In What Way Was Shmuel Equivalent to Moshe and Aharon?

[edu]

Rashi in his commentary to Bamidbar {Numbers} 16:7 said that one of the the things that motivated Korach to argue against Moshe, is that Korach saw with Divine Inspiration, that he would have a descendant, Shmuel {Samuel} who would be equivalent to Moshe and Aharon.
In what way was Shmuel equivalent?

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

Perhaps in his role in his generation. in his generation he was the Moshe and Aron in that he was the leader fulfilling his role just as they were during their generation.

[muman613]

Not my own thought, but I was able to find a discussion on this topic:

http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5768/korach.html

Parshas Korach is one of the most tragic parts of the Torah. This is the prototype of machlokes in Klal Yisrael (dispute within the Jewish nation). The Torah herein demonstrates the ill effects of machlokes. Korach challenged the leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe responded with a counter challenge: "Do this. Take for yourselves fire-pans -– Korach and his entire assembly –- and put fire in them and place incense upon them before Hashem tomorrow. Then the man whom Hashem will choose, he is the holy one..." [Bamidbar 16:7]

Rashi comments: "Korach was wise (pikeach haya). What did he see in all this foolishness?" In other words, the odds against Korach's offering being accepted were 250 to 1 (given the fact that 250 men were participating in this challenge). 249 people were going to die. This is far more ludicrous than participating in "Russian Roulette" (involving shooting oneself with a revolver having a single bullet in one of the gun's six chambers) where one has 5 chances out of 6 of coming out of the game alive. Here 249 out of 250 contestants were going to wind up dead!

Rashi responds that Korach was mislead by a prophetic vision. He saw through ruach haKodesh (holy spirit) that he was going to be the progenitor of greatness. The great prophet Samuel was one of his descendants. Shmuel haNavi was in some sense on par with Moshe and Aharon. Korach miscalculated. He figured "If I know that I have a descendant like Shmuel haNavi, I know that I am safe! I see that the Almighty has great things in store for me and my family!"

This explains why he did something that was very foolish. But another question may be asked. Rashi says: "Korach was a 'pikeach' – a wise man." Where do we ever see that Korach was a wise man?

It is rare, if not unprecedented, for Chazal to speak of someone as a 'pikeach'. Which other Jewish personality is ever given such an accolade? And where in fact do we see that Korach was a 'pikeach' ?

The following approach, based on a Kedushas Levi, may be suggested:

Earlier, Rashi mentions that Korach's motivation for starting up with Moshe was based on the appointment of Elizafon ben Uziel as the Head of the Family of Kehas. Moshe Rabbeinu, based on Divine command, gave this honorable job to Elizafon, who descended from the youngest of the sons of Kehas. This appointment bothered Korach to no end. Of Kehas's four sons, Amram was the oldest brother. Therefore, Korach was willing to live with the fact that both of the sons (Aharon and Moshe) of Amram had leadership roles. One was the King and one was the High Priest. But, he felt, that the next major appointment in the family should go to himself, who was the son of Yitzhar – Kehas' second son. He was so consumed with jealousy over the fact that he was passed over for the son of a younger brother that he started a revolution against Moshe.

But the difficulty with Rashi's scenario is that the appoin tment of Elizafon ben Uziel took place in Parshas Bamidbar on Rosh Chodesh Iyar! That event took place long ago. If Korach was so upset by this appointment, where was he for the last five parshiyos (which transpired over far longer a period than 5 weeks)! When a person is consumed with jealousy, he does not bide his time and sit back waiting for an opportune moment. Jealousy makes a person crazy.

The answer is that Korach was a pikeach (shrewd individual). He was a smart person who knew that in life, timing is everything. One has to know when to make his move. In Parshas Bamidbar, Moshe Rabbeinu was riding high. He was the Master of all Israel. He performed the great miracles in the desert. He took care of all the people's needs. His approval ratings were off the charts! It was certainly no time to mount a challenge to his leadership!

The Ramban explains the reason why Parshas Korach follows the chapter of the Spies: The people were depressed as a result of the aftermath of the Spies debacle. Morale was at an all time low. We must remember that the incident of the Spies followed the incidents of the Complainers (Mis'onenim) and the Graves of Lust (Kivros haTayvah). Now they faced 40 more years of desert wandering.

