פרשת פנחס
There is an interesting verse in this week’s Parsha which says that Korach’s children didn’t die with the rest of Korach’s group. Rashi explains that even though Korach’s sons were on their father’s side from the beginning of the upheaval, at the very last moment, they retracted their opinions and had thoughts of Teshuva and by virtue of these thoughts, a special niche opened for them in Gehenom and they were able to find refuge there. We must understand what exactly happened during these crucial moments that was so powerful that it stimulated them to do a successful Teshuva and saved them from Gehenom.
There is a Midrash in Tehilim (614) which says that at that moment, the children of Korach wanted to sing praise to God, but were unable to because the very mouth of Gehenom was opened in front of them and there were flames shooting out around them. Although they couldn’t sing praises at this time, they began thinking that perhaps they had deviated from the proper path and it would be appropriate to reevaluate their position. This feeling generated in them a genuine feeling of regret for the way they the may have acted and Hashem accepted their Teshuva.
This Midrash seems strange. Just because the children of Korach desired to sing praises to God, they merited to having Hashem forgive them for all the strife they had caused? R’ Shach used to explain this Midrash with the verse in Tehilim. The verse says, “God is close to all those who call him”. Meaning – since God is close to us at all times, and indeed without Him, we couldn’t exist for even one moment, all a person has to do is seek God out a little bit, and God is there to accept his return immediately with open arms. Similarly, Korach’s children had a desire to praise God and this desire allowed them to become a little bit closer to their creator. This “little bit” was enough to affect a complete Teshuva. There is a very poignant message here for all of us during the period we find ourselves in.
R’ Pincus used to tell an amusing story which illustrates this point very well. There was once a police man who pulled over a religious man who was riding on a motorcycle with his friend hoping to find something wrong with the way they were driving. When the officer had thoroughly inspected the two riders and found to his chagrin that everything was in order he told them that he was going to have to let them go on their way. They replied that this was because Hashem is always with them. When he heard this he became excited and remarked, “Ahah! So you are riding with three people instead of two”, and he wrote them up a ticket.
R’ Shach used to explain another verse along a similar vein. The verse says that when Moshe passed by the bush, he noticed that it was burning. The Midrash records to opinions about what went on. According to the first opinion, he took three steps toward the bush and according to the second opinion, he just turned his neck toward the bush. R’ Shach explained that these two opinions are not merely arguing about what physical action Moshe took to look at the bush because that would be irrelevant to us. Rather Moshe’s interest in the bush was generated from a deep desire to know Hashem and understand His world and His signs. This desire was powerful enough to generate the profound prophecy that came over Moshe shortly thereafter. Chazal are teaching us in this Midrash that Hashem is always close to us and even a small effort to seek Him out, like turning one’s neck, can catapult a person to a level in which he can perceive the Shechina itself, so long as he is sincere!
The Midrash Yalkut (752) raises another interesting difficulty. What exactly changed in Korach’s children’s position that they decided to move to Moshe’s side. They were proponents of their father’s position because they genuinely believed that he was right. What changed in their analysis? The Midrash relates that one day, Moshe passed in front of Korach’s children while Korach was sitting with them and they weren’t sure whether they should stand up out of respect for their revered teacher. On the one hand, Moshe Rabenu was the unchallenged Gadol Hador for so many years, but on the other hand, rising might be an affront to their father’s honor. They decided that it would be appropriate to stand out of respect to their Rebbe and this decision in turn, eventually generated in them the desire to repent for their wrongdoings.
This Midrash requires explanation. Granted that it may have been a correct decision to stand for Moshe, but how did this decision impact their judgment between who was right and who was wrong. Why would they have retracted from their original position that their father was right? Perhaps we could answer this question based on a foundation the Mesilas Yesharim (Chap. 7) lays down for us. The Ramchal explains that in order to acquire alacrity, a person must begin by performing external “alacrative” acts. Only after doing this for a certain amount of time will this fundamental quality begin to take root in one’s heart. In other words, when a person performs external actions which represent the quality he wishes to acquire, those actions will eventually generate a change in his internal qualities. Similarly, the boys’ decision to show honor for the Torah by standing up for Moshe, set off a chain reaction which affected their internal respect for Torah and forced them to realign their values which allowed them to become more objective about their father’s mistaken position.
Perhaps we could conclude with the pertinent words of R’ Simcha Zissel. The verse says “And you shall love God”. Chazal explain this to mean that you should do actions which cause God to be loved in the world. R’ Simcha used to ask, why would Chazal have removed this verse from its simple understanding which would have been to love God directly? R’ Simcha explained that certainly if one loves God directly, he fulfills this dictum. But Chazal are giving you a practical piece of advice. Since it may be difficult to love a God who is so different then us, one should perform the same external actions that he would be performing if he “really” loved God, i.e. doing things which make Gods name beloved on this earth. This will generate in him a genuine love of his creator!
May Hashem help us during these trying times to truly seek Him out and to serve him both externally, and eventually internally as well!