“And Korach took .…” (Bamidbar, 16:1) The Midrash (in Bamidbar Rabba, Korach, 18:17) tells us, “he saw the great chain of generations that would come out of him.” Since he saw this he became arrogant, daring to believe that surely he was the greatest of God’s servants. Of this it is said (Mishlei, 27:1), “Do not boast of tomorrow, for you don’t know what the day may bring forth.” Even if a man understands that has hope (promise of future rewards or success), he is to beware of putting his trust in this for he does not know how God may conduct Himself in any present moment.

“And Korach took .…” It is said in the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba, Korach, 18:2), “Why does the passage about Korach follow immediately after the section on tsitsit? Because Korach took a talit made entirely of techelet,³⁴” or sky blue, referring to the blue thread required on the tsitsit, made from the blue dye of the Chillazon snail. See Bamidbar, 15:38. came before Moshe, and asked, ‘does this talit require tsitsit or not?’”³⁵, but used the disagreement as a pretext for challenging Moshe’s authority.Techelet teaches of the fear of God, and Korach asserted that the fear of God was something completely revealed to him at all times. He understood that everything comes from God, even the fear of God.³⁶, in the selection, “And Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh.” If so, how could anyone ever do anything against God’s will? Since all will and all action come from Him, may He be blessed, how could anyone do something not according to His will? For this reason Korach asserted that a talit made entirely of tchelet (i.e., constantly conscious of the fear of God) would be exempt from tsitsit, because tsitsit teaches of the fear of God. Yet in truth, God’s will as it exists in this world depends on how each one sees it. This relates to what is said in the Gemara (Chagiga, 13b), “The prophet Yechezkel prayed on the face of the ox [on the chariot], and it turned into a cherub.”³⁷ “Ox” teaches of wisdom that is greatly refined, and at the deepest level everything really does come from God, our free choice is no more consequential as a peel of garlic, only according to one’s particular state of mind. God hid His way from mankind because He desires that we serve Him, and if everything (in God’s consciousness) were clear to us, we would not experience the desire to serve Him. Because of this Yechezkel prayed and changed the face to a cherub, that God’s way would be hidden, and it would appear to mankind that we are able to make choices. In this way the desire to serve Him would come to our hearts. This is the meaning of (ibid.) “the cherub is a small face.” ³⁸, ³⁹, where God’s way is completely apparent to all—“the face of the ox”—where all comes from God including the fear of God. This is happening now, constantly, yet we have no apprehension of it. The normal mode of existence, before the final tikkun, is the illusion that we have free choice, for the way of God is hidden—“the face of the cherub”—all comes from God except the fear of God, which creates the necessity of our service. Korach, operating only on the first level, saw all through messianic eyes, essentially believing that his generation was that of the final tikkun. Though it was not to be, still we have a tradition that he will be reincarnated as the High Priest when the temple is rebuilt, soon and in our days.

footnotes: ³⁴ “Techellet ³⁵ Korach had already made up his mind that it was exempt, and knew that Moshe would say that it required tsitsit ³⁶ This is the Isbitser’s original take on the famous rabbinical saying, “all comes from God, except the fear of God.” See how this is explained in Parshat Vayiera ³⁷ The first vision of God’s chariot has four faces, man, lion, ox, eagle (Yechezkel 1:10), and the second (10:14) says cherub, man, lion, eagle. The Gemara attributes the transformation of the ox to the cherub to the prayer of Yechezkel, for he didn’t want anything that would remind of the sin of the golden calf in God’s holy chariot. ³⁸ Small meaning God’s way is hidden, as opposed to the ox; refined wisdom and God’s way, or will, revealed. ³⁹ Two levels are operating here simultaneously. The high level, after the final tikkun

“… and why do you raise yourselves above the community of God?” (Bamidbar, 16:3) Here Korach’s assertion was that there is no favoritism in Israel, that God doesn’t elevate one above the other, for God dwells among them all equally. This is similar to what is said in the Midrash (Gemara Ta’anit, 31a), “In the future God will make a circle dance of the righteous, and all will point to God saying, ‘this is our God whom we have hoped for.’” A circle dance, for all points in a circle are equidistant from the center, no one closer than another. Korach asserted that now it is also like this, yet concerning this King Shlomo said (Mishlei, 20:26), “a wise king scatters the wicked, returning the wheel over them.” This means, concerning the “crown”⁴⁰ in Hebrew, and the Holy Isbitser related this to Zer or crown. that God gave them, that is, the crown of the Levi’im that gave the sons of Levi an exalted status, concerning this, “he returns the wheel over them.” That means, He answers them (return, meishiv in Hebrew, also means answers), “when I gave you an elevated status as Levi’im you didn’t refuse it and claim that there is no one in Israel who receives special status above another.”

