NAMES Assir, Elkanah, Aviassuf
FATHER Korach
ANCESTRY From tribe of Levi
ANCESTORS The Prophet Shmuel, 24 Mishmaros
The altercation between Korach and Moshe culminates with the following description (BeMidbar 16: 31-33):
And it came to pass, as he [i.e., Moshe] made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground did cleave asunder that was under them. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korach, and all their goods. So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit; and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly.
The description that everything related to Korach, including his “household” is at odds with the verse several chapters later which states explicitly:
And the sons of Korach didn’t die. (BeMidbar 26:11).
While the Ramban (BeMidbar 16:32) resolves this discrepancy by explaining that the text of the punishment didn’t state that “his sons” went down, nevertheless Rashi (Num 26:11), quoting the midrash, explains the circumstances differently:
The sons of Korach didn’t die [for] they were involved in the conspiracy at first, but during the dispute, they had thoughts of repentance – “hirhurei teshuva” – in their hearts. Therefore, an elevated area was secured for them in gehinom, where they remained.
Rashi’s super-commentator, R. Eliyahu Mizrahi, writes that this midrash comes at odds with another midrash which seeks to explain our initial difficulty a bit differently: “And the sons of Korach didn’t die, rather they came up on to the face of the earth and came to the land of Israel where they were prophets.” He brings proof for this from the fact that sons of Korach were the progenitors of Shmuel, as well as the composers of many Psalms.
R. David Halevi (better known as “the Taz”) in his Divrei David commentary to Rashi, offers to reconcile these two midrashim, explaining that at first, “they were in gehinom for a period of time and after that they came up.” So, there were actually two phases to their adventure, which begs the question: why? The answer might lie in the quality of their repentance. The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 2:2) codifies that for one to be transformed from some iniquity he must do three things: (1) resolve to not commit the act; (2) express remorse over his having committed the act; and (3) verbally confess that which he resolved in his heart.
This last point reminds us of Rashi’s explanation of the sons of Korach who “had thoughts of repentance – “hirhurei teshuva” – in their hearts.” Clearly, they did not confess their sin verbally but only resolved it in their hearts. If so, why should this earn them a stay of execution?
The reason is that while full teshuva requires the fulfillment of all three components, including verbal confession, the halacha does recognize the value in “hirhurei teshuva” – thoughts of repentance. The Gemara (Kiddushin 49b) explains that if a man proposed marriage to a woman on condition that he is righteous, “even if he is completely wicked, she is betrothed, for perhaps he had hirhurei teshuva – thoughts of repentance.” The Rambam (Hil. Ishut 8:5) brings these words as practical halacha.
As such, there are actually two types of repentance, one in thought and one in deed. Rav Soloveitchik (Halakhic Man, p. 111) elucidates the practical difference between the two:
Halakha has posited two separate laws, two distinct principles, with reference to repentance and its function:
(1) Repentance may serve to divest the sinner of his status as a rasha.
(2) Repentance may serve as a means of atonement ... The lack of verbal repentance prevents only from serving as a means of atonement, but it does not prevent it from divesting a sinner of his status as a rasha.
This then explains how the two midrashim, as Divrei David proposed, refer to two different stages of the sons of Korach. The hirhur teshuva – thought of repentance – was enough to remove from them the status of rasha such that they were not considered wicked enough to be destroyed in the bottom of hell; nevertheless, it was not enough to get them out of the pit either. For that, they would have to complete their repentance by expressing “verbally what they had resolved in their heart.”
But when did that happen? The Gemara (Sanhedin 110a) explains:
“And the sons of Korach didn’t die” – it was taught in the name of Rabbeinu: an elevated area was secured for them in gehinom, where they remained and said song poetry. Said Rabba Bar Bar Hanna: Once I was traveling in the desert and an Arab guide said, “Come and I will show you where the earth swallowed Korach, et. al.” We came to a place where there were two cracks in the earth and smoke rising from between them. He took a piece of wool, soaked it in water, placed it on the end of his spear, and passed it over the cracks – the wool became was burnt. He then said “Listen. What do you hear?” I heard [voices] saying: Moshe and his Torah are true and we are falsifiers.
Here we have explicit evidence that the sons of Korach completed their repentance after having gone done to the pit, whereupon they verbally confessed what they had resolved in their heart. Now that their sin was atoned they could join humanity again.
The Sha"ch in Parshas Korach asks, why “And the sons of Korach did not die” (26,11) is not mentioned when the Torah earlier relates that Korach was swallowed up by the earth?
He answers that since Moshe prayed for Korach and his family to be swallowed up by the earth, out of deference to Moshe the Torah did not want to mention when relating the actual incident that some of Korach's family escaped the wrath of this punishment. When the Torah relates the descendants of the tribes the sons of Korach who survived must be mentioned.
The gemara Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10:1 says that Korach denied in the Torah of Moshe, stating that he made up all the mitzvos, not that he heard them from HaShem. Obviously, he did not deny the two Mitzvos, "Onochi," and "lo y'h'yeh l'cho," as all the bnei Yisroel heard them directly from HaShem (see Rashi Bmidbar 16:3 d.h. "umadua"). We can take the words of the Yerushalmi literally: Korach denied the "Torah." The numerical value of Torah is 611 (see Gemara Makos 23b). Korach's sons believed in Moshe and the 611 additional mitzvos he taught us. The sons of Korach were three. Their names are Osir, Elkonoh, and Aviosof (Shmos 6:24). The numerical value of these three names is 611, the 611 Mitzvos in which they believed that their father denied. Korach in "mispar koton" has the value of two, as he believed in only two mitzvos. It is interesting to note that the names Korach and his father Yitzhor both have the numerical value of 613.
Why did the thought of Teshuvah occur to the sons of Korach?
Yalkut Shimonei – Since Moshe made the effort and went to the tents of Dasan and Aviram to encourage them to do Teshuvah, he merited to have four people saved – On ben Peles and the three sons of Korach. At that time the three sons were sitting with their father Korach and they were confused. What could they do? If they stand up for Moshe their teacher, they would be displaying disgrace to their father (the Jews were already commanded on the mitzvah of Honoring One’s Parents). They decided it was better to stand and show respect to Moshe. At that point they began to feel within their hearts to do Teshuvah. And upon these three sons, Dovid later wrote that the feeling of my heart is a good matter.
