June 22, 2011
by Digital Maggid
ויאמר אלהם רב־לכם
vayomer aleihem rav-l’khem
And (Korach) said: You take too much upon you
(Numbers 16:3)
משה האָט געזאָגט צו קרח: מיינט ניט אז איר נארט מיך… אז אייער מחלוקת איז לַשֵם שַמִַים
”רב לכם“ וואָס איר באצוועקט איז בלויז גרויסקיייט פאר אייערט וועגען, ניט פאר גאָט’ס וועגען
(בעש”ט)
Moshe said to Korach: “Don’t think that you deceive me; that your arguments are “for the sake of heaven.” ‘Rav l’chem,’ (you take too much upon you), what you aim (to do) is only for your own sake. It is not for Heaven’s sake.” (BESh”T)
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Posted in Ba'al Shem Tov, Korach, Korach, Moshe | Moses |
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June 22, 2011
by Digital Maggid
כי כל העדה כלם קדושים
ki kol ha’eidah kulam kedoshim
for the whole entire congregation is holy
(Numbers 16:3)
משה האָט געטענה’ט צו קורח’ן, דו ביזט גערעכט: עס איז קאכע אזוי ”כל העדה כלב קדושים.“ זאלסט אָבער וויסען זײַן, ביי איין עדה, אפילו כלם קכושים מוז זײַן איינער וועלכער שטייט אויף א העכערער מדרגה ווי די גאנצע עדה אונ ער איז א קדוש בין קדושים – אשר יבחר בו ד’ הוא הקדוש. (ר’ צידוק הכהן)
Moshe stressed to Korach: “You are correct, this is a ‘wholly holy congregation.’ But be advised, in every congregation, even a ‘wholly holy’ one, there must be one who stands above all the rest and he is kadosh bin kedoshim (holy among holies) whom Hashem has designated as holy.” (R’ Tsiduk HaKohen)
And my thanks to Jeffrey, the Oaklander Yesh, for helping with the Hebrew.
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Posted in Holy, Korach, Korach, Moshe | Moses, R' Tsiduk HaKohen, Uncategorized |
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June 21, 2011
by Digital Maggid
Ok, it’s Tuesday already and we are still riffing on the first two words of the Parsha: Vayikach Korach, ”Korach took.” So one last vort on that pasuk (word on that verse), and we’ll move on. There’s still lots of interesting teitshes (teachings) to post.
This one comes from R’ Simcha Bunam:
די אותיות פונ’ם וואָרט ”קרח“ מאכען ”חקר.“ דאָס איז דאָך געווען קֹרַח’ס אומגליק, וואָס ער איז געווענ א ’“חקר’ן,“ אַן אויפגעקלערטער, א ”מַשׁפִּיל.“
The letters of the word Korach spell “Ch•K•R.” [A Hebrew root having to do with examination, exploration, inquiry, interrogation, research and the like.] This was obviously Korach’s misery, that he was a “KhaKRan” (philosophizer), an enlightened one, a “maskhil” (an intellectual).
Now despite the fact that our masters spent their whole lives immersed in the study of Torah, they did not consider themselves intellectuals. The distinction, I think, lies between heart and mind. The word “intellectual” implies that it is a discipline of the mind, and the mind only. But our masters were Chasids, and they did everything from the heart.
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Posted in Korach, Korach, maskhil (intellectual), Moshe | Moses, R' Simcha Bunam |
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June 20, 2011
by Digital Maggid
This teaching comes from the Sfas Emes (or in Hebrew, Sfat Emet), Yehuda Leib Alter, the grandson of the Chidushei Harim. Once again, the teacher is called by the title of his book שפת אמת Language of Truth. Regarding Korach he says:
.קרח און משה ביידע זײַנען געווען עשירים. נאָר קרח האָט זיך באנוצט מיתן כח פונ זײַן עשירות און מושה מיטן כח פון זײַנ חכמה
Korach and Moshe were both wealthy. Only, Korach employed the power of his wealth and Moshe employed the power of his wisdom.
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Posted in Chidushei Harim, Korach, Korach, Midos (Virtues, Pos. attributes), Moshe | Moses, Sfas Emes |
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June 20, 2011
by Digital Maggid
R’ Neta Chelmer said:
.ויקח קרח — ער האָט געוואָלט דעם גאנצען כבוד נעמען פאר זיך און קיינעם גור ניט געבען
Korach took — he wanted to take all the honor for himself and he gave nothing to anyone else.
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June 20, 2011
by Digital Maggid
While doing research on the previous post, “Korach Took,” I ran across a teaching by Rav Yissocher Frand, that is pretty interesting. It’s too long to repost but I will summarize it here.
Frand is attempting to explain the Resh Lakish commentary. He says the Hebrew word “Yikach” though commonly translated as “took” could also mean “bought.” So the commentary could be understood to say that “he bought a lemon” — a really bad deal.
But what did he buy?
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Posted in Aharon | Aaron, Korach, Korach, Moshe | Moses, Rashi, Resh Lakish |
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June 19, 2011
by Digital Maggid
The first two words of Parshas Korach are:
וַיִקַּך קֹרַח
vayikakh Korach
Korach took …
How significant can this possibly be? Well, apparently it is very significant because in this treasury I’m working from here, there are 36 commentaries on these two words alone! And it turns out, our masters have been scratching their heads about this for centuries, because the Torah never says what Korach took.
To start things off, let’s begin with our Master of the Week, The Toldos.
He begins with a quote, which through divine grace, I was finally able to identify (since these guys never bothered to tell you who they were quoting — it was assumed you’d know) as Resh Lakish (a second generation master) in Sanhedrin 109b.
“שלקח מקח רע לעצמו”
Korach made a bad deal for himself.
“.די תורה, וואס ווערט גערופט א ”מקח טוב“ אונ מתנה טוב, איז ביי קרח’ן געווארען ”מקח רע
What the Torah calls a “mikach tov” [Hebrew: good deal] and “matone tova” [Yiddish: good gift] to Korach becomes a “mikach ra” [Hebrew: "bad deal"].
OK… well, I have a feeling this teaching will take on greater meaning as the week’s study unfolds. But in the meantime, if anybody has any insights (original or otherwise) to share, just click on that little comment link at the bottom of this post. Now, don’t be shy! 
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Posted in Korach, Korach, Master of the Week, Resh Lakish, Sanhedrin, The Parshas (Torah portions), Toldos Yaacov Yosef |
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June 19, 2011
by Digital Maggid
A gute voch שבוה טוב אַ גוטע וואָך Shavuah tov
This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is Korach – Numbers 16:1 – 18:32
You can find the summary here: Parshah in a Nutshell.
And the full text in side-by-side Hebrew and English at Mechon Mamre.
May Hashem bless all our work this week. מיט זײַן ברכה
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Posted in Introduction, Korach, The Parshas (Torah portions) |
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Digital Maggid
