B parashat hashavua b parasha : korach

THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRESCEDENT

This analysis returns us to the overall theme of the Book of Numbers. Once again we are involved with the establishment of constitutional norms that will serve as the basic fabric of the Jewish body politic through the ages.

The Korach story has enormous historic implications. It teaches us that the principles of democratic process cannot be applied to spiritual interactions. Accepting a spiritual relationship with God necessarily means leaving Him with the decision making power of selecting the people who will serve as the channel for the communications and inputs that originate from Him. The choice of selecting the conduits to God, despite the fact that it is laden with earthly political consequences, is not a power that constitutionally inheres in the Jewish body politic. The appropriation of such power by God's chosen representatives does not constitute an unjust appropriation of powers that belong to the Jewish nation.

GOD'S REPRESENTATIVE

This principle has fascinating implications, for the person who serves as Israel's conduit to God is not merely a passive representative but has independent powers of his own.

One of the better-known illustrations of the powers possessed by such people is provided by the following passage of Talmud:

The daughter of Nechemia, the well digger, [he was noted for digging wells to supply fresh water for the influx of pilgrims who flocked to Jerusalem on the occasion of the tri-annual holidays] fell into a well and was in danger of drowning. They came to inform Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa; he assured them that she was safe. An hour later she was still in the well and they came to ask him again; he told them she was still safe; an hour later they came again. This time he told them that she had been rescued in the last hour; it turned out that he was perfectly correct. They asked him how he knew; did he possess the gift of prophecy?

He explained that although he was not a prophet he knew she was rescued because he could not believe that a person who devoted his life to good works that involved the digging of wells would ever lose his daughter through drowning in a well. As no one could survive for three hours in a well, he was certain that she was rescued in the third hour. The Talmud goes on to say that despite R'Chaina's certainty regarding Nechemia's immunity from being injured by water, Nechemia's son died of thirst. (Baba Kama 50a)

Tosefos wonders at this - was Rabbi Chanina wrong then? After all, his contention was that it was impossible for any harm to come to Nechemia's children through water seems to have been verified by the daughter's miraculous rescue. Tosefos answers: By the time the son died of thirst, Rabbi Chanina had himself passed away. As long as he was alive, God conducted the world according to R' Chanina's understanding. When he passed away, God reverted to running the world according to His own policies once again.

In effect God also surrenders power to the person whom He selects as His conduit. After He chooses His representative, He Himself abides by the representative's decisions.

If we trace the steps of the passage of power, it goes like this:

The Jewish people hand over power to God.

God hands this power on to His representative.

The ultimate decision power over how to run the universe ends up in the hands of God's representative!

THE POWER OF THE TZADDIK

This manifestation of the power held in the hands of God's representatives is specifically recognized in the following passage of Talmud:

The God of Israel has said, 'The rock of Israel has spoken to me. Become a ruler over men, a righteous one, who rules through the fear of God.' (Samuel 2, 23:3) Rabbi Avohu said, "What does this verse mean? The God of Israel has said, 'The rock of Israel has spoken to me, "I reign over man, but who reigns over Me? The righteous one. Because, when I issue an edict, the righteous one has the power to overrule Me."' (Talmud, Moed Katan 16b)

It is on account of this power held by the tzadik that so many Jews go to such great lengths to solicit the blessings of tzaddikim at crisis points in their lives.

LEGAL POWERS

But there is a second even more profound manifestation of this power that is illustrated by the incident presented in a famous passage of Talmud, (Baba Metzia, 59b) concerning a circular clay oven that was sliced into sections:

Rabbi Elazar ruled that such an oven is ritually clean; the majority of rabbis ruled that it was ritually unclean. [The actual point of law is rather esoteric and irrelevant to the point under discussion in this essay; it concerns the laws of Tamey in clay vessels.]

Rabbi Elazar said: "If the halacha is like I say, the carob tree should move a hundred cubits." The tree duly moved but the rabbis said, 'you cannot prove your point from a tree'. Then Rabbi Elazar said: "Let the river run upstream to show that I am right." The river duly reversed its course but the rabbis remained unimpressed. Then Rabbi Elazar said, "Let the walls of the study hall show that I am right." The walls began to collapse. At this point Rabbi Yehoshua rose and said: "Walls of the study hall, if rabbis argue with each other about the halacha what business is it of yours?" The walls stopped collapsing to honor Rabbi Yehoshua, but did not straighten in honor of Rabbi Elazar. Finally Rabbi Elazar said: "If I am right let Heaven confirm it." A heavenly voice issued saying, "Why do you contend with Rabbi Elazar when the halacha is always like him?" Rabbi Yehoshua rose again and said, "It [The Torah] is no longer in heaven!"

