The Rambam writes that Bnei Yisroel didn’t believe in Moshe on account of the miracles he performed. If miracles are the basis of his belief, yesh belibo dofi, he has duplicity in his heart. Instead, Bnei Yisroel believed in Moshe because of the revelation at Sinai which they themselves witnessed everything.
The Rambam then lists various miracles which Moshe performed out of necessity and explains their purpose. We needed to be saved from the Mitzriyiim and Moshe split the sea and drowned them. We needed food and Moshe sent us the manna. We were thirsty and Moshe brought forth water from a stone. Korach and his followers rebelled, and Moshe arranged for the earth to swallow them alive.
A Singular Supernatural Demise
We see from here that the purpose of the miracle that brought Korach’s demise wasn’t to prove that Moshe was right. Indeed, there was no proof in the miracle, nor was there a need for a proof. Instead, the earth swallowed them up because of a specific need to remove them in that manner.
What necessity required the earth to swallow them? It should be clear that in saying that we did not believe in Moshe because of his miracles, we’re not saying that it is impossible to deny Moshe’s prophecy. It was possible. Korach’s followers did deny it, and the miracle of their being swallowed up wasn’t to prove them wrong. Instead, the Rambam reveals that it served another purpose.
This is difficult to understand. The simple meaning of the pesukim implies otherwise: Moshe declared that if Korach and his followers would die as all others die, lo Hashem shelachani, Hashem did not send me. But if the earth were to open and swallow them alive, it would be clear that they have angered Hashem. Why did Moshe underscore their singular demise?
Indeed, Chazal regard the wondrousness of their punishment as having the same proportions as creation. An insight of the Arizal is relevant to our understanding the purpose in the miracle which eliminated them. Our starting point is the beginning of mankind.
Dichotomy of the Tzelem Elokim
Adam originally had two children: Kayin and Hevel. Kayin was so called on account of Chava saying kanisi ish es Hashem, I have acquired a man from Hashem. The Gemara often expounds on a person’s name to reveal something about his character. The names of Kayin and Hevel provide insight as to who they were.
Hashem created Adam betzelem Elokim. The Nefesh Hachaim explains that Elokim is the Hashem’s name associated with creation. In making Man betzelem Elokim, from the outset Hashem made Adam a creator just as Hashem is the Creator.
One can view this in two ways:
- On one hand, Man can regard himself as a boreh, creator, with all the fantastic and incredible power that entails. It gives him the power to change the world.
- On the other, Man can realize that his stature as a creator stems from the fact that Man himself was created.
Which view is true? Both are correct – but it is critical for a person to appreciate both perspectives. A person needs to realize that the incredible power he possesses. At the same time, he must realize that all of his power is derived from the fact that Hashem created him to be so. Grasping one perspective without the other doesn’t work. Kayin and Hevel reflect what happens when these two perspectives are separated from one another.
Opposite Extremes
Kayin’s name derives from kanisi ish es Hashem. He is the great acquiror. Hevel lies at the opposite extreme and his name reflects his nature. Shlomo Hamelech proclaimed Havel havalim… hakol hevel. To illustrate the term hevel, when food itself cooks in one place and is inaccessible, hevel is the steam that rises from the thing which is cooked - but it is not the thing itself. In the laws of Shabbos, there are certain things which add hevel and others which do not – but in every case the hevel is not the main thing.
The Gemara cites a disagreement as to whether or not we say reicha milsa, the smell of the thing (carried by the hevel) has significance or not. But one thing is clear – the thing itself exists in another place and even if one holds that the hevel is a ‘milsa’ it is clearly not the thing itself.
Hevel the Follower
In his drasha for Shabbos Hagadol, the Maharal explains that the Torah reveals the key essence of hevel in the words vehevel heivi gam hu, and Hevel also brought korban. Instead of taking initiative to bring a korban first, he followed his brother and brought one as well; vehevel heivi gam hu.
The perspectives of Kayin and Hevel as independent extremes are unsustainable. On their own, each is false and futureless. Instead, the future would lie in Adam’s son Shes – a person who embodied both perspectives. This is the root of the matter.
Korach Missing Hevel
The Arizal in Likutei Torah writes that when one subtracts the letters which comprise Hevel (הבל) which equal 37 in gematria, from the letters which comprise Moshe (משה) which equal 345 in gematria, the result Korach (קרח) which equals 308 in gematria. Hevel represents the gap Korach would need to bridge in order to arrive at Moshe.
The Gemara explains that the words vayikach Korach, and Korach took, allude to a mekach, acquisition. It was a bad deal. The Arizal does not cite the Gemara but his words imply that Korach’s bad purchase lay in his buying into the side of Kayin without the side Hevel.
Kayin and Hevel were Adam and Chava’s first two children. The Gemara writes they were born on the sixth day of creation – at the beginning of mankind. It should be self-evident that the two must reveal the depth of the ideal progeny of Adam Harishon who was created betzelem Elokim. Only the two of them together expresses the proper tzelem Elokim. However, each was born as the complete representation of only one side of the picture.
