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Korach: Why name the Parsha After This Guy?

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Lubab:
2. There is a perplexing question about this week’s Parshah. Why is it called Parshas Korach when Korach was the one who quarreled with “Moshe who is true, and his Torah which is true?” Instead of having his name perpetuated, shouldn’t it be counted among “the names of the wicked should rot?” The Gemara (Yoma 38b) comments on the names of the wicked saying, “their names should rot by not mentioning them.” This would be especially true in this case since there is a commandment “do not be like Korach and his company.”

This question is compounded by the fact that most Parshiyos are named after the first word in the Parshah (e.g. Vayeira, Vayeitze, Vayishlach etc.). In this Parshah, however, the procedure is changed. Instead of the first word in the Parshah, Vayikach, the second word, Korach, was chosen!

The puzzle becomes more complex when we consider the following: In Parshas “Vayeitze” the second word, “Yaakov,” is not included in the Parshah’s name. Why then is this week’s Parshah given the name Korach when Korach was a wicked person who rebelled against Moshe? Although the name Korach is mentioned in the Torah, Korach is nowhere found as the name of the Parshah given in the Mishnah, the Gemara, or in the Bereisah. It is first mentioned in the works of the Geonim, and then by the Rambam, and it has now become the custom of Jews to call the name of this Parshah Korach. Why was the name Korach chosen for the name of this Parshah?

To understand the explanation we must make a distinction between the individual Korach and the rebellion of Korach.[110]

Due to his illustrious ancestors, Korach’s spiritual level was very high. Korach descended from Yaakov Avinu, as it is stated in Chronicles (1, 6:22-23), “Korach the son of Yitzhor, the son of Kehos, the son of Levi, the son of Yisrael (Yaakov).” As a child Korach’s “breath was pure, without sin, “ and still later he was one of the “bearers of the ark.” It was only later in his life, when he was forced to choose between good and evil in this world that he sinned by rebelling against Moshe. However, this was not his essence. In essence he was the “son of Yisrael,” and the command, “Do not be like Korach and his company,” came about only after he had sinned.

This explanation helps clarify the Rashi on the first verse in the Parshah. On the verse “the son of Yitzhor, the son of Kehos, the son of Levi” Rashi comments: “It does not mention ‘the son of Yaakov,’ for (the latter) sought mercy for himself that his name should not be mentioned in their rebellion, as it is stated: “Unto their assembly let my glory not be united.” And where is his name mentioned with Korach? When their genealogy is recorded for the services [in the Temple] in Chronicles, as it is stated, ‘the sons of Eviasof, the son of Korach, the son of Yitzhor, the son of Kehos, the son of Levi, the son of Yisrael.’” In explaining why Yaakov is not mentioned, why is the second half of Rashi’s commentary, “and where is his name mentioned,...” necessary?

The reason is as follows: When a young child learns about Korach’s rebellion against Moshe, he will immediately ask: If Korach was such a bad person, why is the Parshah named after him? The second part of Rashi’s commentary answers this question. Rashi directs us to look at Korach as a person, thus making a distinction between the person and the rebellion which bears his name. We see that Korach’s lineage goes back to Yaakov and, that the genealogy of his descendants, who serve in the Temple (this includes the first, the second, and the future Temple) is traced back to Yaakov through him. If Korach would be from another lineage, for example Israelites, then all his descendants would not be Levi’im.

From the above we must conclude that Korach was in essence good; that the sins he committed were caused by an external factor. The phrase, “even though he sins, he remains a Jew,” indicates that a sin is an external thing to a Jew. The Rambam states that a Jew does not wish to sin, but that “his inclination forces him.” It is never to late for a Jew to do repentance, since “none shall be banished from Him.”

We find examples of other Jews who, like Korach, sinned grievously, but were of a very lofty nature. Yerobam, the son of Nevot, was the opposite of one who is “himself meritorious, and caused the many to attain merit.” Nevertheless, he is the only person of whom it is said that G-d wished to link His name with him in his life,[111] as He said to him, “Return, and I, you, and the son of Yishai will walk in the Garden of Eden.” Similarly, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 102b) relates the following regarding King Menashe who committed the sins of placing an idol in the Temple and idol-worship: After Rav Ashi had said an undesirable thing about him, he appeared to Rav Ashi in a dream and rebuked him. The reason being that since he repented he may have attained great heights, and therefore one may not speak against him.

