THE THREAD OF TRUTH – PARSHAT KORACH
Shira Smiles shiur – June 20, 2011/Sivan 17, 5771
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
            Many great men fail and fall miserably, often carrying others with them, because of a fatal flaw in their reasoning. Unfortunately, Korach fell into this trap, taking two hundred fifty men with him. If we examine his words and the questions he asked, we will come to realize how he erred so catastrophically.
            Korach challenged the necessity of Moshe’s leadership by demanding, “… The entire assembly (Bnei Yisroel) – all of them – are holy and Hashem is among them; why do you exalt yourself over the entire congregation of Hashem?” Then the Medrash cites the two questions Korach asked to bolster his argument. First he asked, if a tallit (prayer shawl) is completely techelet, a special blue color derived exclusively from a particular sea creature, is it then still necessary to have tzitzit (fringes) and a thread of techelet on each corner of the garment, as Hashem commanded.
            Korach was extrapolating from the explanation of our Sages: the blue will remind the wearer of the sea, which will in turn remind him of the heavens, which will then remind him of the sapphire throne of God and will ultimately remind him of the Oneness of the Creator. However, if the entire garment is this color, we are already reminded of God by the overwhelming color. Why do we still need the particular thread of blue?            
            The second question Korach posed seems equally perplexing: If a room is completely filled with holy books, is it still necessary to affix a mezuzah to the doorpost to further sanctify the space?
            Rabbi Grosbart in Daas Schrage explores Korach’s questions. He understands that Korach is focusing on the end result, the constant reminders of God’s presence and the holiness that we must try to achieve. On that basis, Korach believes we have already achieved that level. We were all at Sinai and became a holy nation. Why then do we need Moshe to show us how to be holy? In the same way, looking at an entirely blue tallit will keep us constantly aware of Hashem’s presence, even more obviously than a thin blue thread.
            Korach, who was so great and holy that he was among the Levites who personally carried the aron on his shoulder when Bnei Yisroel traveled in the desert, felt we had already achieved the level of holiness which was the ultimate goal of the tzitzit and mezuzah. If we’ve already achieved that goal, reasoned Korach, the mitzvah meant to achieve that goal is no longer necessary.
            Rabbi Grosbart presents two fallacies to Korach’s argument. First, we do not know the full reason for any mitzvah, even if Hashem has given us one reason. We must perform the mitzvoth because Hashem commanded them, not because we think we know the ultimate goal of the mitzvah. Korach was asserting his own intellect as higher than that of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, so it was appropriate that his end be below.
            The second fallacy is perhaps even more glaring. If you eliminate the process, asks Rabbi Grosbart, how can you guarantee that you will actually achieve the end result? Even within each individual mitzvah, there are multiple levels of performance and achievement. How much joy did you feel in performing the mitzvah, how much alacrity did you demonstrate?
            Rav Reiss in Meirosh Tzurim takes these ideas one step further. While it is true that we may explore the reasons for the various mitzvoth, we can never know their ultimate purpose. Our duty is to follow Hashem’s commandments in simple faith and purity. Korach did not carry the Ark of the Lord as much as the Ark carried itself and allowed him to put his shoulder under it; our minds cannot grasp the intricacies of God’s purpose in the commandments except to understand that they are there to uplift us and to help us reveal the light of Torah.
            Rav Reiss cites an analogy from the Meshech Chochma. He states that just as a garment such as a tallit hides the body, so does the world conceal the Godliness within it. We can wrap ourselves in the tallit, but the corners are still free, and from them hang fringes that connect what is wrapped within to what is external to the tallit. Our mission is to tie those strings up so we connect the inner world of holiness to the outer, natural, secular world. As important as the end goal is, the process is equally important. Unless we tie up those strings, we will never connect the two worlds. Korach wanted to eliminate the process so that performing mitzvoth would become a mathematical calculation of how many were performed rather than creating a connection and internalizing the message, whether it be the message of the mezuzah, the tallit, or the roomful of holy books. Korach, therefore, was punished by being swallowed whole by the earth, leaving no impression behind on this world. Teachers and leaders, such as Moshe, are there to help illuminate the path and to help each generation make the appropriate connections.