The World’s First Killer
Chazal on Megillas Esther list individuals who represented firsts. Achashveirosh was the first of sellers; he sold an entire nation. Haman was the first of buyers; he purchased an entire nature. Among those first, Kayin is called the first of murderers. He wasn’t so called because he happened to be the first person who would murder someone else. Instead, the murder he committed would be the father of every murder that would ever occur afterwards in the world. Hevel was the first of murder victim; he was a person who lacked continued existence.
Nobody had ever taken more for himself than Kayin had. Kayin viewed himself as the owner of everything to the point that he could take the life of another. Kayin made it possible for one person to kill another. Such a thing should be impossible; it only happened because Kayin, the first of killers, introduced it to the world.
Defining Ki Tov
All of reality was created with the goal of its continued existence. Hashem saw all that He had created was ki tov, good. The Rambam explains that the ki tov lies in Hashem wanting the eternal existence of everything He had made. Creation exists so that it may continue to exist. In contrast to tov, the word ra refers to bad and evil. It connotes something broken – something which has no continuity.
Despite this, on the very day on which Hashem was still involved in the tov of bringing things into existence, Kayin eliminated something created and thwarted its continued existence. In other words, Kayin uprooted the ki tov of creation. Kayin did this because he regarded himself as the koneh, the master of everything. Once Kayin had been created, he viewed his own existence as ein od milvado, there is nothing other than himself. Kayin viewed himself as the creator and therefore felt entitled to eliminate anything that stood in his way. Kayin is so called both on account of the word kinyan (קנין) meaning to acquire as well as ken (קן) which refers to a nest which is place in which one can securely exist. The Zohar therefore associates Kayin with a concept called the kina demesoavusa, the nest of impurity from which everything negative emanates.
Machlokes: Leaving Sustainable Creation
Hashem pronounced ki tov over every day of creation other than the second. Chazal teach that this was because Hashem created machlokes, division, on the second day when He separated the waters above from the waters below. One who lives in the realm of machlokes lives outside the order of creation which is ki tov. The ki tov on the second day is only found on the third day over which Hashem pronounced ki tov twice. The second day is akin to two pesukim which contradict each other and the third day is the like the third pasuk which resolves the contradiction. The third day makes both sides into ki tov. But on the second day when those opposing views appear as opposite extremes, there is no ki tov.
Upon completing creation Hashem proclaimed everything to be tov meod. What makes it possible to revert to a realm which isn’t ki tov? The answer is Kayin, the person who introduced that possibility. Kayin brought about the potential for existence in a way that isn’t ki tov. Once he did so, it became possible for others to follow.
Korach and Kayin
Chazal write elsewhere that Korach was Kayin himself. The book Maggid Meisharim which recounts matters which the maggid revealed to the Beis Yosef explains that Korach was born at the moment when Moshe killed the Egyptian who had hit a Jew. The soul of that Egyptian became the soul of Korach. That means that at the time of his confrontation with Moshe, Korach was already an old man. While the timing of Korach’s rebellion isn’t entirely clear, it certainly happened after the Meraglim. In connection with this insight, the maggid revealed that Korach is Kayin.
Champion of Anti-Reality
Kayin introduced a new reality which opposed the ki tov of creation. Wielding that very power, Korach fomented the machlokes of his rebellion. This insight enables us to appreciate the extreme punishment to which Korach was subject. Chazal reveal that the roots of Kriyas Yam Suf lie in the third day of creation. The daily psalm for the third day of the week is Elokim nitzav adas Kel, Hashem stood in that place called the adas Kel. Chazal explain that it was on that day, when creating a habitat for man, Hashem revealed dry and in His wisdom and created a place for his eida, congregation, the adas Kel.
Herein lies the root of Kriyas Yam Suf. Prior the third day of creation, the was covered with water and was therefore inhabitable. The Maharal explain that the notion of dry land is not natural. On their own, the oceans would have flooded the world. Yirmiyahu describes Hashem as having placed the sand as a gvul leyam, border to the sea; and in Borchi Nafshi we say gvul samta ba’al ya’avorun, You placed a border that the [waters] shall not cross so that the waters not revert to covering the land. By engaging in machlokes which is associated with the second day, Korach placed himself at a point which precedes the world being a place in which Man can live.
In a similar vein the Mitzriyiim suffered the fate of tivaleimo aretz, they were swallowed by the ground. Both the Mitzriyiim and Korach existed in a realm outside of creation and therefore had no land on which to stand. We mentioned that Korach acquired a mekach ra and made himself into Kayin. He bought the path of Kayin. There is a need to combine Kayin and Hevel in order to arrive at the proper tzuras adam. In so doing, with all his vigor and incredible power to create, Man realizes that it all comes from Hashem and that Man himself is Hashem’s creation.
