Shabbat Parashat Korach 5779

Ein Ayah: Removing the Light to Keep it Pure

Gemara: Moshe broke the luchot (Tablets) based on the following derivation, using a kal vachomer: If regarding the Korban Pesach, which is only one of the 613 mitzvot, the Torah says, “No one [whose actions have] removed [him] from the nation may eat from it” (Shemot 12:43), regarding the entire Torah and Israel are [considered like] apostates, all the more so.

Ein Ayah: When a source of great light is given divinely to one who is not fitting for it, it ruins him and ruins the world. This is because, in the process, the light source itself loses some of its greatness and is polluted by being connected to something which is out of synch with the sequential order of the world.

There is also an “order” in the world that includes sporadic jumps, in regard to which it is not as important to separate between great things and problematic ones. However, even for a lofty matter of “jumping,” there are requirements that need to be met in order for it to be correct to be connected. Such a matter is Pesach, which is related to the skipping and jumping that Hashem did in Egypt [from house to house].

The great surprise that occurred in Egypt, as Hashem revealed his Divine Presence and took a nation out from the midst of a nation, was unprecedented in the world (see Devarim 4:34) and forever stands as a miracle in which matters jumped out of their ordinary ways. [Despite its exceptional nature,] it left an impression on those connected to it, which provides the basis for limited human life to have values that are well balanced. That is the reason that the Korban Pesach, even though its related events were so out of the ordinary, is still off limits to one who has become an apostate.

Realize that as being a single mitzva within the 613, Korban Pesach does not absorb the full element of order and sequence, which are part of the manner in which the world is built, internally and externally, in regard to people and the heavenly world. It follows that when people mix up what is divine and break from the principles of faith, even if it appears to be by means of actions and feelings and one does not actually decide to reject Hashem, still this status causes a contradiction if the person were to want to be connected to holiness. This is all the more a problem if people with these severe problems try to associate with the Torah as a whole, as it is all encompassing. As such, one cannot remove from it the requirement of sequential values, as this would be a great danger to the world, to Israel, and to the revelation of the Torah.

Top of page

Print this page

Send to friend