What does this mean? Rabbi Yirmiah explained, "The Torah was already given on Mount Sinai and the heavenly voice no longer has authority. The Torah given on Mount Sinai already stated the applicable rule, Follow the majority (Exodus 23:2)"

Rabbi Noson bumped into Elijah and asked him, "What did God say when Rabbi Yehoshua made his statement?" He told him, "God smiled and said, 'My children have overruled me, My children have overruled me.'"

Torah tradition maintains that Torah law rather than natural law is the law that governs the universe. As the Zohar states, He studied the Torah and created the world. (Introduction, 5a) The rabbis who decide Torah issues effectively hold the reigns of the universe in their hands. Even God cannot decide against the consensus of rabbinic opinion!

This arrangement of the constitutional powers not only of the body politic but also of the entire universe is unique to Judaism. The severest critics of the legitimacy of rabbinic authority readily admit that it is the position occupied by the scholar and the tzaddik in Jewish society that imparts Orthodox Judaism its unique flavor. The translation of spiritual power into temporal authority is the valuable legacy bequeathed to us by Korach. By challenging Moses and God, he brought down the teachings that clarified these thorny issues forevermore.

This legacy of teachings also lies at the very heart of our survival as a unique people.

While the rest of the world is swept along by the powerful tides of changing ideas, where the politically correct position never stands still, Judaism has remained substantially unaltered from the days of the confrontation between Moses and Korach. The rabbis have proven themselves quite adept at wielding their mediating power between God and man.

FAMILY PARASHA

OVERVIEW

Many times we may think we are doing something for one reason when we are really doing it for another. When we want something, our minds can cleverly rationalize, or make up excuses that justify doing what we feel like, even if deep down we know better.

We find in this week's Torah portion that Korach let his rationalizations lead him to incite a terrible and destructive rebellion against Moses. A person has to be careful not only to know what he's doing, but also why he's doing it.

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STORY

In our story, a girl comes to grips with the power of rationalization.

"TAKING THE CAKE"

"Hmm ... 66 divided by 6..." thought Dianne Haber distractedly, as she tried to plow her way through her math homework. She had been at it for a while now, but hadn't gotten too far. Not that the problems were so hard, just that her mind was somewhere else - firmly fixed on the luscious double-fudge layer cake that sat cooling in the next room. It was her mom's specialty, which she had baked in honor of Aunt Sarah, Uncle Ephraim, and her cousin's upcoming visit that evening.

Though her mom had sternly warned her not to touch the cake before she and her dad had gone out to buy some paper goods, the tempting smell of the freshly-baked cake was wreaking havoc on the girl's concentration. With numbers swimming in front of her eyes, Dianne decided to get up and get herself a drink. Of course that meant going into the kitchen, right next to the cake, but so what? She was thirsty, she told herself.

But as Dianne poured herself a glass of orange juice, she caught sight of the seven-layer beauty out of the corner of her eye. She was suddenly inspired by a thought: "You know, I'm sure that when mom said not to take some cake, she didn't mean not even a tiny sliver..."

No sooner had the thought entered her head, than she found herself carefully slicing a small, hardly noticeable piece off the corner of the chocolaty delight.

Feeling a bit guilty, Dianne went back to her desk, determined to focus on her homework. But after a few more moments of pencil fidgeting, the girl's mind began to wander.

"That's a pretty big cake. I'll bet that when mom made it, she forgot that Aunt Sarah's always on a diet. Not to mention that cousin Jerry is allergic to chocolate ... or is it coconut? Well anyway, the cake is way more than what we need ... even if I took another piece..." she rationalized, making her way once again into the kitchen. This time Dianne helped herself to a piece of cake that could be best described as 'generous.'

"Okay, that's it! Time for homework!" she promised herself. But she had hardly brought pencil to paper when she realized that the cake now, thanks to her masterful carving job, looked uneven.

"Mom would never want to serve a lopsided cake," she thought. "Better it should be a bit smaller, but symmetrical..."

Dianne dashed into the kitchen to even out the cake, happily munching on the piece she had cut off in the name of symmetry.

And so did the afternoon pass. Dianne's list of math problems began to shrink, but not nearly as quickly as did the poor chocolate cake.

"Wow, finally finished!" declared Dianne triumphantly at her finished homework. "I know that mom wouldn't mind that I took just a little piece of cake to celebrate."

Just then, Dianne heard her parents' car pull into the garage. She glanced back at the decimated cake and had a rude awakening. "Oh, no! Mom is going to flip!!"

Sure enough, Mrs. Haber walked into the kitchen and gasped at the sight of the tiny, chopped-up remnant of the once-grand cake, which by now more resembled a cupcake. She flashed Dianne a hurt and disappointed look, and suddenly all the good excuses that had made so much sense to the girl at the time melted away. Dianne painfully realized that she had really just wanted to eat the cake, and had rationalized her way into doing it.

