Korach: He MAKES You Holy?

My wife does not like my rav.  She thinks he's a bad influence on me.

 

Two nights ago he called me about something.  After answering him, I asked him how his son's wedding was two nights before.  After he answered, I made mention of him having to go to all the Sheva Brachos for the week after and how difficult it must be for him.  He responded, "Nah, I don't go.   Who wants to spend hours at some meal, wasting time, listening to some guy give a Dvar Torah for 20 minutes, trying to tie it into the parsha and to the bride, who he's never met before?  It's just a waste.  I'll go to the one on Shabbos which my son's in-laws are making of course, and I'll go to the one my kids are making, because I know THAT will be fun and interesting, but that's about it."


When I asked how he gets away with it, he replied, "Simple.  I tell them that I'm a rebbe in yeshivah and I need to be there in the evenings, which is completely true."

 

He then told me about his Sheva Brachos many years ago, where his cousin "Jimbo" from Texas, who had just started becoming religious, showed up with a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and a "geetar." "Now THAT is a  Sheva Brachos worth going to," he said.

 

As he was talking and I was asking for advice on how to do what he does, he heard my wife yelling at both of us, to which he said, "I bet she has a voodoo doll of me. "

 

Now you understand why I have such a good relationship with him.

 

"Then the man whom Hashem will choose, he is the holy one…" (Bamidbar 9: 7).

When Korach leads a rebellion against Moshe and Aharon, one of his main attacks was that Moshe and Aharon took the leadership positions for themselves, not allowing others to have a chance to "become holy."  They had some seemingly legitimate complaints, and it was something that was close to tearing the nation apart.

 

In response, Moshe tells Korach and his followers that in the morning, they, along with Aharon, will bring the Ketores, the incense, which is solely reserved for a Kohen to bring.  "Then the man whom Hashem will choose, he is the holy one"… but the rest will die.

 

The Be'er Yitzchak points out the Moshe specifically used the term "he is the holy one," not "he will be holy."  Being that Hashem will choose somebody who IS ALREADY holy, not somebody who is not and will BE MADE holy.

 

The Catholic Church, for example, works on a quasi-political level.  People get voted into position by others.  The person who is voted as Pope, BECOMES "holy," simply by virtue of his position.  Obviously, he has to have already displayed a degree of knowledge and piety to be voted in (in theory), but, in the end, he is voted in and becomes the "Holy See."

 

Judaism works on a different level.  Holiness is not placed upon a person by virtue of his position in life.  Anybody with enough financial means can open up and become a Rosh Yeshivah.  He could put on the clothes and carry around the title, and people might blindly follow him thinking that he is holy.  But, the reality is not so.  Holiness is not placed upon a person simply because of his position in life.  Becoming a Rosh Yeshivah does not mean that Hashem has ordained him with holiness.

 

Holiness is earned.  Hashem chooses the nation's leaders, not by what positions they hold, but rather what they have already achieved for themselves.  That is why you could have, and we do have, Jewish leaders today who did not come from the most illustrious backgrounds.  Here in Israel, we have Rav Yaakov Hillel,  who did not come from a very religious background, who attended university in England, and made himself into a giant of Torah, respected by other Torah leaders of the generation.  He was not chosen and promoted for his intelligence.  Rather, he worked on himself to the point where he became holy, and in turn became one of the leaders of the generation.

 

For us, non-generational-leaders, it's the same lesson.  We cannot sit back and hope (or daven) that Hashem will choose us for holiness.  The holiness we attain is completely dependent on how much we work on ourselves.  Any Heavenly assistance will only come after we put in our 100 percent.

With that, I wish you all a wonderful Shabbos!