The same concept applies to Korach. The fact that he sinned grievously has no reflection on the great personal level he attained. He sinned because “his inclination forced him.”[112]

We learn two things from the above. First of all, we understand why the Parshah can be called Korach. Secondly, and more importantly, there is a lesson here for every person. We learn that while at the same time guarding against adverse influences, we should endeavor to bring every Jew closer to Torah. Although externally he seems to be a “Korach,” in reality that Jew can be reached by communicating with him in his own idiom. We know that if we “train a child in his own way, when he is old he will not depart from it.”

We shall surely be successful in our task, for “none shall be banished from Him,” thus helping to hurry the realization of the promise, “I will hurry it (the redemption),” with the coming of our righteous Mashiach.

3. on the verse (16:25) “And Moshe rose up and went to Doson and Avirom; and the elders of Israel followed him,” Rashi comments that “Moshe rose up” because “He thought that they would respect him; but they did not do so.”[113] There are the following difficulties with Rashi’s explanation:


1) In the previous verses (21) G-d told Moshe and Aharon to “separate yourselves from among this congregation,” and then (24) to “speak unto the congregation, saying: Get you up from about the dwelling of Korach, Doson and Avirom.” That which immediately follows — “And Moshe rose up and went to Doson and Avirom” — seems to be Moshe fulfilling G-d’s injunction to separate the people from Korach, Doson and Avirom. What has compelled Rashi to give an explanation on a verse which seems to be self-explanatory?
2) According to Rashi’s interpretation Moshe postponed fulfilling G-d’s command to “speak unto the congregation, saying: get you up from about the dwelling of Korach,” and instead went to Doson and Avirom. How could he have done this?

3) Rashi’s explanation says that Moshe wanted Doson and Avirom to give him respect. Why does he base his commentary on the words “And Moshe rose up” rather than on the words “and he went to Doson and Avirom?”


The explanation is as follows:
In relating how Moshe fulfilled G-d’s command to tell the people to separate from Korach the Torah could simply have said “And Moshe went” omitting the words “rose up.” However, since Torah contains the words “And Moshe rose up and went...” Rashi deduces that Moshe did something in addition to carrying out G-d’s command. That additional action was to go to Doson and Avirom, hoping that they would give him respect and thereby be moved to do Teshuvah (repent). That this was the something extra which Moshe did, Rashi learns from the words “And he rose.” The verb in this verse is the same as that found in the verse, “the field of Ephron rose up,”[114] which Rashi explains to mean, “it had a rise in importance, for it went out of the hands of an ordinary person (Ephron) and into the hands of a king (Avraham). It is also similar to the verb found in the verse (Vayikra 19:32) “before the hoary head you shall rise up.” Just as these verses communicate the idea of respect and honor, our verse, “and Moshe rose up,” is connected with respect.

Moshe postponed fulfilling G-d’s command and instead went on his own mission. This was Moshe’s habit: Whenever the Jews sinned, he would go to G-d to intercede for them, and he would go to the Jews to awaken them to repent. So too here — “Moshe rose up” — he first went to Doson and Avirom hoping that by showing respect for him they would be moved to repent.

Furthermore, we see that when G-d said previously that He would destroy the entire congregation, Moshe cried out “0 G-d, the G-d of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the congregation” (16:22)? Surely when G-d commanded him to separate the congregation from Korach, Doson, and Avirom, as a prelude to destroying them, Moshe would do something to avert the threatened punishment and not run immediately to fulfill the command. Thus we must say that he did something first — he went to Doson and Avirom with the one remaining hope that their show of respect for him would inspire in them regret and a return to G-d.

4. The first Mishnah in this week’s chapter (4) of Pirkei Avos says: Ben Zoma said: Who is wise? He who learns from every person as it is stated: From all those who have taught me I have gained wisdom; indeed, Your testimonies are my conversation. Who is strong? He who subdues his [evil] inclination, as it is stated: He who is slow to anger is better than the strong man, and he who masters his passions is better than one who conquers a city. Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot, as it is said: When you eat of the labor of your hands, happy are you and it shall be well with you. “Happy are you” — in this world; “and it shall be well with you” — in the World to Come. Who is honored? He who honors others, as it is stated: Indeed, those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be degraded.