When the smoke cleared, it was decided that Dianne would quickly have to go to the local bakery and buy a new, expensive layer cake from her own allowance money. The girl learned her lesson, and decided then and there that the next time she felt tempted to rationalize, she would try to stop first, and look at things through rational eyes.

QUESTIONS

Ages 3-5

Q. How did Dianne feel when taking the pieces of cake?

A. She felt that even though her mom had told her not to, it was really okay since she had good excuses.

Q. How did she feel once her mom came home?

A. She felt bad for eating the cake, and realized that all her excuses were just reasons she had made up to do something she really knew she shouldn't have.

Ages 6-9

Q. Do you think that Dianne meant to disobey her mom when she ate the cake?

A. As Dianne was taking piece after piece of cake, she actually convinced herself that her mom wouldn't mind and that she was doing nothing wrong. This is the power of rationalization. It can twist around almost anything in our mind, however wrong, and convince us it's right.

Q. Why did it become clear to Dianne what she had done wrong, once her mom came home?

A. Many of our excuses, as reasonable as they sound when we are making them, fall apart once we are confronted by a bit of truth. The return of Dianne's mom, and her reaction, snapped her out of her delusion, and let her see that all her 'good' reasons were really just excuses to eat the cake.

Q. Can you think of a common rationalization you make?

Ages 10 and Up

Q. How can we tell when our reasons for acting a certain way are valid, and when they are rationalizations?

A. It's not always easy. In the heat of the moment, the most contorted reasoning can seem to be valid. If we are aware, however, we can begin to notice whether we have already formed an opinion or desire, which we simply wish to back up (this is rationalization), or whether we are able to step back and coolly think something through to its logical conclusion. Being aware of the excuse-making is the first big step toward stopping it.

Q. Is it better to live with comfortable excuses and rationalizations, or painful truth? Why?

A. Ultimately, we are spiritual beings who have been sent to this world to separate truth from falsehood. The only thing that will give us permanent satisfaction is living a life devoted to truth. For the truth-seeker, the pain of abandoning comfortable lies and excuses will soon be eclipsed by a wonderful sense of living life as it is meant to be lived.

Q. Can you think of a common rationalization you make?

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10- HALACHA (Gross)

Selected Halachos Relating To Parshat HaShevua By Rabbi Doniel NeustadtDustributed by The Harbotzas Torah Division of Congregation Shomre Shabbos

THE MITZVAH OF MEZUZAH: THE BASIC OBLIGATION

THE OBLIGATION

It is a Biblical obligation for all adults, men and women(1), to affix a mezuzah to the right post of each doorway of their home. One who fails to do so transgresses a positive command(2). Although a mezuzah also protects a home(3) and safeguards the well-being of one's little children(4), this is by no means the primary reason for the mezuzah. The intention that one must have when affixing the mezuzah to the doorpost must be "for the sake of the mitzvah of mezuzah(5)." Indeed, some poskim mention that it is prohibited to consciously have in mind that the mezuzah is for the purpose of protection. Such an intention detracts from the essential character of a mitzvah, which is to fulfill Hashem's will with no other considerations(6).

Many poskim hold that it is Rabbinically prohibited to live in a home which does not have proper mezuzos, just as it is prohibited to wear a four-cornered garment without tzitzis(7). These poskim rule that if another house is available, one must move out of his home as soon as he realizes that it is lacking proper mezuzos(8). He is permitted to temporarily remain in his home only if he is unable to obtain a mezuzah immediately, or if he found out on Shabbos that his home has no mezuzah(9). Other poskim are somewhat more lenient and do not require the residents to move out if they have already moved in(10). All agree that the problem must be rectified immediately. There is absolutely no excuse for delaying the purchase and placement of a mezuzah for several days or weeks.

One may enter another Jew's home even though there are no mezuzos on his door(11).

It is clearly prohibited to nail a mezuzah case to a door-post on Shabbos and Yom Tov(12). If the mezuzah case was nailed in before Shabbos or Yom Tov and remains intact, but the mezuzah parchment fell out, some poskim permit replacing the mezuzah in the case while others prohibit it(13). In any event, the mezuzah parchment does not become muktzeh and it may be picked up so that it does not lie on the floor in disgrace(14).

WHEN DOES THE OBLIGATION OF MEZUZAH BEGIN?

Contrary to what is commonly believed, the obligation begins as soon as one moves into his own home. By the first day or night that a home will be occupied, or by the first day or night that an addition to a home will be used, every doorway must have a mezuzah.

[Indeed, many poskim hold that one should not affix a mezuzah before actually moving into a house(15) (even though he owns it and plans to move in in the near future), and certainly the blessing should not be recited until the actual move(16). Other poskim hold that once he has moved his belongings into the house, the mezuzah may be affixed with a blessing(17).]

