Hereby You Shall Know That Hashem Has Sent Me
So they went away from the tent of Korach, Dasan, and Aviram, on every side; and Dasan and Aviram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones. Moshe said, "Hereby you shall know that Hashem has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind."
The Ohr Hachaim explains that this possuk teaches us how terrible these two protagonists were. They saw that the entire Klal Yisroel moved away from them, they had no support from the public at all. They were fighting against Hashem and His Torah and did not even have the Yetzer Hara of public support. They were trapped in their aveira, and did not leave themselves a way out.
The only way that they could continue in their arrogant argument with Moshe was if they thought that Moshe was a charismatic leader who persuaded the nation to follow him, but was not a messenger from Hashem. Moshe told them now that this was when the true test about Moshe’s character would take place. This was not about Moshe’s power or the correct thing to do, but whether or not Moshe was making things up on his own. Moshe would now show them that their fight was not with him, and everything that he said was in Hashem’s name.
The Ohr Hachaim asks how they could make this mistake. How was it possible that after all of their experiences, Klal Yisroel would still doubt that Moshe Rabbeinu was Hashem’s emissary? Additionally, why does the possuk repeat itself? First, it says כִי ה' שְלָחַּנִי that Hashem sent me. Then, the possuk says כִי לֹא מִלִבִי – they are not from my own mind. Are the two not the same?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that there were other concerns at play. Even if they accepted that Moshe Rabbeinu was a Navi, and that Hashem spoke to him, they still did not trust him. They thought that Moshe really wished that his relatives be in charge of Klal Yisroel and he begged Hashem for permission to appoint his brother as cohen and his nephew as the leader of his tribe. Alternatively, someone could think that Moshe wished for this in his heart, even if he did not ask Hashem for this. Moshe was beloved enough to Hashem, in their estimation, that Hashem would fulfill his wishes even if he did not ask for it. Essentially, the appointments were divine, but expressions of Moshe’s wishes rather than the original plan. They could have made the mistake of misunderstanding and underestimating Moshe’s dedication to Hashem’s will.
Moshe answered both of them with this possuk. Moshe did everything that Hashem told him, none of it was his own idea. He was sent by Hashem, and it was not even in his heart to wish for the honor to go to his family. All he wished for was Hashem’s wishes, and the appointments were only done by Hashem.
Emulating Moshe Rabbeinu
The Rambam writes that every person can become like Moshe Rabbeinu. Reb Elchanan Wasserman explains that Moshe Rabbeinu had abilities and talents that none of us have, and we can never actually be identical to Moshe Rabbeinu. His powers of prophecy were such that they could never be paralleled, in order that nobody come and contradict his Torah. There is one aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu that we can emulate, and the Rambam is referring to that. Moshe Rabbeinu subjugated his entire being, all of his feelings and wishes, to Hashem’s will. He wished for nothing other than to follow Hashem’s will. This is something we can all learn. We may have fewer abilities and lesser talents, but we can subjugate those powers to Hashem.
The Ohr Hachaim teaches us that the lesson from the fight with Korach is that Moshe Rabbeinu not only did not make anything up himself, he did not even wish for anything for himself. His heart was pure for Hashem.
