Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Korach

Rav SY Zevin says (in a different take than Rav Soloveichik and others) that on one level the tallit that's all blue that Korach says does not need tzitit and the house full of seforim that he claims doesn't require a mezuaza are both metaphors for what he said explicitly, that all the people are holy: If all the people are holy they don't need holy leaders tacked on to help them, like the holy garment or the holy home, they're all fine on their own. But that's not the case- we all need holy leadership and guidance. Then he adds that Krach could have been hinting to an anti Israel stance, following the meraglim's lead (and thus juxtaposed after their parsha) but from a different angle: The meraglim felt holy, they were part of the dor deah, and they didn't want to bother with trying to elevate an unholy physical land and a physical life. Korach said that all land was holy so why have an especially holy one, just like a tallit is holy, just like a house full of seforim is holy. But all things need to be elevated...
L'Iluy Nishmat Chaim ben Naftali HaLevi

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