The Jewish Home | JUNE 30, 2022
58
From the Fire Parshas Korach
I Know By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
D
espite all of the difficulties caused by Dasan and Aviram, Moshe made one final attempt to speak with them. But when they made it clear that they would not even engage in a sincere conversation with him, saying, “We will not ascend” (Bamidbar 16:12), Moshe became angry. He said to Hashem, “Do not accept their offering!” (ibid. 16). Rashi, quoting the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabah 10), explains that Moshe was saying, “I know that they have a portion in the communal Daily Offerings. May their portion not be accepted favorably before You. Cause the fire to leave it and not consume it.” First, why does Moshe say, “I know that they have a portion…,” as if this is some special secret that only he knows about? Everyone knows that the Tamid, Daily Offering, is paid for with the half-shekel collected from every single Jew. Second, the truth is that no individual has a portion in the Tamid offerings because they are communal offerings, which are distinct from individual offerings and from offerings brought by several partners. In each of these scenarios, there are identifiable individuals to whom the offering is associated. Communal offerings, by contrast, are not attributable to a million individuals. Rather, the communal offerings have only one owner – the Jewish people as one whole. So how can Moshe say that Dasan and Aviram have a portion in the Tamid offering? These questions are answered in Likutei Sichos 33 by the tzaddik whose yahrtzeit was this week, 3 Tamuz, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zy”a. There, the Rebbe explains something about tzaddikim in general, but there is no question that he was describing himself to a T. The Rebbe
reiterates the point that communal offerings are not ascribed to anyone, or even to a collection of individuals, by quoting the Gemara (Zevachim 4a). According to Chazal there, if the kohein bringing an individual offering has in mind the wrong individual, the korban is disqualified. But when it comes to a communal offering, if the kohein thinks about an individual, even an idol-worshiper, it does not affect the offering. This is because the communal offering belongs to only one owner, the Jewish people. After an individual donates his half -shekel to the Beis HaMikdash, the Tamid and other communal offerings purchased with that money is no longer identified with that individual. They are only identifiable as part of something greater, the Jewish people as a whole.
Two Modes of Government The Rebbe explains that there are two primary philosophies undergirding the various forms of government: those that prioritize the individual and those that prioritize the community. This debate rages on until today. Systems of government which prioritize the community recognize that they must sometimes do so at the expense of individual rights. To the extent a policy favors the community, it will come at the expense of individual rights. On the other hand, governments which prioritize individual rights over those of the community would say that it is better to allow crime rates in impoverished communities to increase rather than infringe on the rights of any individuals within those communities. These two general approaches are mutually exclusive. Any increase in the emphasis of one comes at the expense of the other.
This tension between the needs of the group and the needs of the individual is extremely difficult to balance, even for much smaller collectives. Within a family, for instance, if there is only one child, it is not very challenging. But in families with two or more children, the parents naturally tend to govern based on the wellbeing or vision of how the entire family should look. Children who do not neatly fit into this overall vision often suffer. It is very difficult to act with every individual child according to his or her nature without this negatively affecting other children or the family as a whole. The challenge becomes even more difficult for teachers and rebbeim. Most work to enable the class as a whole to prepare for the next regent or test, even though some children are left behind. It is a rare teacher who is able to drive the class as a whole forward while working with individual students who would otherwise feel left out, giving them what they need to succeed as well. The tzaddik is the rare individual who knows how to contain within himself an impossible duality: unbreakable focus on the welfare and development of the entirety of the Jewish people with an unwavering focus on the wellbeing and growth of every individual. This is why Moshe Rebbeinu said, “I know that they have a portion….” In almost every way, the individual Jews’ portions in the communal offerings is lost. Only the tzaddik
has the ability to see every individual’s portion within the national offering.
My Story While the Lubavitcher Rebbe concerned himself with building Jewish institutions and Jewish life in every nook and cranny throughout the world, most stories people tell about him involve the Rebbe’s unique ability to take care of individuals’ needs, no matter who they were or where they lived. In fact, a few years ago, a book was published called “My Story,” recounting 41 individuals’ stories of their encounters with the Rebbe. I would therefore like to share my own story with the Rebbe. When I was in my last year of college at Yeshiva University, I was at a crossroads – facing what I felt was the most critical decision in my life. On one hand, I considered attending law school. I had even attended the Kaplan LSAT preparation course, though I spent most of those classes listening to Simon and Garfunkel on my Walkman. My mother was an extremely strong and persuasive proponent of this option. And my father always told me that it was better to go into a profession than into business because it would be easier to find a job even in difficult economic times. But my heart told me that I should continue learning Torah and pursue chinuch, teaching in yeshiva. It was an extremely difficult choice. Despite the fact that the Lubavitcher
