Pinchas

פרשת פנחס

This week’s Parsha opens with the Jews finding themselves in a very difficult predicament. The Midanites had tricked the Jews into sinning with their daughters so that they would be more vulnerable to an attack because of their lessened spiritual stature. As a result of this treachery, 24,000 Jews perished in a plague which Pinchas was able to halt by performing an act of zealousness for Hashem’s honor. After these unfortunate events, Moshe was commanded to count the Jews to see who was left. There is a strange verse in the middle of this counting which states that the sons of Korach did not perish during the conflict between Moshe and Korach. Chazal elaborate on exactly what took place in the minds’ of Korach’s sons. When Moshe passed by, they weren’t sure if they should stand for him or not. On the one hand, they agreed with their father’s position, and wanted to honor him. On the other hand, Moshe was the current leader of the generation, and to not stand for him would be a terrible affront to his honor. The Yalkut Shimoni in Tehilim, (690) explains in even greater detail what went on there. He says that when Korach’s sons felt confused, they buried their heads in the ground and recited a song of praise to Hashem which eventually became Psalm 690. After they were done reciting this song, they got the inspiration to come to the correct conclusion that they should indeed stand for Moshe, and this action actually saved them from the terrible fate their father suffered of being roasted alive in Gehenom on a daily basis. I feel it is necessary to explain exactly what the correlation is between saying one chapter of Tehilim and switching their allegiance from their father to Moshe Rabenu! If they believed their father was essentially more correct then Moshe, how did Shira cause them to change that position?

I believe that we can answer this question based on something from the works of Rabbi Dessler. The Midrash in Shir Hashirim says “Open for me an opening the width of a needle, and I will open for you an opening the size of a palace.” This Midrash is teaching us that all we need to do when we are faced with a seemingly impossible dilemma is to make the smallest of efforts to come close to Hashem, and even if those efforts do not necessarily correspond with the problem at hand, if we are sincere, we will be helped beyond our wildest dreams. R’ Dessler illustrates this principle with the episode of Moshe Rabenu at the burning bush. The Midrash Tanchuma brings down a discussion between R’ Yochanan and Reish Lakish regarding what Moshe did when he saw the bush which earned him the merit to redeem the Jewish people. According to R’ Yochanan, Moshe took three steps toward the bush, and in this merit, he became the redeemer of the Jewish people, and according to Reish Lakish, he earned this merit by merely tilting his head toward the bush. R’ Dessler asks two powerful difficulties on this Midrash. Firstly, how did these two Amoraim derive their positions? Is there any indication in the text to warrant this fantastic explanation? And secondly, how could such seemingly insignificant acts have had such a monumental effect? Based on what we said earlier, we can answer both questions. R’ Yochanan and Reish Lakish were both aware of the Midrash in Shir Hashirim which states that all a person must do is take the smallest of steps to come close to Hashem, and He will do the rest. Consequently, their argument was simply to identify what is considered “the smallest step”. R’ Yocanan felt that there had to be some physical movement, and Reish Lakish felt that a feeling with a head-tilt was enough. Perhaps we can extend this beautiful explanation of R’ Dessler to explain what went on regarding the sons of Korach. Because they were in a situation which they couldn’t decide what to do, they chose to perform an action which would bring them closer to Hashem, and even though it had no bearing on the problem at hand, it was still effective in helping bring them to the proper conclusion because they took a step in the proper direction and fulfilled the verse “to open their hearts the width of a needle”. But the basic principle is clearly understood. Hashem wants us to succeed, and will always be on the lookout for any sincere desire, albeit miniscule, to come close to Him, and when we do, He will be waiting for us with open arms.

On a practical level, I believe that the lesson we can draw from Korach’s sons to our lives is quite poignant. We are often in situations where we are not sure what to do. There are some situations which arise in our lives which are black and white, and the Yetzer Hara is clearly identified. But as we get older, those situations become fewer, and further in between, and are replaced with a lot of gray, in which we are forced to choose the lesser of two evils, or the greater of two goods. How should we deal with these challenges? Certainly the best advice that anyone can get comes from his Rebbi, and his friends, who help him to remain objective, and attempt to help him see the light in every circumstance. But there are many decisions we must make in “real-time”, where we don’t have that luxury. What practical advice can we employ during these times of uncertainty?

R’ Hanoch Leibowitz, the renowned Rosh Yeshiva of the Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva used to tell his students, that we can take advice from the sons of Korach. When we are faced with a challenging decision in which we sincerely want to do the right thing, we must recite our own version of “song”, just as Korach’s sons did. We can choose a prayer, and recite it with particular fervor to draw close to Hashem. Or in today’s day, he suggests that our “song” is the study of the precious Mussar books which our giants of yesteryear have left for us. By studying them with great feeling and intensity, we will succeed in drawing close to Hashem, and as small as this action may seem, it will have the unique ability, with the help of Heaven, to guide us in the right direction as it did for the sons of Korach, because as the Midrash says, all we have to do is give God the opening which is the width of a needle, and He in return will open our hearts the size of a palace.

I would just like to mention one last caveat that the Rebbe from Kotzk throws in. The Kotzker asks, why did Chazal specifically use the example of a needle? He explains that a needle is unique in that it is sharp, and it pierces all the way through to the other side. Similarly, although Hashem doesn’t demand much for our initial attempt to come close to Him, he does demand sincerity. As seemingly insignificant as our progress toward Hashem may seem to us, it must be fully sincere if we are to expect this completely disproportionate response of having our hearts blown wide open by Hashem.

May we all put in our part, and merit to witness Hashem’s complete benevolence toward us!