footnotes: ⁴⁰ “Scatters” in the verse is m’zare

“And Korach took .…” This relates to “why did your heart take you away …” (Job, 15:12). That is, that his heart took him. Concerning this Moshe our teacher cried out in prayer (Tehilim, 90:1), “God, you have been our dwelling place in every generation. Before the birth of the mountains, and the formation of the earth …” Mountains signify powers and desires. On this he prayed to God, for He is the one who gives power and the desire to act, thus if one cannot overcome his desire he is not culpable, for all his power comes from God. Concerning this he said, “teach us to number our days,” which is now interpreted (yameynu is days, yamIno is power) as asking God to give us the power to overcome our desires, and not to receive desires greater than the power to control it. Rather, our desires should be on the level of our restraining power. “When will you Return, God, and console your servant?” In other words, that God should grant Korach the understanding that he can use to overpower his desire (for honor or control).

“For all the congregation is holy and God is among them .…” (Bamidbar, 16:3) This relates to the verse (Mishlei, 12:19), “a lip of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is for but a moment.” Those who spoke truth will endure forever, and the lies of their mouth will be immediately nullified. From this verse they (the sons of Korach) will be rectified in the future. Because King David established the lineage of the sons of Korach to their father (in Tehilim 44–49), they were returned to his community. If they would not derive any good from being called in their father’s name, then they would not have been specifically related to this evil, God forbid. As it is said in the Gemara (Shabbat 55b on another matter), “could it be that he sinned and still the Scriptures relate his progeny?” This is one of the thirteen principles with which the Torah is expounded, “everything that was in the general principle, but was taken out … you may not return it to its general principle until the verse does it explicitly.” Here King David returned them to his community (klal, also general principle) explicitly. This is seen specifically in the enactment of the Ari”zal to say the chapter of Tehilim is “a song of the sons of Korach” before blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, a custom that has been accepted by all the communities of Israel.⁴¹ 22:12, which says that a Cohen’s daughter who marries a non-Cohen may not eat tithes, offerings, reserved for Cohanim. If she divorces or becomes a widow she would not be allowed to return to eating from the offerings, if it weren’t explicitly stated in verse 13. [Example from the Artscroll prayerbook.] The Holy Isbitser in classic hasidic fashion takes the principle out of the realm of exegesis and uses it to show how the sons of Korach receive a fixing of their souls in later generations. This fixing takes the form of having the Tehilim they composed recited before the blowing of the shofar, something so high the Zohar says is the meaning of “all that comes out of the mouth of God.” [Zohar Yitro, 81b]

footnotes: ⁴¹ This is quite striking, for the thirteen principles of exegesis are usually used in the Talmud for deriving Torah laws from verses. An example of the particular principle mentioned above is in Vayikra

“Why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of God?” (Bamidbar, 16:3) It is written (Yesahya, 51:15), “And I will place my word in your mouth, and I will cover you in the shadow of My hand.” There is a good and precious point in every soul of Israel specifically given by God. However, in this world, that point is dressed in a garment that makes it appear to be the opposite of its true nature, and this is called “covered in the shadow of My hand.” It is also this way with precious souls, for God made garments which cause them to look like the opposite of their preciousness. It is like this with Moshe Rabeynu, of whom the Torah testifies that he was “the most humble of all men,” and this was covered with a garment that made the opposite seem true. Therefore they claimed that he wanted to raise himself above the rest. This is also the case with David haMelech, whose essential attribute was the betterment of all of Israel, as is written in the Midrash Sochar Tov (Tehilim 1), “the one who shall request Will is David haMelech, who loved Israel.” Of him it was written (Devarim, 17:15), “From among your brethren appoint a king over yourselves,” (“from among your brethren”) meaning one who has love for the entire community of Israel. On the surface it seemed that David was the opposite, as it is written (Gemara, Bereshit Rabba, 63:11), “at the time Shmuel haNavi saw the red-haired David he feared that he might be one who would shed blood, so God answered him, ‘see how he is with beautiful eyes.’”⁴²

footnotes: ⁴² That is, see into his true nature; see Shmuel 1, 17:42.

“And Moshe said to Korach, you and all your congregation were [hayu] before Hashem .…” (Bamidbar, 16:15) “Hayu.” With these words were they cast down into hell. These three letters (of “were,” hayu, Hei Yud Vav) form a holy name that signifies the “seal of that which is below,” as is written in the Sefer Yetsira,⁴³ is the most ancient of kabbalistic texts, whose authorship is attributed to Avraham Avinu. This phrase is mentioned in the first chapter. According to the Ari”zal’s “Shaar haCavanot,” on the festival of Succot, the six permutations of Yud Hei and Vav signify the six directions of the succa and all space. the “Book of Creation,” “the direction below is sealed with Hei Yud Vav.” When Moshe saw that their Divine decree had been sealed (to cast them below), he chose these words, “were (hayu) before God.”

footnotes: ⁴³ The Sefer Yetsira

“… you have killed the people of God.” (Bamidbar, 17:6) Truly, the people knew that this act had come from God, yet their claim was God visited upon them because Moshe and Aharon hated them. This is why Moshe Rabeynu said to Aharon, “take the incense censer [to stop the plague],” to show the people God’s great love for them.¹

footnotes: ¹ That Moshe and Aharon went out of their way to demonstrate God’s great love for the children of Israel shows that they really did love them.

