Using this as our introduction, we come to a fascinating incident learned from a pasuk in our parashah. The Torah teaches us: “ubnei Korach lo meisu — And the sons of Korach did not die.”
The Gemara (Megillah 10b) teaches us that a great miracle occurred for the sons of Korach, and a platform stood up for them to stand on during their descent into the harrowing grave R’l. But why were they zocheh to such a miracle? Simple: because they did teshuvah! But how did they come to do teshuvah?
In Issue 96 of Zichron Avinoam, we mentioned a fascinating midrash of how the sons of Korach showed respect to Moshe and Aharon by standing up ever so slightly in their honor, just a bit before the pit opened in front of them — which was really that which led to their full repentance.
Rav Yitzcok Koledetzky shared with me a fascinating perspective on this, explaining it as follows: Moshe beseeched of Hashem that Korach and his people should not die a regular death. Rather it should be an extraordinary death that should take place, R’l. But why did he want that? Because he was hoping that when they saw Gehinnom opening in front of their eyes, they would do teshuvah! Unfortunately, Korach and the rest of his people did not seize that opportunity and they did not repent even in front of their open grave. His sons, however, did.
Why is that? Explained Rav Koledetzky; they repented because they had done that small act of kavod for Moshe and Aharon earlier. That small act affected them so that when the moment of great hisorirus came, they were inspired to do teshuvah. Because they were prepared in advance. Their mind and hearts were influenced by the honor they had conveyed, and that little bit of truth opened in them the ability to see the events differently. Such is the power and influence of any good that one does.
In life we see things and we hear things, but sometimes they don’t make an impression on us at all. Perhaps this is because we are not prepared in advance by learning mussar daily — for mussar can open us to see everything through different eyes and ears...
B’Siyata DiShmaya.
