When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. The Ohr Hachaim asks, why would anyone think that Moshe did not hear them, they spoke to him directly? Moshe could hardly have missed a word. Additionally, what message was Moshe giving by falling on his face?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that the scoffers and troublemakers had not finished their soliloquy yet; they still had plenty more to say. But Moshe immediately realized what they wanted and where they were going with their complaints. Without having the entire matter spelled out, Moshe realized that he was being accused of lording it over his brothers; he heard what was being claimed and immediately prostrated himself. He wished to show them that he had no such intentions or plans. He considered himself dust under their feet and had no personal ambitions to rise over them. He did everything to show them his respect and honor.
Divine Compassion and the Name of Hashem
They fell on their faces, and said, "G-d, the G-d of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?" The Ohr Hachaim notices that the Torah uses the name א-ל – el for Hashem, which is usually an expression of Divine compassion. The congregation of Korach had acted abominably, and Hashem’s Divine Justice was liable to be awakened, causing wrath and destruction for the entire creation. Moshe Rabbeinu immediately awakened Divine compassion by using the name of compassion, sweetening the difficult judgement that was about to be unleashed.
He called Hashem by the name of ‘the G-d of the spirits of all flesh’, alluding to an argument that could sweeten the punishment on Klal Yisroel. Hashem wished that all of the spirits accept His Kingship while they are in this world, hidden behind a screen that covers up His presence. The word רוח is translated here as spirit, but can also be translated as wishes. Hashem wanted a nation and a creation of wishes, where a possibility of denial exists.
Even though there was justice behind the punishment of total destruction for Klal Yisroel for not taking Moshe’s side against Korach, that would negate the purpose of Creation. When people see one person’s sin taking down an entire congregation, they will refuse to accept the authority of the King, and Hashem created the world for people to want to subjugate themselves to His will.
Hashem, who is the G-d of the wishes of all flesh, wanted those wishes to recognize Him, and that is why they should not be judged in this method of one man shall sin and the anger will be on the entire congregation.
Multiple Levels of Recognition
The Ohr Hachaim then suggests another way of understanding Moshe Rabbeinu’s claim. There are multiple levels of recognition of Hashem’s sovereignty, and Hashem derives ‘pleasure’ from them on different levels. The celestial angels sing to Hashem daily. Above them stand the souls of Tzadikim in two separate storage houses. One has the souls of people who have not yet been born. They are pure and their song arises higher than that of the angels. Another storage house has the souls of the tzadikim who have lived and died already. Their song arises even higher than that of the unborn souls. The highest level of all is the praise and song that arises from the souls that are still in this world, trapped in a body of flesh and sin. This body prevents them from appreciating Hashem’s presence, yet they rise above those limitations and preventions recognize Hashem, and praise Him. It is that praise that is the most beloved to Him, as the Zohar says in many places. (We find this same concept in the piyyutim that we Ashkenzaim say on Yom Kippur at Shacharis and Mussaf, as well as on the first day of Sukkos. Hashem has myriads of angels who are the holiest creations imaginable, yet He desires the praise of the weak and defenseless puny human, who is filled with iniquity and evil.)
Moshe used this point to argue for Klal Yisroel. Hashem, who is the G-d of the spirits of all flesh and who wanted the praise of the spirits while they are esconsced in flesh, covered with desire for all things, permitted and otherwise. If Hashem were to punish them with destruction, all he would have would be the lower levels of praise that the other creations provide. This itself was a reason for Klal Yisroel’s salvation.
Lessons for All Generations
This Ohr Hachaim is a lesson for all of us in all generations. (The story is told with the son of the Kozhnitzer Maggid who told his father that he cannot learn the Parshiyos of Bamidbar. Reading about the aveiros of Klal Yisroel and their misdeeds was too much for him. His illustrious father answered him, “Their aveiros became our Torah!” These parshiyos are filled with great lessons, even as they acted incorrectly.)
The Yetzer hara’s wiles include some contradictions. Prior to a person’s aveira, he convinces him that the aveira is not that bad, there are plenty of heteirim, everyone else also does it, and he can always do teshuva or stop at the last minute. After the person has sinned, the message of the Yetzer Hara is the opposite, “Look what you did! How could you such a thing? Do you know the punishment for such an aveira? Your soul is cut off from Hashem and you can never face Him again. How can you go and daven to him, when you have sullied yourself so terribly?”
This Ohr Hachaim is the answer to this claim. When a person has sinned, and he feels that he is in the lowest of levels in spirituality, he can remind himself that this is a feature, not a bug, of humanity. We can still daven to Him, we can still learn His Torah. Hashem desired particularly the avodas Hashem of sinners, and by sinning we can still return to our level. Nothing is irrevocably lost.
