This
week's parsha relates the story of Korach's rebellion against Moshe Rabbeinu. Korach felt that Moshe Rabbeinu was taking
the leadership for himself and his family. He also thought that the entire nation should
serve in the Mishkan, not just the tribe of Levi. He seems to have had valid points. Why then was he and his cohorts destroyed?
Chazal[1] teach us that an argument
– a machlokes – in which the sides have good intentions – for the sake
of Heaven in the words of the Mishna – survives. An argument that is not for the sake of Heaven
does not survive. The arguments of Hillel
and Shamai are considered to have been for the sake of Heaven whereas Korach's
argument is considered to have been not for the sake Heaven.
What
exactly was Korach's mistake? The Sfas
Emes explains that there are two approaches to serving the Creator. One approach is to serve God through justice –
din. A person can commit to
rectifying all his deeds so that, on his own merits, he deserves closeness to
God. Another approach relies on the
Creator's benevolence – chessed. The
one who relies on God's kindness is also held accountable for his actions. He cannot do whatever he wants and expect
God's kindness. He also must rectify his
deeds. However, he has to rectify his
deeds to the point at which he merits God's kindness even if he would not merit
that closeness based on din. He
also must be able to accept God's chessed properly. Many receive God's kindnesses and are ungrateful,
become arrogant and in general do not pay homage to God.
God
will relate benevolently to a person who rectifies his actions to the extent
that he can merit chessed and is able to receive the chessed without
becoming haughty and ungrateful.
According
to Chazal[2] the first approach –
through din – is only theoretical. In practice, Chazal teach us that this world
cannot exist with the pure justice approach.
"עולם חסד יבנה/The world is build upon kindness." (Tehillim 89:3) The reason is that God created this world
incomplete. It needs outside help – help
from God.
God
completes the world. That God completes
the world is clearly seen through the institution of Shabbos. Chazal[3] teach us that on Erev
Shabbos at twilight the demons were created. The demons represent the incompleteness of the
world. The demons wanted to rule the
world. Shabbos made that impossible. Shabbos represents the spiritual aspect that
completes the world. The world is
complete only by elevating all its components to their spiritual roots. The completeness of the world made it
impossible for the demons, representing incompleteness, to rule.
We
see this idea in the last Mishna[4] in Shas. The last Mishna states that the only vessel
God found that would hold bracha is peace – shalom. The Zohar tells us that Shabbos is called Shalom. Shalom has the same root as the word
for complete – shalem. The Sfas
Emes understands that the vessel the Mishna is referring to is the world
itself. The world being incomplete
cannot hold bracha.
Shabbos/Shalom completes the world and brings bracha into it.
We
can now understand Korach's mistake. Korach
wanted to approach God through din.
He objected to Aharon's priesthood, which the Zohar tells us represents chessed. He wanted the priesthood to be available to
whoever merited it. This cannot be. Even the work of the Levites which he did
merit through an aspect of din still needs chessed to survive. The
earth swallowed him up showing that din without chessed cannot
exist in this world.
The
arguments of Hillel and Shammai also relate to din and chessed. Chazal[5] tell us that we rule in
favor of Hillel because Shammai's rulings were based more on din whereas
Hillel and his following showed more lenience. Why then are the arguments of Shammai cited at
all? They should not survive either. Chazal[6] teach us that even though
the school of Shammai
prohibited certain marriages, they permitted their children to marry the
children of the school
of Hillel
The
Sfas Emes teaches that we must rely on the Creator's benevolence in order to approach
and experience Him. Still, we need to
earn, in a manner of speaking, that benevolence through our actions and by
knowing to appreciate it.
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