the arguing, this whole nightmare for all of Klal Yisrael) all started because of a simple, little bit of jealousy.”
So, R’ Shlomo actually added a very key teaching to the “v’Ahavta l’Rei’acha camo’cha ” torah mentioned in my comment from last year (comment #1 above):
How can you expect to love your friend as yourself, if you don’t love yourself?,i.e. there’s got to be a ‘there’ there.
Our Holy Torah is so infinite; we can learn the ’same’ thing over and over and G-d flashes new insight into us – last week I was privileged to gain an additional insight that brings this learning full circle==>
OK, So how do you learn to love yourself? That’s where the “Ani HaShem” comes in –> we’re praying every second “Master of the World, please please please, uncover my eyes, so I may have a clue who I am, so I can love myself so I may be able to love my fellows which will allow me to get closer to You.”
And, of course, this is just another way G-d is running the world”…