2020/5780

In the middle of this week's Parashah, Korach and his followers are swallowed up by the dirt after not accepting Moshe and Aharon`s position in the structure of Am Yisrael. This is quite the spectacle, as there are few times in our nation's history that Hashem performs a miracle that truly contradicts the norms of nature. After the ground opens up, taking them into it, the rest of Bnei Yisrael flee: “VeChol Yisrael Asher Sevivoteihem Nasu LeKolam Ki Ameru Pen Tivla’einu Ha’Aretz,” “All of Israel around them fled at their shrieks, and they said ‘the earth might [also] swallow us!’” (BeMidbar 16:34). Many Mefarshim ask, “how come the Passuk says, literally, that Bnai Yisrael ran to their uproar? Why would they run towards the spot that just swallowed human beings?”

Rashi (ibid. s.v. Nasu LeKolam) answers this question by saying that “Nasu LeKolam” means they ran because of their uproar: they ran away from the exact spot that these events transpired, but only ran with a certain fear due to the voices that they heard of the victims who were getting pulled towards the earth. This is a very logical approach, and I'm sure it is how most readers understood this problem. The Kli Yakar, however, writes a beautiful approach that is very applicable, not only in the times of Moshe Rabbeinu but in our day and age, as well. He cites a Gemara (Sanhedrin 110a) that as the ground was returning to its normal state, Korach and all of his followers exclaimed that “Moshe is true and his Torah is true” and that what they (Korach and his assembly) did was wrong. It was to this emanating voice that all of Bnei Yisrael fled. They thought that Korach and his followers were confessing their sin, and wanted to know what his main sin was, so they would know how to keep away from it and not receive a similar punishment. That was why they stated that “maybe the earth will swallow us as well.”

According to this approach, Bnei Yisrael “fled” to ultimate clarity. It was an extremely rare and unique opportunity that the Jews at the time were given. There were people who, even though their new reality was negative (as getting eaten by the ground usually is), could see their mistakes and what they should have done during their lives. The rest of the nation didn't have that same clarity and immediately understood that these fading cries were going to be as close as they could ever get in their lives to the ultimate truth: to knowing and understanding, truly, what to do and not to do. It was for that reason that they fled. That they rushed. That they ran. They yearned for the truth and they couldn't waste any time in getting their ears as close to the ground as they could, to hear the voices of everyone who now knew what they should have done in their lifetime.

Another reason why this Kli Yakar is so beautiful is that it applies to us now as well. We are not given the same opportunities as our ancestors. We are given very few chances to understand the true meaning of life, and few people can give that to us. Whether they be Rabbis, role models, our parents, or even our friends, it is our job to “flee,” to run, to put our ear to the ground, and just try and listen to what life is about. It doesn't happen often when we can see so clearly about what we were put on this earth to do, but at those critical moments, it is our responsibility to cling to those people, those moments, and those truths.