Korach gathered together 250 men of stature and mounted a rebellion against
Moshe and HASHEM.
Rashi explains that Korach’s motivation was jealousy; he felt that he should
have been appointed to the position of Nasi of his Shevet, and was seeking
revenge. Even though Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded by HASHEM to appoint
Elizaphan Ben Uziel to that position, Korach felt that Moshe made this
decision on his own, and he set out to depose him. He would prove that Moshe
was saying things in the name of HASHEM, which HASHEM never told him to say.
To prove his point, Korach gathered 250 leaders of the Jewish people and
gave each one a tallis made completely out of techeiles. (A tallis requires
only one strand of the tzitzis to be dyed the purple / blue color of
techeiles.)
Korach brought this group in front of Moshe and asked: “If someone has as a
garment made completely of techeiles, is he obligated to put tzitzis on it?”
Moshe answered, “He is obligated.”
“Does that make sense?” Korach demanded. “A garment that is made completely
of wool requires only one strand of techeiles, and yet you say that a
garment made completely of techeiles needs additional techeiles. It is
impossible!” At which point the entire group began laughing at Moshe; and
with this Korach launched his revolt.
Korach’s question wasn’t that powerful
It seems clear from the Medrash that Korach’s strategy was to ask so
powerful a question that Moshe wouldn’t be able to answer it, which would
prove that what he said couldn’t be from HASHEM. The question is: what is so
potent about the question that Korach asked? It might well be that a garment
made of plain wool requires tzitzis with one strand of techeiles, and that a
garment made completely of techeiles still requires tzitzis with a strand of
techeiles in it. The question doesn’t seem particularly plaguing.
Furthermore, if Korach wanted to ask questions, there are far more difficult
questions that he could have asked. The Medrash tells us that Shlomo
Ha’Melech couldn’t understand the system of the Parah Adumah. If the purpose
of the Parah Aduma is to purify the one sprinkled with its ashes, how could
it be that the Kohain who sprinkles the ashes becomes impure by doing it? It
is an enigma. Surely if Korach were looking to find an unanswerable question
to disprove Moshe, there were many more difficult questions he could have
asked. Yet there was something so unanswerable about the techeiles question
that it caused 250 Torah scholars to laugh at Moshe’s answer. The question
is: why?
The answer is based on understanding how bias blinds the mind of man.
Questions have answers; answers have
no answers
Rav Chaim Volozhin was once approached by a student who had left the
yeshiva. This was at a time when the Enlightenment was in full swing, and
many young, impressionable yeshiva students were struck by the lure of
modern studies’ promise to fulfill all of mankind’s needs. The Torah’s ways
were seen as archaic and outdated; science alone could provide all the
answers to that which ailed the world.
This student, after having been outside the yeshiva for a while, returned
and said to Rav Chaim, “I want to come back, but I have many questions.”
Rav Chaim asked him, “Did these questions come to you when you were in
yeshiva or after you left?”
The boy innocently asked, “What difference does it make? These are questions
that I have.”
Rav Chaim responded, “If these questions troubled you before you left
yeshiva, they are questions, and for questions I have answers. However, if
these questions only began troubling after you left yeshiva, then they
aren’t questions; they are answers. For answers, I have no answers.”
Bias blinds a man
Rav Chaim was explaining a basic principle in man: that bias greatly affects
our ability to understand. If a person has a prejudice against a way of
thinking, then he isn’t open-minded and he becomes incapable of hearing the
truth, no matter how clear and no matter how obvious -- He just isn’t
listening. To allow for free will, HASHEM gave man this uncanny ability to
shut his mind down, to ignore all proofs and all logic and to blindly follow
his desires. When a man has made up his mind and doesn’t want to hear the
truth, there is nothing that can prove him wrong- his mind is shut.
This seems to be the answer to understanding Korach’s question. Korach
wasn’t approaching Moshe seeking the truth; his sole intention was to mock
and discredit Moshe. With that mindset, the strength of the question, and
whether there was an answer to it didn’t matter. There was no question, only
scorn and derision in the guise of a question. It was a question that had no
answer because it wasn’t a question -- it was an answer.
This concept has great relevance in our lives. There will be times when we
are perplexed by situations that we don’t understand, and we don’t know
which way to turn; the answers that we seek aren’t forthcoming. It may well
be that we can’t find the answer, but sometimes when the answer eludes us,
it’s not because the answer isn’t there, but because we aren’t listening.
Sometimes the answer may be right there, but we aren’t open to it, and so we
can’t hear it. It’s not that there aren’t answers; it is that we aren’t
asking questions.
HASHEM created man with a heart of truth, and if a person puts aside his
bias and opens his mind he is capable of hearing the answer. The key to the
process is to ask himself one pointed question: what is the truth? Forget my
self-interest; forget the consequences; what is the right path? What does
HASHEM want me to do? If a person follows this process, his inner sense will
guide him past the darkness and he will be able to find the truth.
More on this topic please listen to Shmuz
#168 Emunah
