“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: When a person [nefesh] will sin...” Leviticus 4:2
Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai taught:
This is analogous to people who were sitting in a ship. One of them took a drill and began drilling a hole. His counterparts said to him: ‘What are you sitting and doing?’ He said to them: ‘Why do you care? Am I not drilling under myself?’ They said to him: ‘Because the water will rise and flood the ship we are on!’
So too, Job said: “If indeed I erred, with me my error rests” (Job 19:4). His counterparts said to him: “For he adds transgression to his sin, he extends [yispok] among us” (Job 34:37); you extend your iniquities among us.
Insight
When a person [nefesh] will sin: Moshe arranged his words in a manner that suggests that reason does not allow for the entire congregation to be consumed by the sin of the individual. And then, G-d relented to him and imposed the punishment only on Korach. - Etz Yosef
This is analogous to: The purpose of the parable is to say that the reason for the individual's sin affecting the collective is because the arousal of wrath directed at him also impacts others. And this is like the water that enters through a hole drilled beneath it, and after entering there, it spreads throughout the entire ship." - Etz Yosef
Leviticus Rabbah 4:6
Personalities
Shimon bar Yochai (רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי): also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century tannaitic sage in ancient Judea. He was one of the most eminent disciples of Rabbi Akiva.
