Parshas Korach 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
אל תפן אל מנחתם לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי ולא הרעתי את אחד מהם ... (טז-טו)
After Moshe implores Korach and his followers to terminate their mutiny, he asks הקב"ה not to accept their offerings. One pshat in Rashi explains that this refers to Korach’s portion of the twice-daily קרבן תמיד in which all of Klal Yisroel has a share. The fire should not consume their portion. This seems a bit uncharacteristic of Moshe. The posuk goes on, "לא חמור אחד". I was scrupulous in not taking anything of theirs. Rashi adds, even when I traveled with my family from Midyan to Mitzrayim, I didn’t use their donkeys, to which I had a right. Why did Moshe choose this particular disclaimer, and why davka now?
Perhaps we can suggest the following machshava. Moshe, the רועה נאמן של כלל ישראל, knew that our manhigim, or any person being עוסק בצרכי ציבור, must be entirely dedicated to the job, with no ulterior motive, totally לשם שמים. When one is עוסק בצרכי ציבור, the next word, באמונה, is the operative word. Thus, if Korach’s camp could wage such a war, questioning the Divine plan, their agenda must be flawed. Hence, their portion of the קרבן ציבור was defective, as קרח wasn’t qualified to represent the tzibbur. So, yes! It was exactly at this point Moshe interjected by saying that he had no personal gain from his leadership; not even a donkey ride! It would be fitting to mention the Chazal that compares מלמדי תינוקות to the stars: "מצדיקי הרבים ככוכבים" (דניאל יב-ג). (see (ב"ב ח: Why are they like the stars? As we’ve said before, בשם R’ Leib Bakst zt”l: Stars are created to serve the moon. Children’s Rabbeim, as any other מצדיקי הרבים, who work tirelessly on behalf of Klal Yisroel, are stars!
Following the death of Korach, the Torah enumerates the כ"ד מתנות כהונה. Once again, we must wonder, why mention it davka now? The answer is because Kohanim and Levi’im are deservant of our appreciation for their self-sacrificing efforts on our behalf. So now, as the school year comes to a close, it would behoove us to also show our gratitude to Rabbeim and teachers for all that they have done during the past year, with such dedication and mesiras nefesh!