We Will Go up! | Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Beit Midrash

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Parashat Hashavua

קטגוריה משנית

It is not always obvious when various major episodes in Sefer Bamidbar occurred. In fact, there is not even a verifiable answer to that riddle.

It is hard to ignore that Parashat Korach, with its account of Korach and his supporters’ opposition to the leadership under Moshe Rabbeinu, comes right after Parashat Shelach, which describes the people broadly accepting the spies’ thesis that Bnei Yisrael were incapable of conquering Eretz Yisrael from its powerful residents. The Torah also hints in various ways, including the use of conspicuously similar terminology, that the episodes are connected.

One of the major words of the story of the spies is the root aloh (going up … to the Land). The righteous spies said "aloh na’aleh" (we shall certainly go up) (Bamidbar 13:30). The next pasuk uses the root twice. Surprisingly, Korach said repeatedly that he would not "go up," even though he was referring just to going to meet Moshe (ibid. 16:12-14).

The two parshiyot also both use the description of lands as zavat chalav u’dvash (flowing with milk and honey). The good spies did that in reference to Eretz Yisrael (ibid. 14:8), and Korach (ibid. 16:13-14) used it both in terms of Eretz Yisrael and, actually, Egypt.

Finally, both parshiyot refer to the nemeses of Moshe as the eidah (the assemblage). (See Bamidbar 14:27, 35 regarding the spies, and ibid. 26:9, ibid. 27:3, and Tehillim 106:16 regarding the assemblage of Korach.)

The midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Korach 750) makes this type of connection very directly and poignantly. Datan and Aviram criticized Moshe for taking credit for the great good of taking the people out of Egypt, whereas they highlighted the fertile nature of Egypt and the unwelcoming desolation of the wilderness.

It therefore is likely that after the spies were divinely killed and the whole nation was punished that they would have to stay in the desert for a long time, there remained a nucleus of rabble-rousers, supporters of Korach, who opposed going to Eretz Yisrael, for which Moshe was preparing them. When they said, "We will not go up," this included not going up to the Land or going to the section of the encampment around the Mishkan, where Moshe spent his time. These people did not believe that, spiritually, the Mishkan was the highest point in the encampment (see Midrash Aggada, Bamidbar 16:12). That is why they said "We will not go up" and not "We will not go." They likewise were not willing to accept that Eretz Yisrael is [spiritually] the highest place in the world (see Sifrei, Eikev 37).

In these times, when our enemies are trying their hardest to make it difficult for us to live in the Land, we will borrow two declarations from the two discussed parshiyot: "The Land is very, very good" (Bamidbar 14:7). Also, "Moshe is truthful and his teachings are true, and Korach and his group speak mistruths" (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 11). We thank Hashem with great enthusiasm for the great privilege to live in a Jewish state, whose achievements in every facet have been tremendous. Let us do this with unity and willingness to listen to each other, as is needed now.