“The dead in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those that died in the matter of Korach.” (Bamidbar, 17:14) Here we find that whenever Kedusha (sanctity) descends into the world, it does not come “for free,” but comes at the great cost of lives of Israel. For instance, before David haMelech merited knowing the place of the Mikdash (Holy Temple in Jerusalem), many lives were lost and many tragedies suffered. Thus it was before the world merited the birrurim(clarifications) involved in recognizing the soul of Aharon haCohen, for this was not made entirely clear until after the controversy of the staves, as is known (see Bamidbar, 17:16–26). This was also acquired at a great price, namely 15,000 lives, for 14,700 died in the plague, 250 were swallowed by the earth in the controversy of Korach, along with fifty people close to Datan, Aviram, and Korach. This 15,000 is hinted at in the verses in Bereshit concerning the creation of light. From the verse, “and God said, let there be light” (verse 3) until the completion of light (the end of verse 5), we find the letter aleph fifteen times.⁴⁴ means both one and one thousand, depending on the vowels. This hints that before the light of Aharon haCohen was made completely clear in this world, fifteen thousand lives of Israel had to be lost. Then afterwards, the light of Aharon haCohen emerged clear and refined.⁴⁵ equals birrur of the light of Aharon haCohen, who kindles the light of the Menorah in the Mikdash and the light of all the souls of Israel.

footnotes: ⁴⁴ It must be remembered that the word aleph ⁴⁵ Completion of the light in Bereshit

“And God said to Moshe … take from them a staff, a staff from each father’s house .…” (Bamidbar, 17:16) Why did God command them to take staves after the Korach affair? The staff (or branch) hints at life as is known, as it is written (Zechariah, 8:4), “every man with his staff in his hand from many days” (long life). God commanded them to take staves for in the future God will show each one that he will arrive at his place and true portion of eternal life, and will not desire the portion of his neighbor. For before it will be clear to each one what his portion is, he will want the portion of his fellow. It was like this in the controversy of Korach, as he longed for the portion of Aharon haCohen. This is the meaning of the staves, that God showed each and every one his place, that everyone has a good place, and that no one would complain about (be jealous of) the portion of Aharon. This is seen in the Aramaic translation of Onkelos, “and they saw, and each man took his staff.” “Saw” is translated as “and he made it known.”⁴⁶. That is, that they understood and established in the clarity of the situation, recognizing the depth of the root and source of each one. Even though it only says that Aharon’s staff blossomed, really all the staves blossomed, yet Aharon’s staff went on to give fruit. The portion of Aharon is the completeness of every action in this world, and he would not have done anything that would have to go through another process of purification. Not so with the other tribes, whose actions achieve this purification only after time. This is so even though there are other tribes whose preciousness is greater than that of Kehuna, priesthood, like the tribe of Yehuda (from which grows King David’s line). Nonetheless, their completion takes time, and this was once against the opinion of Aharon, who at first considered himself the greatest, and this troubled him greatly. Therefore God had Israel give him the twenty-four gifts of Kehuna, to show him that all the actions of Israel have to be in this world according to the level of Aharon haCohen, for in this world God chooses the action in its completeness. On this it is written in the Sefer Yetsira, “the Book of Creation,”⁴⁷ that there are twelve permutations of the four letters of God’s name (each tribe associated with one permutation). The permutation for Aharon is in its natural and complete order, Yud Hei Vav Hei, for this is the name that rules in this world.

footnotes: ⁴⁶ This is like two brothers who have not seen each other for a long time, and afterwards they see each other and recognize each other. Thus here God showed everyone his portion of life, and they recognized it, for each has already seen it before coming into the world. Tashlum ⁴⁷ See note 43.

“And the Levites shall perform the service .…” (Bamidbar, 18:23) It is written in the Holy Zohar (Bamidbar, 178b), “the Levite completes the left side by means of his service.” At a time when man’s heart is overcome with lust, and he overpowers it with all his strength and prevents himself from it, then he succeeds in completing himself by filling the deficiency that he has carried from his birth. For everyone is born with a deficiency that he must fix. This is why the prophet Yeshayahu said (Yeshaya, 48:8), “you are called a criminal from the womb.” This is called the “left side,” which God leaves for man to fix.