            Rabbi Friefeld in The Force of Light makes a profound observation. Man is created with a yetzer tov and a yetzer ra. These are usually erroneously translated as a good inclination and an evil inclination. Rather, he says, these yetzorim imply the exalted position of mankind in the world, as a yotzer, a creator. Man has the ability to create positive energy or negative energy with each word and action he takes. It’s not about the total image somewhere, but of creating the connections, through the strings and the knots, to release the positive energy into this world. Each blessing we utter, each commandment we perform, each law we observe creates positive energy and light. This is what the strings of the tallit represent.
            Along these lines, the mekubal Rav Chaim Hakohen elucidates both Korach’s initial statement and his error. It is true, explains Reb Chaim in Tallilei Chaim, that we are all intrinsically holy, for we each have within us a spark of the Divine. He explains that each of us has five non physical components. The three which manifest themselves on earth are nefesh, ruach, and neshama. These can be roughly equated with ego, id, and superego. But each of us also has two components which remain in the upper realms, chaya and yechida. On the highest level of yechida, Korach was right; we are in fact totally holy. We reached that level at Sinai when Moshe came down from the upper realms toward the people to hear Hashem speak the Ten Utterances. On this level, our actions do not count.
            However, we do not live on that level. We live in a physical plane of existence. Hashem wanted to give meaning to our lives, so he contracted this great light and energy and filled the voids with darkness. The light is still found within each of us, even as the “pintele Yid,” but now it is up to us to release this light through our deeds. In the upper realms where only the light of holiness exists, the righteous are encircled around Hashem, each equidistant from the Source of all. But on earth, we must follow a straight path to reach that circle. There are areas in time and space that are closer to that shining light, that have more innate holiness, whether it is the time of Shabbat or the place of Israel or the Temple, and it is also hidden deep within ourselves.
            Rav Chaim continues. Every time I say a bracha, smile at someone, perform an act of chessed, I am peeling away a layer of darkness to reveal a little more light and brings me closer to my inner circle of holiness.  But Korach did not want to go through the process. He wanted to start at the core and remain there without connecting to the real world of the mundane and obstacles. And he refused to accept that Moshe, as rabbis in every generation,was there to help us along the path.
            This point is further elucidated by Rabbi Wolfson. The seven strings of the tzitzit on the corners of a tallit represent the physical, mundane world of seven. The eighth string, the techelet, represents the holiness of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. If we are to reach that holy realm, we must intertwine this world with the other through our holy actions, incorporating each thread as a ray of light.
            In Bishvili Nivra Haolam, Rabbi Brazil validates these ideas with concrete examples. He starts with the custom of kissing the mezuzah as we enter or leave a room. While the mezuzah reminds us of Hashem’s presence and uniqueness, the hand that touches that mezuzah and is then brought back into our line of vision as we kiss it is a reminder of our own uniqueness, for no two handprints and fingerprints are alike. The lines that score the text of the mezuzah are symbolically reflected in the lines of my palm. Similarly, when we use our hand to cover our eyes while saying Shema, we are bearing witness not only to the Oneness and Uniqueness of the Creator, but also to the uniqueness of me, His creation. Everything about me is given to me because I have a unique mission, just as my hand is unique. What God envisioned as my unique task on earth, as my path to drawing down sparks of light to this world, are all embodied in the package that became Me, whether it is a specific talent, characteristic, or material entity that I possess.
            Perhaps we can achieve even greater clarity when we hold our hands up to the havdalah candle and bring the palms back to look at them, continues Rabbi Brazil. The havdalah flame reminds us of Adam’s fear after the sin and the darkness that descended as a result. But Hashem gave Adam the means to create light with his own hands, as we ourselves can create that light and bring sparks of the hidden light to earth through the actions of our unique hands.
            As we peel away more layers of darkness through our mitzvah observance, create more connections with that holy state buried deep within each of us, and bring down more sparks of holiness from above, we are bringing closer the day when we will truly be a nation that is all holy, and when the entire world will recognize the light that Hashem has hidden for us that Bnei Yisroel is destined to share with the world.