Parshas Korach More of the Roses

By Rav Moshe Weinberger

Adapted for publication by Binyomin

Wolf

Every year, we struggle to understand how a great person like Korach could have fallen so far. When we read the pesukim, Korach appears to be a horrible person. But when we look in the seforim hakedoshim , we see another side of him – an aspect of greatness. Even in Tehillim, we see a number of positive references to Korach’s sons. One of the most fascinating of these is the beginning of the 45 th chapter of Tehillim: “For the conductor, on the roses, by the sons of Korach, a Maskil , a song of endearment. My heart is astir with a good thing to say, ‘My works are for the king…’” What makes this particular chapter of Tehillim “for the conductor”? What is its connection to roses? And why is it called a “Maskil ”?

The Chozeh of Lublin, zy”a, in his sefer Zos Zikaron, quotes the following Midrash: “Korach says, ‘Hashem wants [us] to burn incense before Him in firepans of gold and silver [rather than copper as commanded in the Torah].’ This is comparable to a king who asked his servants to make him a crown. [His servants desired] to affix in it all types of precious stones. The king said, ‘I do not want any of these. Rather, [make the crown out of] roses.’ The sons of Korach said [after falling into the ground with Korach but before entering Gehinom], ‘We are roses!’ Hashem said, ‘You have been victorious!’ This is what is meant by the pasuk, ‘For the conductor, on the roses, by the sons of Korach…’” The Hebrew word for “for the conductor, La’menatzeiach,” is related to the word for victory, which relates to Hashem’s message to them, “You have been victorious.”

The Chozeh explains that Korach be - lieved he was superior to Aharon Hakohein because he, Korach, was part of the tribe of Levi, which did not participate in the sin of the Golden Calf. The Rebbe Reb Shmelke, of Nikolsburg, zy”a, used to refer to him as “The holy Zayde, Korach.” Aharon, on the other hand, did participate in it on some level, though even Korach acknowledged that Aharon did so with righteous intentions. Korach therefore looked down on Aharon. What is the significance of this?

In the Chovos Halevavos, we are told that a pious person once said to his students, “If not for my sin, I would be afraid of the great sin.” They asked him, “And what is it?” He answered that it was arrogance. Why was he grateful for his sins just because they saved him from arrogance? What does that mean?

The Zohar says that Korach included within himself all of the Levi’im. He was a great person and was quite proud of himself and his tribe, believing that they were sinless. Aharon, on the other hand, felt brokenhearted over his involvement with the Golden Calf. He felt completely unworthy and could not bring himself to approach the altar in the service of G-d (Rashi on Vayikra 9:7). He felt so unworthy that Moshe had to adjure him, “Why are you embarrassed? This is why you were chosen” (ibid.). The Ramban there explains that wherever Aharon looked, he saw the Golden Calf. On his level, Aharon’s sin saved him from the greatest sin, arrogance. Unfortunately, because Korach believed himself sinless, he succumbed to arrogance, which led to the rebellion against Moshe Rabbeinu, as well as his own personal destruction.

Now we can understand why the Midrash earlier says that Korach ob - jected to the Torah’s command that the firepans be made of copper. He wanted them to be made of gold and silver. He believed that they should be constructed of the most precious metals, gold and silver, which correspond to the central attributes a Jew must have in his service of G-d: love and fear. He believed that a Jew must have perfect love and fear of G-d. He thought that Hashem only loves one who serves him perfectly and has never made a mistake. In his mind, G-d only wants gold and silver. Never copper. Never the “inferior” service of one who has sinned before.

Hashem’s response to Korach’s opinion is that he wants a crown of roses. The Hebrew word for roses, shoshanim, also means “those who change, she’shonim.” It is wonderful to have some Jews who do not make mistakes and remain sinless. That is obviously the ideal. But Hashem knows the nature of the people He created. Therefore, what He wants more than servants who have never made a mistake is servants who are willing to change and turn themselves around after they have erred. He wants people who are willing to grow, change, and blossom if and when they do fail.

That is how Korach’s sons were able to be victorious. They essentially told Hashem, at the last moment before they were completely lost, “Yes, we originally agreed with our father. But now we recognize that we made a mistake. We are roses! We want to change!” And Hashem told them that they were successful, “You have been victorious.”

The pasuk from Tehillim we quoted above said, “by the sons of Korach, a Maskil.” The word Maskil literally means “intelligent.” Why is this word being used in this context? Another pa- suk in Tehillim (111:10) says, “The beginning of wisdom is fear of G-d, good intellect, seichel, to all who do them…” The pasuk starts with wisdom and concludes with intellect. What is the nature of this progression?

The Yisa Bracha of Modzhitz, zy”a, explains that wisdom means knowing what to do in the first instance. It means being careful so that one does not sin. But intelligence, seichel, means knowing what to do after he has sinned. It means knowing how to change, how to be a rose and do teshuva. The pasuk (Devarim 32:29) says, “Would that they were wise, they would understand, yaskilu , this; they would reflect upon their end.” In other words, ideally, “would that they were wise,” they would serve G-d with firepans of gold and silver. The best thing is to be wise and avoid falling into sin to begin with. But even if the Jewish people have sinned, “they would understand this; they would reflect upon their end.”