In Chassidus, the above four categories correspond to the four Sefiros which depict the entire order of descent. The “wise person” corresponds to the Sefirah of Chochmah (wisdom) or the Sefirah of Chesed (kindness); the “mighty person” to the sphere of Binah (understanding), or Gevurah (might); the “rich person” to that of Da’as (knowledge), or Tiferes (beauty); and the honored person to that of Malchus (sovereignty).

The “wise person” the Mishnah speaks of is not necessarily one who is wise in Torah. The Mishnah means, generally, anyone who is wise — even a non-Jew “who learns from every person.”

There is a “Mili D’Chassidusa (teaching on how to be pious) contained in the phrase “Who is wise? He who learns from every person.” This cannot be referring to learning Torah, for if it were it would not be just advice on how to be pious; it would be an integral part of the obligation to learn Torah. Everyone has the obligation to learn as much Torah, both quantitatively and qualitatively, as possible. If someone can teach you Torah, it is mandatory that you learn from him. But since the Mishnah refers to wisdom in general and speaks from the perspective of how to be a pious person in this context, the one who is truly wise is he who “learns from every person.”

The Mishnah gives us a directive: There are those who think that their work lies in only one of the above areas — in the area of “he who is wise,” or in the area of “he who is strong,” etc. — because they belong to Yissocher, who was primarily concerned with the Torah, or because they belong to Zevulen who primarily concerned themselves with good deeds. Thus, they refuse to concern themselves with any area which they do not consider to be in their line of work.

The Mishnah instructs such a person that in order for him to be truly pious, he must be occupied in all the areas of work, in Torah and good deeds, as previously mentioned. And more particularly, he must strive to attain the four qualities mentioned in the Mishnah — these four areas depict the entire order of descent — to be wise, strong, rich and honored.

The above Mishnah has the following preface which serves as a preparatory remark when learning the Mishnah: “All Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is stated: And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to take pride.”

Although “All Israel have a share in the World to Come” means that they each have a “share” and not the entire thing, nevertheless, it is true that they also have the entire World to Come. The World to Come is connected with the Essence (of G-d). “When one has a share of the Essence one has the entire Essence.” Therefore a Jew who has a share in the World to Come actually has the entire World to Come — the Sefiros of wisdom, understanding, knowledge and sovereignty.

The verse continues with the reason for this: “They are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands.” G-d’s work cannot be divided into different parts; it is all ‘one.’ Thus a Jew, himself G-d’s work, automatically possesses the entire “work of My hands.”

The verse continues with, “in which I take pride.” G-d prides Himself with the Jews. This is because the service of a Jew reaches and affects the very Essence of G-d.



     
Notes:

(Back to text) on the 3rd of Tammuz the Previous Rebbe was told that his sentence was commuted to exile in Kostroma. On the 12th of Tammuz he was completely freed.

(Back to text) This phrase refers to those whose only identification with Judaism is that they are called Jews. And even when that identification is only in the way of a nick-name — not a full-fledged name.

(Back to text) This dichotomy is also applicable to the Meraglim (spies) who were sent out by Moshe. These spies were the princes of the people, and were personally chosen by Moshe. It was their sin which was grievous, not they themselves. (Chassidus explains that their sin was actually of a lofty nature, that they didn’t want to descend from their high spiritual level to go into Eretz Yisrael where they would have to deal with the physical world.)

(Back to text) Normally “G-d does not link His name with Tzaddikim in their lifetime, but only after their death,” because they may yet sin.

(Back to text) This is especially true according to the way Chassidus explains Korach’s arguments: It wasn’t simply that he was rebelling against Moshe; rather Korach wished to begin right away to do things the way they would be done in the times of Mashiach. His mistake (and his sin) was that, in order to reach such a level of conduct, he must first go through go the intermediate mode of conduct.

(Back to text) Moshe thought that if he went to them they would accord him the respect due to him, and thus be moved to repent.

(Back to text) This refers to Avraham’s purchase of the field of Ephron as a burial place for his wife Sarah.

(Back to text) 3:2

(Back to text) Sotah 22b

(Back to text) Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. IV, p. 692a

(Back to text) Bamidbar 16:6

(Back to text) Devarim 8:17

(Back to text) Chaggai 2:8

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