It is only when one rents [or borrows] a home from another person [outside of Eretz Yisrael] that a thirty-day(18) waiting period is allowed until one becomes obligated to affix a mezuzah(19). The Rishonim argue as to the reason for this exemption. Rashi(20) explains that until thirty days have elapsed, one can easily change his mind about the rental; thus the house is not really "his" until thirty days are over. Tosfos explains that the first thirty days of residence are considered as "temporary dwelling," and temporary dwelling does not obligate one to affix a mezuzah.

Based on Rashi's explanation, it follows that when a long-term contract is signed which legally obligates the renter for an extended period of time, then the obligation of mezuzah takes effect immediately(21). Moreover, if upon moving into the house, the renter fixes it up in a manner which shows that he is planning to remain there for a long while, logic dictates that a mezuzah be put up and the proper blessing recited. This, indeed, is the view of some poskim(22), and one may conduct himself in accordance with this view(23).

But many poskim advise that although the mezuzah should be affixed immediately upon moving in, the blessing should not be recited until the thirty-day period is up(24). At that time, it is proper to remove one mezuzah, recite the blessing, and return the mezuzah to its proper place. If it is difficult or bothersome to do so, then the mezuzah need not be removed; merely touching it is sufficient for the blessing to be recited(25). [An exception to this is when one rents a bungalow or a summer home for a short stay. In such a case, the poskim agree that thirty days should elapse before a mezuzah is affixed(26).]

If the thirty-day period is up on Shabbos or Yom Tov, the mezuzah should be affixed on erev Shabbos or erev Yom Tov before lighting candles. The blessing should be recited at that time(27).

FOOTNOTES:

1 Y.D. 291:3. 2 Sefer ha-Chinuch 423. See Menachos 44a where it states that two positive commands are transgressed. See also Teshuvos Binyan Tziyon 7. 3 Tur Y.D. 285 based on Avodah Zarah 11a. 4 Shabbos 32b. 5 Tur Y.D. 285; Aruch ha-Shulchan 285:3. 6 Sdei Chemed (Mem,114) quoting Derech ha-Melech, based on Rambam (Hilchos Mezuzah 5:4) and Kesef Mishneh, ibid. See also Igros Moshe Y.D. 2:141 who explains this issue at length. 7 Magen Avraham O.C. 13:8 as explained by Pri Megadim O.C. 38:15; Avnei Nezer Y.D. 381. 8 It remains unclear if in the opinion of these poskim one needs to move to a friend's home or to rent a hotel room in order to avoid this prohibition. 9 Pischei Teshuvah Y.D. 285:1 quoting Pri Megadim; Aruch ha-Shulchan Y.D. 285:5; Ben Ish Chai (Ki Savo). 10 See Sdei Chemed (Mem, 115), Kuntres ha-Mezuzah (pg. 6 and pg. 128) and Tzitz Eliezer 13:53 who quote several poskim who hold that the Rabbis did not prohibit entering a house that has no mezuzah nor did they require one to move out of his dwelling when he realizes that there is a problem with the mezuzah. 11 Sdei Chemed (Mem, 115) quoting Ruach Chayim. 12 Mishnah Berurah 313:41; 314:8. 13 Sdei Chemed (Mem, 115) quotes both views. See Binyan Shabbos, pg. 27 for an explanation. Tzitz Eliezer 13:53 rules leniently, while Mezuzas Melachim 286:19 is stringent. 14 Harav Y.S. Elyashiv (quoted in Shalmei Yehudah, pg. 28). 15 See Chovas ha-Dar 9:1. 16 Mishnah Berurah 19:4. This is the proper way; Harav Y.S. Elyashiv (oral ruling quoted in Avnei Yashfei 2:80). 17 Harav C. Kanievsky (Mezuzos Bei'secha 276:78) quoting the Chazon Ish. This also seems to be the view of the Aruch ha-Shulchan O.C. 19:2. 18 Moving day, even if it is close to night, is counted as day number 1. Thus 29 days later, the obligation takes effect. 19 Y.D. 286:22 20 Menachos 44a. 21 Siddur Derech ha-Chayim quoted in Pischei Teshuvah 286:18. 22 Several poskim quoted in Sdei Chemed (Mem, 115) and Chovas ha-Dar, pg. 31. 23 Aruch ha-Shulchan 286:49. See also Chayei Adam 15:22. 24 Pischei Teshuvah 286:18; Nachalas Tzvi; Sdei Chemed (Mem, 115); Igros Moshe Y.D. 1:179. 25 Igros Moshe, ibid. 26 Igros Moshe, ibid. 27 Kuntres ha-Mezuzah, pg. 82. Another option is to nail the mezuzah case to the post before Shabbos and insert the mezuzah on Shabbos (Chikrei Leiv Y.D. 128). But, as stated earlier, some poskim do not allow this on Shabbos.

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