Korach, however, chose the path of Kayin without joining Hevel to it. His was a path that brought him to the second day of creation - a time when the two opposite extremes existed as separate entities. Each of us is a tzelem Elokim. Chazal teach that just as Hashem created Adam alone and he was the only person in the world, so too every person thereafter is an olam malei, a complete world. Because of this, one who sustains the life of a single Jew is as if he sustains an olam malei.
While this is true, one cannot adopt this perspective alone. If he does, he makes himself into Kayin. Instead, a person also needs to adopt the complete self-nullification of Hevel. Conversely, one who adopts only the view of Hevel also has no future and fails to appreciate the tremendous virtue of Man. Shlomo Hamelech ruled forcefully and controlled even the higher realms. All of creation was at his bidding and command. Despite this, at the very moment Shlomo wielded all that power, he proclaimed Havel havalim… hakol hevel. And he did so without losing an iota of the power of monarchy.
Herein lies the distinction between Korach and Moshe. The Rambam and the commentaries note that Kayin and all of his descendants were destroyed in the Mabul. Nothing remains of Kayin. Although it is unclear how to reconcile this with Noach’s wife Naa’ma being a descendant of Kayin, the answer may be that she was saved on account of Noach and not herself. No bearer of Kayin’s name remains. Similarly, Hevel too no longer exists.
Opting Out of Reality
Korach suffered the same fate; Korach and his followers were ne’evdu, lost, from the world. Indeed, there are two instances in which we find no remembrance. Our rabbis explain and the Alshich implies that Korach was one of the bearers of the aron and had ruach hakodesh. A person of his stature could not have made a simple mistake. In fact, Korach foresaw that Shmuel would descend from him - and saw things correctly. However, he did not realize that he would leave the world in a manner that severed him all continued continued existence. His surviving children would not be part of his legacy.
Korach did to Matan Torah what Kayin had done to creation. Once Kayin was created, he viewed all of creation as his own. In a similar vein, once Korach received Torah and he acquired it, he viewed all of Torah as his own without having any connection to Moshe.
Rebellion Against Torah
Chazal share a wondrous insight. The Medrash understands the pasuk ach nifsha mikiryas oz as a reference to Korach, the ach, brother who rebelled against Torah which is called oz. What makes Korach unique as a ‘poshea’? Doesn’t every sinner rebel against Torah. The answer is that while every sinner rebels against Torah, Korach went one step further. He usurped Torah and regarded it as his own.
We need to understand and remember: Kayin and Korach placed themselves in a position that opposed essential reality. No other person was able to sin in this manner. Normally, a person sins within the realm of his own existence and he can reach no further. Kayin and Korach, however, had a wider reach and were able to act against creation. They sought to twist, change and uproot Hashem’s essential will in creation. In each case, they were removed from creation since their sin transcended the outer limits which creation can tolerate. A person who takes issue with reality removes himself from it.
A Unique Demise
This explains Korach’s unique punishment. The different forms of death penalty are part of the world order, and they punish an individual who has sinned within the confines of the world. However, when one sins by opposing creation itself, he no longer has where to stand. In Kayin’s case, it would take seven generations until his death but even before then, he no longer had a place in this world. Chazal reveal in connection with the Mabul that the pasuk of vayimach es kol hayekum, and He erased all existence – is an allusion to Kayin.
Torah is called Toras Moshe. Anyone who disagrees with this removes himself from reality in the same way that Kayin removed himself creation. It brought about a miraculous demise which was completely beyond systems the human mind can fathom. This explains Korach’s spectacular punishment. Its purpose wasn’t to prove Moshe right. Instead, it was the outcome of Korach and his followers acting in a way that removed themselves from creation. The malach hamaves operates only within the realm of the natural world – and they were beyond that.
The message is relevant to our own lives. There are people today to see what happened fifty five years ago. It was something entirely outside the natural realm. Anyone who thinks clearly will realize that it was an aberration from the normal order. It wasn’t a mere punishment but instead a system which is inconsistent with the natural order.
We don’t know why some people punished and not others. Indeed, most of those who perished were the better ones. But we must realize that we’ve been shown something akin to the earth swallowing Korach. When there is a patent attempt to uproot Klall Yisroel from the world, there is an attack on the essential order of the world. The notion of a mumar lehachis, one who sins to anger Hashem exists within the natural realm. Korach went beyond. Yet there was an attempt to completely sever Klall Yisroel from Maamad Har Sinai and not just Moshe Rabbeinu. That was an attack on reality itself. It wasn’t and couldn’t have been the effort of a single individual but instead a communal effort.
The power of a tzibbur in Klall Yisroel is enormous and unfortunately there is what to fear even when it attempts something impossible. Korach was accompanied by an eida, a congregation, of followers. And the more numerous they are, the more extreme the reaction their rebellion necessitates. Korach opposed reality and reality necessarily expelled him. Of course, midda tova meruba, the positive side is exceedingly more powerful. If someone acts in a manner consistent with reality, the potential for positive enlightenment is incredible.
