Our Sages have gone into great detail to explain why Parshas Korach is juxtaposed to the previous parshah, describing the mitzvah of Tzitzis. About the tzitzis it is written, “You shall look upon them and remember all the commandments of Hashem and fulfill them.” Yet Korach did just the opposite; rather than look at the tzitzis and do the right thing, he looked ahead to the dynasty that would emerge from him and this caused him to sin. He even went so far as to scorn the mitzvah of Tzitzis by standing before Moshe Rabbeinu and inquiring: If a talis that is entirely composed of t’cheiles (bluish dye thread) cannot exempt itself from the obligation, how can four threads of t’cheiles exempt it? (Midrash)
Since Korach scorned the mitzvah of Tzitzis, it was as if he had scorned the Torah itself, as the Gemara notes (N’darim 25a): “The mitzvah of Tzitzis is equal to all the mitzvos of the Torah.” From the words of Chazal, who teach that Korach and his followers cry out daily from the depths of the earth, “Moshe and his Torah are truth,” (Bava Basra 74a), we see clearly that Korach and his followers had actually denied Toras Moshe, the teachings of Moshe. Since he did not properly fulfill the mitzvah of Tzitzis – which he did not look upon, since he only used his eyes for evil – he eventually found himself in Gehinnom.
The following story is related by the renowned maggid, Rav Sholom Schwadron zt”l, in his incomparable manner. Rav Sholom visited the United States on a number of occasions and was wont to comment on the American glorification of “summer vacation.” He was intrigued at the notion that entire neighborhoods practically emptied out over a period of two months, leaving homes and synagogues virtually empty. On one occasion, he entered a local shul to daven Minchah, but something was out of the ordinary. The large and normally vibrant shul was mostly empty; they barely could scrape together a minyan. The shortage was easily explainable. It was summer, and many of the neighborhood families had traveled away for the summer. After Minchah, a few mispallelim urged Rav Sholom to say a few words, and he acquiesced. He climbed the steps before the aron kodesh and related a famous parable in the name of the Kelmer Maggid zt”l:
“I was strolling slowly through the city streets before sunset when, from one of the houses, I heard a quiet sobbing. Sharpening my ears, I tried to determine the source of the weeping. As I walked toward what I believed to be the source, the crying increased in volume. It was a dreadful sound, one filled with anguish and longing.
“I continued walking until I reached the doorway of a house. The cries had not ceased even for a moment. I knocked on the door, but there was no response. I rang the bell, but the door did not open. I tried twisting the doorknob with both hands – and it opened! The weeping grew louder. Who was crying here? What had happened? A child, a youth, a lonely old person? What sort of weeping was this? I hesitated, unsure whether or not to go in. In the end, I gathered up my courage and entered.
“I concluded at once that the crying was coming from inside a closet. Who was locked up there? Who could be sobbing inside? With trembling fingers, afraid of what I might find, I opened the latch and the door swung open.
“I saw it immediately. There was a talis in the closet – and the talis was crying!
“‘What’s wrong, Talis, to make you cry so long and so hard? What happened?’ I asked.
“Sobbing even harder, the talis said bitterly, ‘My owner has gone off on vacation in the mountains. He packed up his belongings. He put his money in his wallet and the wallet in his pants pocket. He packed all his valuables in a suitcase and went on vacation. He took everything that was important to him. I am the only thing he left behind!’
“I was quiet for several moments, wishing to offer comfort but not knowing how. All at once, I grew bold. I bent down, came close to the talis, and whispered, ‘Don’t cry, Talis. The day will come when your owner will leave everything he owns here at home – the day when the man who owns this house will separate from everything he possesses. That will be a true separation. He will leave everything behind – except you. He will take you, his talis, with him to the grave. Nothing else.’”
Having made his point, Rav Sholom descended the steps in front of the Ark and made his way out into the street.
Rabbi Dovid Hoffman is the author of the popular “Torah Tavlin” book series, filled with stories, wit and hundreds of divrei Torah, including the brand new “Torah Tavlin Yamim Noraim” in stores everywhere. You’ll love this popular series. Also look for his book, “Heroes of Spirit,” containing one hundred fascinating stories on the Holocaust. They are fantastic gifts, available in all Judaica bookstores and online at http://israelbookshoppublications.com. To receive Rabbi Hoffman’s weekly “Torah Tavlin” sheet on the parsha, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
