24 Jun PARSHAS KORACH: A PERSON CAN GAIN OR LOSE HIS WORLD IN ONE MOMENT

The Ramban on the
pasuk “And the earth
opened its mouth and
it swallowed them
and their houses and
all the men that were
with Korach…” (Bamidbar 16:32)
points out that any person associated
with Korach was swallowed up when the
ground opened. They were punished
together with the rest of his property.
Ironically, however, the Ramban says
that this dramatic punishment did not
affect Korach’s own sons, as it is written
in Parshas Pinchas “And the sons of
Korach did not die.” (Bamidbar 26:11)
Even though they were initially part of
Korach’s assembly, theywere spared
because they were “great righteous men”
whose merit saved them. What happened
to Korach’s sons? How were they saved?
The Medrash (Yalkut Shimoni) says
that their merit stemmed from the fact
that when Korach was initially plotting
his rebellion in the presence of his sons,

Moshe came in and they covered their
faces. They had the following dilemma:
If we stand up in the presence of Moshe
Rabbeinu (as protocol would demand for
the Gadol Hador), this would shame our
father, Moshe’s antagonist, and we are
obligated to honor our father. On the
other hand, if we do not stand up for
Moshe, we would violate the pasuk
“Mipnei seivah takum…” (Vayikra
19:32) What should we do?
The Medrash relates that they decided
to honor Moshe Rabbeinu even though it
would shame their father. At that
moment, they had pangs of repentance
(hirhurei teshuva), as Dovid HaMelech
said, “My heart acquired a good
matter…” (Tehillim 45:2)
I will share two comments on this
Medrash:
1. Why did they choose to give honor to
Moshe Rabbeinu over their father? Why
did Moshe win out in the end? I saw in
the sefer Darash Mordechai that this

shows the power of the
chinuch of a home.
Rashi says that Korach
was amongst those
who carried the Aron
Kodesh during the
travels in the
Wilderness. Any
person who carried the
Aron Kodesh had to be
extremely careful
about one thing: Kavod
HaTorah. Someone
who does not treat the
Torah with the proper deference and
honor died on the spot when lifting the
Aron Kodesh. It was like carrying
something that was radioactive. If you
did not take the proper precautions, it
could kill you.
There was something that permeated
the house of Korach more than anything
else: Kavod HaTorah. Kavod HaTorah.
Kavod HaTorah. When you get
something in your mother’s milk, when
that becomes the raison d’être of your
house – it becomes so important to
you that it trumps everything else in
your life. So, when they had this
dilemma – Kavod haTorah vs. Kibbud
Av v’Em, Kavod haTorah won out.
This is the first observation.
2. The other observation is
recognizing how much a person can
accomplish with a single minute. That
one minute in the lives of Korach’s
sons, in which they were overcome
with Kavod haTorah, saved their lives,
and – as the Ramban says – they were
considered tzadikim as a result of that.
Shmuel haNavi descended from them.
All because of that action expressing
Kavod haTorah to Moshe Rabbeinu,
which transpired in one minute! That
is what a person can accomplish with
one minute.
We frequently mention the Gemara,
“A person can acquire his world in a
single moment.” (Avodah Zarah 10b)
A single moment can change a
person’s life, but unfortunately it cuts
both ways. That which a person might
do or say in one minute can cause him
irreversible eternal damage as well.
How long do you think the whole

story of Korach took? The whole story
took place in less than a single day. How
do we know that? The pasuk says that
Korach had a complaint against Moshe
Rabbeinu which led him to start a
rebellion. Moshe responded to Korach
“(Come) morning and Hashem will
make known who belongs to Him…”
(Bamidbar 16:5). Rashi notes: Why the
emphasis on “morning”? This argument
started in the evening. Why did Moshe
wait until the next morning to put an end
to it?
Rashi explains that Moshe’s motivation
was that maybe they would sleep on it
overnight and change their minds. He
stated that the afternoon was a time of
drunkenness, not an appropriate time for
reaching momentous decisions.
What happened? On the contrary,
Korach engaged his followers with
mockery of Moshe the entire night.
(Does a house that is full of sefarim need
a mezuzah? Does a garment that is
entirely techeiles require tzisis?) The
earth swallowed Korach and his
followers the next morning.
Korach was a tzadik, a very prestigious
individual. Yet his whole life went down
the tube in less than 24 hours. Consider a
tale of two categories of people: The
Bnei Korach changed in less than one
minute. They had a hirhur teshuva. They
decided to honor Moshe Rabbeinu. They
got a grip on themselves and saved their
lives and the lives of their descendants in
one minute. Korach let it go all down the
drain in less than 24 hours.
A person can acquire his world in a
moment, and a person can destroy his
world in a moment. This is a scary
thought.