It was at precisely this moment that Korach decided to make his move against Moshe. This was the 'pikchus' (shrewdness) of Korach. If he was a foolish person, then he would have opened up his mouth to complain as soon as he was upset about something. For a person who is so consumed with jealousy and so upset to realize that "now is not the time to address this issue" is the sign of a special person. Instant gratification is the sign of a fool, an immature baby, and a person with no intelligence. The older we get, the more we realize that we often need to put things off.

Korach nursed his grudge against Moshe until the proper time. Perhaps this was not the sign of a person with sterling character; however it was the sign of a 'pikeach' (a shrewd individual). We need to give Korach that much credit. He had the wisdom to understand that in life, timing is everything.

[edu]

Through an internet search I found this answer by Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Toledano
To summarize his view, just as Moshe and Aharon together brought up Israel from the lowest spiritual levels to a high spiritual level and also saved the nation from foreign oppression, so too, did Shmuel. According to him, this is the area where Shmuel is equivalent to Moshe and obviously not on the level of prophecy, where no prophet of Israel can ever reach Moshe's prophetic level.

http://www.daat.ac.il/chazal/maamar.asp?id=401
שמואל הנביא ע"ה הקדיש את כל חייו למען עם ישראל. והצלחתו מסחררת. הוא הוביל את עם ישראל משפל חסר תקדים לפסגה, מן ההתפוררות הטוטאלית לסולידריות המושלמת שהתחילה עם גיוס כל השבטים למלחמה ע"י שאול, והסתיימה בהמלכת דוד על כל עם ישראל. שמואל הוביל את ישראל משעבוד טוטאלי לפלשתים, לעצמאות מושלמת ולמלכות בית דוד. והוא הוביל את עם ישראל מחורבן שילה, אל מסירת תוכניות בית המקדש לדוד שימסור אותן לשלמה בנו. הוא הוביל את עם ישראל מן השפל הנבואי שלא היה כמוהו, אל פסגת הנבואה. הוא היה נקרא "הרואה". בזה הוא דמה למשה רבינו שהעלה את ישראל מתחתית הבור של שעבוד מצרים ושל שעבוד רוחני לאלילות המצרית, אל פסגת מתן תורה ואל שערי א"י. לכן נאמר: "משה ואהרן בכהניו ושמואל בקוראי שמו (תהלים צט, ו) – שקול שמואל כמשה ואהרן". לא שקול להם בנבואה, שהרי נאמר: "ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה", אלא שקול להם בפעולו למען עם ישראל.

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

I just heard- because Moshe and Aron were the judges and people came to them, Shmuel was the judge in his generation and he went out to the people. in this aspect he was greater then Mosher + Aron. Not in Prophecy though because no one was greater than Moshe.

[muman613]

I just heard- because Moshe and Aron were the judges and people came to them, Shmuel was the judge in his generation and he went out to the people. in this aspect he was greater then Mosher + Aron. Not in Prophecy though because no one was greater than Moshe.

Where do you learn that Aaron was a judge? I thought Aaron was strictly the Cohen/Priest whose responsibilities lied in the service of the Mishkan. Is there any evidence that he acted as a Dayan?

I suppose I could answer a part of my question by saying that the Cohen uniquely was able to judge whether a person had Tzaarat..

[muman613]

