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Orchard of Delights
is certainly true, the full manifestation and revelation of this truth
will only occur in the future. Until then hierarchy is both a natural
and necessary component of human relations. Korach was arguing
that the future, in a sense, had already come; therefore, there was
no need for a leader like Moses whose authority exceeded everybody
else’s. Ironically, Korach, the populist libertarian, cynically employs
the notion of equality to advance his own ambitions, while Moses,
described by the Torah as the humblest man on the face of the earth,
appears to be selfishly fighting to maintain his authority. However,
there is no doubt that Moses never sought power and authority for
himself; clearly he only fought Korach’s bid for power because he
had no doubt that God had appointed him to lead His people.
Although Korach’s ego interfered with his ability to be objective
and despite the fact that he misunderstood his contemporaries’ needs,
no one can dispute that there was a very deep kernel of truth to his
claim. The Lubliner Rebbe, who was known to refer to Korach as
“my Zaide (grandfather) Korach,” once exclaimed that had he been
alive at the time of the controversy he would have had a hard time
knowing which side to take. This statement is in keeping with the
populist philosophy fueling the first few generations of the Chassidic
movement, a movement which wished to empower and inspire the
poor, downtrodden, and “simple” masses with a belief that their
Divine service was meaningful and precious in God’s eyes.
Therefore even though Korach’s rebellion both appeared to be
and, in fact, was not for the sake of Heaven, he did intuit a great
truth which would be revealed in the future. Only at the End of Days
will Korach “blossom like a date palm” and his words be revealed as
“words of the living God.”
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Beha’alotcha
we have noted repeatedly when discussing PaRDeS, each word, verse,
story, and mitzvah in the Torah can be simultaneously understood
on multiple levels. This is especially true when the phenomenon
under discussion occurs only once in the Torah, such as these inverted
nuns.
The Slonimer Rebbe in Netivot Shalom quotes an insight from the
Maggid of Koznitch who suggests that the ark symbolizes the Torah
scholar, for both are external vessels that contain Torah inside.
Indeed, sometimes Torah scholars are referred to as “walking Torah
scrolls” because the Torah has been so wholly integrated into their
beings. The Hebrew word for “journey” (nesi’ah) used in our verse
shares the same root as the Hebrew word for “test” (nisayon), thus
implying that anytime the ark or a Torah scholar goes on a journey,
challenges and tests will inevitably arise. The Slonimer Rebbe explains
that this paradigm applies to anyone who wants to journey from a
lower spiritual level to a higher, more refined level of consciousness,
one of the vital goals of learning Torah and performing mitzvot.
In the first verse, Moses utters the prayer that God come to the
aid of all those longing to elevate themselves and protect them from
their enemies, that is, from all those forces in the world obstructing
positive, constructive spiritual advancement. Within this rubric,
God’s enemies are our enemies, and vice versa, as we become closely
identified with God: our greatest desire is to do God’s work in the
world and for this very reason we were chosen by Him. Chassidut
points out that the first part of Psalms 34:15 – “Turn from evil and
do good” – expresses this desire for spiritual advancement.
In the second verse, Moses utters a request that God rest peacefully
among the people of Israel. The second half of Psalms 34:15 – “Turn
from evil and do good” reflects this aspiration. In truth, only once
God helps us defeat His and our enemies can our mission of doing
good truly begin. The culminating point of a human being’s service
to God is to draw near Him with love and create a vessel for Him
to dwell in this world. Even more significantly, this culminating
moment is achieved when we allow Him to dwell within each and
every one of us. Since, according to the Slonimer Rebbe, the ideas
presented in these two verses form the very basis for serving God,
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