Awareness Amidst the Abyss

AWARENESS AMIDST THE ABYSS: PARSHAT KORACH

Shira Smiles shiur 2015/5775

Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein

            Parshat Korach recounts the rebellion of Korach, Dothan, Aviram and 250 men against the leadership of Moshe, and then reports the terrible punishment Hashem meted out to them – the earth would open its “mouth”, swallow them and all they possessed, and then would close its mouth again. Nevertheless, in Parshat Pinchas, the Torah states that the sons of Korach did not die. Rashi explains this contradiction by saying that they had thoughts of teshuvah, and Hashem found an elevated place for them in Gayhinom (usually inaccurately translated as Hell) high above the flames. There the sons of Korach composed psalms.

Benzion Firer in Hegyonah shel Torah raises several related questions concerning this seeming contradiction of these accounts. First, when did the sons of Korach do teshuvah? If they did teshuvah during the dispute, why were they swallowed at all? Why is that they did not die stated in Parshat Pinchas rather than here, during the actual episode? The terminology itself seems awkward. Why not state “they lived” instead of “they did not die?” We also learn later that the Prophet Shmuel, a future great leader of Bnei Yisroel, would descend from Korach. Commentators speculate that Korach had foreknowledge of this through the Divine Spirit, and that knowledge was instrumental in Korach’s decision to rebel. If the sons were with Korach in Gayhinom, how could Korach have descendents? A final question: Our Psalms have Songs attributed to the sons of Korach, particularly Psalm 47 which we recite seven times before hearing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. When would they have sung these songs?

Yonason ben Uziel gives the simplest explanation. Although these were sons of Korach, they did not join him in the rebellion, were not swallowed up, and therefore all the other questions are moot, except for why their not dying is first mentioned in Parshat Pinchas. Rav Munk responds by explaining that the sons of Korach’s survival is mentioned there rather than here because Parshat Pinchas discusses the division of the land. Korach was not entitled to a portion, and his sons inherited their portion not through Korach but through their maternal grandfather.

While this seems to answer our questions neatly, we can still further examine other, differing approaches that try to explain what happened to the sons of Korach, for in these examinations we can learn truths that apply to our own lives and help us improve ourselves.

The ArtScroll Tehillim cites Rashi’s interpretation, but then gives cites the Yalkut Shimoni for a second interpretation. While Korach’s sons originally joined their father’s rebellion, when they saw Moshe passing by, they decided it was more appropriate to rise in the presence of a Torah scholar than to continue to accord their father the honor due a parent, both being Torah ordinances. It was this decision that created a spark of repentance within them and led to sincere repentance. The caption for one of their psalms creates an appropriate metaphor for their salvation:“Lamnatzeach … For the Conductor on the Shoshanim, on the roses.” The rose, Korach’s sons, was surrounded by the thorns of Korach and his assembly. It was necessary to burn the thorns and pluck the roses from the inferno of Gayhinom. But the rose, in order for it to flourish must raise its head toward the sky, and man, to do proper repentance, must train its hearts toward heaven. As the Sabaof Kelm says in Letitcha Elyon, Hashem is waiting for the slightest stirrings of awakening even at the last moment, but it must then be followed with true Teshuvah, such as the singing of God’s praises in the psalms of Korach’s sons. While we can tap into a closeness with Hakodosh Boruch Hu at any time, we must reach out to grasp Hashem’s extended hand, writes Rav Shach.

If the sons of Korach could do teshuvah at that last moment, why didn’t everyone else do teshuvah as well and save themselves? The Ohr Doniel, citing Rav Schwadron, here offers a tremendous insight into human behavior. It is hard to improve oneself and do teshuvah. Sometimes we tell ourselves that when we hit bottom, when we are at the gates of Hell, we will repent. But we see that if one has not already done some work and prepared himself for improvement, he will be unable to maintain his resolve and be unable to extricate himself from the dangerous spiritual, or even physical, situation. But if one is sincere, one should not despair even if the sword is already at one’s neck.

But thoughts themselves have transformative powers, even before being articulated, writes Rabbi Pliskin. Science validates how thoughts can immediately affect our emotions and our very being, even before being articulated in words. If thoughts of teshuvah are so powerful, how transformative is full teshuvah!

Nevertheless, according to Rabbi Benzion Firer, because they did not articulate their Teshuva, it was still of a limited nature.

Both the Ksav Sofer and Rabbi Sternbach in Taam Vodaath offer related explanations for the punishment of the sons of Korach. If you were the cause of other people sinning, you are accountable for their sins even if you yourself do teshuvah. Why didn’t bnei Korach try to influence the rest of the multitude to repent as well? It was this lapse in their responsibility to others that kept them in Gayhinom. We all have a responsibility at least to pray for others even if we cannot help in a substantive way.

According to Re’em, Bnei Korach were in the abyss, they declared, “Moshe emet v’Torato emet … Moshe is the true [leader] and his Torah is true, and we are liars.” .  The commentators note that they were granted a short reprieve during which time they fathered children, and then they returned to the abyss. (There is an interesting custom on Simchat Torah that when the men singMoshe emet … they raise the children high to counteract the pull of the abyss that Korach and his group fell into.)

The Sifsei Chaim, Rabbi Chaim Friedlander, discusses the concept of truth and applies it to the Korach episode. The soul, as a reflection of The Holy One Whose seal is truth, recognizes truth. Falsehood is in contrast to the soul and derives from imagination and fantasy. Korach fantasized that he was the leader of Bnei Yisroel, and when he descended to the world of truth, either Gan Eden or, in this case, Gayhinom, his soul too recognized the truth. As Rabbi Friedlander explains based on the Maharal, Gayhinom is not a place, but the abyss and the horror one experiences when one sees his potential and realizes how far short he came to realizing that potential. It is the agony of the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” remorse.

This is what the Torah implies when, at the end of creation, Hashem sees that everything He had made was very good. According to  Chazal that the Sifsei Chaim quotes“good” refers to the Angel of Life, while “very” refers to the Angel of Death. How does he explain this? Life clothes the soul in physical garments that obscure truth. Upon death, the soul sheds its physical garments and is clothed in spiritual garments. The righteous are fully clothed and not embarrassed. The totally evil are naked, for they have no spiritual merits in which to clothe themselves. Those who have some mitzvoth are partially clothed with their merits, and repentance can add merits. The stirrings of teshuvah are glimpses of the truth. The sons of Korach merited a spot in Gayhinom from which they glimpsed enough of the truth that they were able to build on it and sing praises to Hashem. They saw that teshuvah was so powerful they could pull themselves up out of the abyss.

This is the psalm we recite seven times before the shofar is blown, a psalm that includes the name of God seven times. According to ArtScroll, the sons of Korach were one level above being lost completely, but they pulled themselves out of the forty ninth level of the abyss, just as we hope to raise ourselves up ever higher on each Rosh Hashanah. We need to see ourselves through the lens of truth and invest in the world of truth rather than in the world of falseness and vanity.

Rav Pincus home the lesson of Korach’s sons. When they were in the abyss, our Sages write, Hashem created a special place for them where they would not be consumed by the fire. This Rav Pincus compares to a bubble that protected them from their surroundings. Similarly, we too must create a sort of bubble around ourselves and our children as we go about our daily business in a world filled with all sorts of negative influences. Men primarily create this protective bubble through the study of Torah, while women maintain this bubble through a modest lifestyle. We pray that we remain immune to the fires of Gayhinom whose flames constantly search for more fuel to feed them. If we desire it, Hashem will assist us.