http://www.torahinmotion.org/node/5662

While we are unable to discern G-d’s ways—and it behooves us to not even try—Talmudic rabbis were not so reticent in ascribing reasons for misfortune. Whether the Rabbis meant it literally, or just took their opportunities to use calamities to deliver a message to their generation is not really relevant. What we can gain is insight into their view of the world. As there is nothing new under the sun, the messages of 2,000 years ago are no less—and are probably much more—applicable today. “It was taught: Rav Yossi ben Elisha said, ‘If you see a generation overwhelmed by many troubles, go forth and examine the judges of Israel, for all retribution that comes to the world comes only on account of the Judges of Israel’” (Shabbat 139a). This is quite an amazing assertion! Yet the Talmud spends almost a page quoting one biblical verse after another, demonstrating that the authors of the Tanach (and that would include G-d; even those who deny this themselves must admit that such was the view of the Talmud) felt it was a very bad thing when our justice system is corrupt. Just a cursory examination of the world around us will confirm the impact on society when the justice system is compromised. And when Torah scholars are involved, we are in deep trouble. “Rav Melai said in the name of Rav Eleazar, son of Rav Shimon: What is meant by the verse, ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers’ (Isaiah 14)? ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked' refers to the judges who become enforcers for their sheriffs; ‘the scepter of the rulers' refers to the scholars in the families of the judges.” As Rashi explains, this refers to unworthy judges whose close (family) connections to Torah scholars allow them to maintain power. Nepotism in the judicial process will never yield anything good. This teaching of Rav Melai is followed by another of his teachings, “’For your hands are defiled with blood' (Isaiah 29): this refers to the judges”, which Rashi explains as the “judges whose hands are open to accept bribery...and take money from the rightful owners inappropriately…and it is as if he took his life.” Apparently, much of the world’s problems stem from a situation in which Torah scholars, to make some money, allow unworthy “judges” to rule over the Jewish people. While our Sages were not prophets, the Jewish people are, in the words of the Talmud, “the sons of prophets”. Yet just as the prophets would always end with words of hope, so, too, does this sugyah (topic) come to a close with the inspiring words of Rav Melai. “As a reward for ‘he [Aaron] saw you [Moshe] and was happy in his heart’ (Shemot 4), he merited to have the breastplate of justice on his heart”. The first part of the verse, not actually quoted in the Talmud (the Talmudic editors assumed all would know it), contrasts G-d’s view of Aaron with that of Moshe. “And G-d was angry with Moshe”, who had continued to refuse his mission of leading the Jewish people out of Egypt. Not only was Aaron set to greet Moshe and help in the mission to redeem the Israelites, he did so with joy in his heart. This, despite the fact that he knew he would be second fiddle to Moshe. To not only pretend, but to actually feel joy at the success of someone who could not have done it without you is quite remarkable. For this, he was rewarded with the high priesthood; and specifically, with the wearing of the breastplate. This plate is the symbol of justice for the Jewish people. It is not by accident that the Arba Turim of Rav Yakov ben Asher, followed by Rav Yosef Karo in the Shulchan Aruch, codifies the laws of the judiciary and those of monetary transactions in the section called Choshen Mishpat. We need leaders who know how to rejoice in the joy of others. Only those to whom jealousy is a foreign concept can truly judge without personal bias. The Sanhedrin, the seat of justice for the Jewish people, was housed in the Temple. Only those who are the true heirs of Aaron are worthy to be our judges. When we merit such, we can be assured that Aaron’s motto of loving peace and seeking peace will bless not only the Jewish people, but the world at large.

[muman613]

The previous article refers to Tractate Shabbat 139a...

http://halakhah.com/shabbath/shabbath_139.html

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It was taught. R. Jose b. Elisha said: If you see a generation overwhelmed by many troubles, go forth and examine the judges of Israel, for all retribution that comes to the world comes only on account of the Judges of Israel, as it is said, Hear this, I pray you ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they lean upon the Lord, etc.3  They are wicked, but they place their confidence in Him Who decreed, and the world came into existence.4  Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring three punishments upon them answering to the three sins which they cultivate,5  as it is said, Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.6  And the Holy One, blessed be He, will not cause His Divine presence to rest upon Israel until the wicked judges and officers cease out of Israel, for it is said, And I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning, etc.7

'Ulla said: Jerusalem shall be redeemed only by righteousness,8  as it is written, Zion shall be redeemed with judgement, and her converts with righteousness.9

R. Papa said: When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi10  shall cease [among the Persians]. When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi11  shall cease. 'When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi shall cease [among the Persians]'; as it is written, And I will surely purge away thy haughty ones.12  When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi shall cease, as it is written, The Lord hath taken away thy judgements, he hath cast out thine enemy.13

R. Melai14  said in the name of R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon: What is meant by the verse, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers?15  'The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked' refers to the judges who become a staff for their sheriffs;16  'the sceptre of the rulers' refers to the scholars in the families of the judges.17  Mar Zutra said: This refers to the scholars who teach the laws of the public18  to ignorant judges.19

R. Eleazar b. Melai said in the name of Resh Lakish: What is meant by the verse, For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness?20  'For your hands are defiled with blood': this refers to the judges: 'and your fingers with iniquity', to the judges' scribes;21  'your lips have spoken lies' to the advocates of the judges;22  'your tongue muttereth wickedness' — to the litigants.

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