Moshe Rabbeinu challenges Korach, and Moshe responds. וֱיְדַבֵּר אֶל־קֹרַח וֱאֶל־כָּל־עֱדָתוֹ לֱאמֹר בֹּקֶר “And he spoke to Korach and to all his congregation, saying: In the morning...” (Bamidbar 16:5). We must understand why Moshe insisted on waiting until morning, and also why the word “saying” (לאמר) appears in the verse.
Our teacher, the Maharal, explains that Moshe Rabbeinu, in his great humility and righteousness, did not want Korach to be punished for his sin, but rather, to merit to retract his claims and return in complete teshuvah. For this reason, Moshe wanted to wait until morning, because, as will be explained below, Moshe anticipated that the morning would deliver a moral message of mussar to the world that would inspire Korach to achieve complete teshuvah. This is the meaning of the phrase, לאמר בוקר “saying, the morning”, that “the morning would speak” and reveal the truth to Korach, leading him to repent and thereby avoid punishment. But how was the morning supposed to bring Korach to teshuvah? Listen to the remarkable words of our teacher.
Let us begin with the words of Chazal in Sanhedrin (110a): Rava said: What is the meaning of the verse, “The sun and moon stood in their habitation; at the light of Your arrows they went forth” (Chavakuk 3:11)? This teaches that the sun and moon ascended to zevul (a lofty heavenly firmament) and said before Him: “Master of the Universe! If You execute judgment on behalf of the son of Amram, we will go forth; but if not, we will not go forth.” He cast arrows at them and said to them: “For My honor you did not protest, yet for the honor of flesh and blood you protest!”
Rashi explains that every day the kings of the East and West would place their crowns upon their heads and bow to the sun. Thus, we learn that the sun and moon wished to refrain from shining in order to protest the desecration of Moshe’s honor, while Hakadosh Baruch Hu rebuked them for not similarly protesting the desecration of His own honor at the hands of idol worshippers.
This requires explanation. Why did the sun and moon consider protesting on behalf of Moshe Rabbeinu more than on behalf of Hakadosh Baruch Hu? Rabbeinu explains: Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world in such a way that sinners possess free choice. This is the very foundation of the concepts of reward and punishment. We can now understand why the sun and moon did not withhold their light in protest against idolatry: had they ceased to shine, the nations would immediately have stopped worshipping them, and free choice would have been removed. The entire system of reward and punishment would thereby have been undermined. Therefore, they continued to shine despite the fact that people worshipped them.
With regard to the righteous, however, there exists a concept that Hakadosh Baruch Hu protects them from sin, as it says, “He guards the feet of His faithful ones, while the wicked are silenced in darkness” (Shmuel I 2:9). This means that while Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not remove their free choice, He does prevent them from stumbling and falling into certain tests. We likewise find in the Gemara in Kiddushin (81a) that Heaven proclaimed concerning Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir: “Beware of them and their Torah,” and permission was not granted to the Satan to test them and cause them to sin.
Therefore, when it came to the congregation of Korach, which consisted of a large and distinguished group within the Bnei Yisrael, the sun and moon wished to cease shining so that, by virtue of the merit of that great community, everyone would be aroused when they saw that the heavenly lights were not shining. They would then return in complete teshuvah, and the punishment of such a large segment of Bnei Yisrael would be averted. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, however, did not agree with them, because Korach stemmed from a “kelipah” (an impure force) of wickedness. He was not deserving of that special protection against stumbling. Such protection is granted only to completely righteous individuals, such as Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir, whose merit shields them from sin. Korach, by contrast, was in the category of a thoroughly wicked person, without a merit that would protect him. Therefore, he had to remain within the normal framework of free choice, without any extraordinary warning from the sun and moon. For this reason, Hakadosh Baruch Hu shot arrows at the sun and the moon so that they would continue to shine.
This is why Moshe Rabbeinu, in his great humility, said, לאמר בוקר. Moshe himself hoped for what the sun and moon had proposed. He expected that they would refrain from shining in protest over the affront to his honor. In this way, “the morning would speak” and reveal the truth to Korach and his followers. When they saw the world plunged into darkness, they would understand that they had sinned. As a result, the entire great congregation of Korach would return in complete teshuvah and seek reconciliation with Moshe. Naturally, Moshe would immediately forgive them, and there would be no need for punishment on account of the insult to his honor. Thus, a calamity affecting a large segment of Bnei Yisrael would be avoided. For this reason, Moshe requested that they wait until morning.
Thus appears a true leader of the Jewish people.