The greatest accomplishment for most people is to look intelligently at their end. At the end, after they have erred, they should consider the mistakes they have made and rectify them. They should change and recognize that Hashem desires their service with copper firepans as well. He does not only want gold and silver as Korach thought. They should recognize that if they can change, then they will smell as sweet as roses to Hashem. That will make their lives a “song of endearment.” Then G-d will say, “You have been victorious.”

Hashem reiterated his choice of Aharon and his sons as the kohanim with the miracle of the blossoms and almonds which sprouted from Aharon’s staff but not the other tribes’ staffs (Bamidbar 17:23). The significance of both the blossoms and the almonds is illustrated in the following story:

Reb Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, zy”a, once asked the chassidim to bring him Reb Lazer Moshe of Vishgrad, a very old chassid who had been a student of the Yid Hakadosh of Peshischa, zy”a. Reb Lazer Moshe was about 100 years old, which is very rare nowadays and was even more astounding then. When he arrived, Reb Simcha Bunim asked Reb Lazer Moshe, “Why does the pasuk say that Aharon’s staff blossomed? The fact is that it sprouted almonds. The nuts are the final product of the tree. Why was Hashem concerned that the staff should also produce flowers, blossoms, which seem secondary to the almonds?” Reb Lazer Moshe answered: “Sometimes, a

Jew gets to the end of his life, and he has accomplished a lot. His life has borne fruit. He feels like an almond. By teaching that the staff sprouted blossoms as well, the Torah is teaching us that even if a person feels complete and that his life has borne fruit, he must know that he should still produce flowers and blossoms. He must always continue growing and changing, no matter how complete he feels his life is.”

This lesson is especially important in marriage. It is wonderful that many to stop the Rebbe and ask him my question when I saw that, two minutes before the Rebbe was supposed to emerge from the shul, I was the only one there. But unfortunately, thirty seconds before he came out, about two hundred people suddenly appeared, and I was shunted to the back of the line. A few chassidim had mercy on me, an obviously Modern Orthodox knitted-yarmulke clad boy, and they pushed me back up to the front of the line.

When the Rebbe finally came out toward his car, he walked very quickly, as the air, as if to say, “You can do it! You will be victorious!” The people around me could not understand why the Rebbe had singled me out for that chizuk, encouragement, but I knew exactly what he was telling me. He was answering my question. And that message from the Rebbe gave me the strength to do what I knew I needed to do. And it made a tremendous difference in my life. men sometimes bring their wives flowers. But the best rose one can bring into his marriage is the willingness to change. I have worked with many couples facing challenges. I often see that one of them, and sometimes both, take the position that “it is not me that has to change. I do not need to seek help because you are the one with the problems. You should seek help because you need to change.” Based on my experience, 99.9999% of the time, the person who says such things is the primary cause of the problems in the marriage and desperately needs to change.

This lesson of strength, this message that one has the power to change no matter what happened in the past, was the lesson that Korach never internalized. Because of his sinlessness, Korach became arrogant. Aharon, on the other hand, always felt sinful and unworthy. That is why he was constantly working to change. He was always blossoming and changing.

May we merit to also continuously change and grow. Let us be copper and roses, rather than gold and silver.

But it is not always easy to muster the courage to change. This week was the third of Tammuz, the yahrtzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zy”a. There are thousands of stories about the Rebbe from seforim and those that I have heard from witnesses. But I would like to share one which I experienced personally.

I was seventeen years old and was facing a pivotal moment in my life. I needed to make a certain change that I believed I knew was right for me at the time, but I felt blocked. I did not know whether I could take that step.

I therefore did the only thing I knew to do to achieve clarity. I found out when the Lubavitcher Rebbe was going to walk from the shul at 770 Eastern Parkway to his car after Mincha. I made the journey to Crown Heights to attempt to ask the Rebbe my question at that moment. I thought I had really lucked out and that I would have the opportunity was his way, nodding toward the men on either side of him as he went. He passed by me, but just before he was about to get into his car, he turned around, walked briskly back over to me, looked me in the eye, and pumped his fist into

All those teachers who complain that their students frequently doodle may find some solace in the Gemara (Gittin 36a). The Gemara says that Rav would frequently draw a picture of a fish. As it will become clear from the commentators, this was not just some random scribble that someone with a good imagination could perceive as a fish. Rav was actually able to draw a mean picture of a fish. If the Taz had his way, Rav’s pictures of fish would have far-reaching implications; serious doodlers and wouldbe artists would have fewer restrictions on their practice. Alas, it wasn’t to be. It seems as if the Shach prevailed, and the import of Rav’s fish drawings will be relegated to the laws of witnesses.

On one point all agree: if Rav drew a fish, then drawing a fish must be permitted. Before this article sounds too fishy, it must be explained why exactly Rav would commonly draw a fish. The Gemara says that Rav drew a fish in lieu of his signature on legal documents. His practice became so well known that it was common knowledge that if there was a picture of a fish in place of a witness’s signature, one would assume that Rav signed it.

It is a codified halacha that one may not draw pictures of the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Tur says this includes the zodiac signs. The Taz therefore ques-