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Orchard of Delights
sunk to low spiritual levels, one must at times risk lowering one’s self,
in a certain sense, to their levels. Seen from this perspective, falling
has a positive connotation, which may account for the nuns being
inverted. The inversion hints that not all falling is negative; there is
also the very important principle of “descent in order to ascend,” a
vital service performed by the righteous, which will be brought to its
consummate level by the Mashiach.
The numerical value of the word “Mashiach” is 358, which is the
same as the numerical value of the word “nachash” (the primordial
snake of the Garden of Eden). The latter word begins with a nun.
When the energy of the snake is rectified and inverted, its power
will only be used for the good. The Ba’al Shem Tov taught that each
individual contains a spark of Mashiach and he or she must work at
revealing this spark in the world. When a critical mass of sparks has
been revealed, the Mashiach’s soul will be drawn into the world. Until
then, we all must struggle and ask, like Moses, for God’s assistance in
overcoming all the obstacles blocking our paths to fulfilling our own
individual roles as well as the ultimate mission of the Jewish people.
£Prophecy: Past, Present, and FutureProphecy: Past, Present, and Future
££Prophecy: Past, Present, and Future
In response to Moses’ request not to bear the burden of the people by
himself, God tells him to gather seventy elders to assist him. Since
seventy does not divide evenly by twelve, an equal number of elders
from each tribe could not be appointed. In order to spare Moses the
unpleasantness of slighting any of the tribes, God instructed him to
choose seventy-two elders (six from each tribe) and then cast a lot to
determine which two would not be included in the final count. When
two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, voluntarily opted out of the
lottery in favor of the others, God’s spirit rested upon them and they
began to prophesy. Joshua pleaded with Moses to stop them, but
Moses responded: “Are you zealous for my sake? Would it be that all
the people of God could be prophets, if God would place His spirit on
them” (Numbers 11:29).
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the verse recounts, “and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed
them” (Numbers 16:32).
Likewise, the very image of the earth opening its mouth in the
context of Cain’s and Korach’s punishments expresses the principle
of “measure for measure” as both Cain and Korach were tripped up
by the words that came out of their own mouths when they opened
them to speak. In recounting Cain’s murder of Abel, the Torah states
the following: “Cain spoke with his brother Abel. And it happened
when they were in the field that Cain rose up against his brother
and killed him” (Genesis 4:8). While the text does not tell us what
Cain spoke with his brother about, presumably, this conversation led
to Abel’s murder. In Korach’s case Rashi explains that the opening
phrase of the portion, “and Korach took” (Numbers 16:1), which
lacks any direct object in the text, refers to his taking the peoples’
hearts, tricking them by cloaking his own anger and ambition in
populist rhetoric aimed at enlisting their support. 15
Another instance of “measure for measure” is alluded to by
Korach’s lineage, mentioned at the beginning of the portion:
“Korach son of Izhar, son of Kehat, son of Levi.” The righteous Levi
is mentioned, but not Jacob. Rashi asks why Korach’s lineage was
not traced all the way back to Jacob. He answers by quoting the
Midrash which states that Jacob foresaw Korach’s sin and prayed
not to be mentioned in connection with it. This being the case, we
might expect the righteous Levi to also be excluded from the list.
However, perhaps Levi’s presence is necessary because it alludes to
another instance of “measure for measure.” When Joseph found his
brothers herding the flocks, Levi and Shimon plotted to kill him, but
Reuben convinced them to throw him in a pit instead. Perhaps, on a
symbolic level, the pit used to hold Joseph comes back to swallow up
Korach, Levi’s direct descendant. Indeed, Korach’s jealousy of his
first cousins (Moses and Aaron) parallels Levi’s jealousy of Joseph,
so perhaps Korach’s death can be seen on some level as a “measure
for measure” response to Levi’s actions.
Our discussion of “measure for measure” here highlights a number
of crucial points. This principle can manifest itself immediately or
at a future date. In some cases, the Divine accounting process may
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