AHARON TOOK IT, AS MOSHE HAD SPOKEN,

AND HE RAN TO THE MIDST OF THE ASSEMBLY:

AND HERE, THE PLAGUE HAD BEGUN AMONG THE PEOPLE!

SO HE PUT THE SMOKING INCENSE IN IT,

AND EFFECTED APPEASEMENT OF THE PEOPLE;

NOW HE STOOD BETWEEN THE DEAD AND THE LIVING,

AND THE PLAGUE WAS HELD BACK

(Bemidbar 17:12-13)

 

The Incense As "A Weapon" In The Hands of Aharon - Lover and Pursuer of Peace - Against the Angel of Death

See how dear was the incense, for through the incense the plague was brought to an end. When Moshe said to Aharon, "Take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the altar. Add incense and take it quickly to the community and make expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from the Lord: the plague has begun!"

 (Bemidbar 17:11)

 

Said Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon: The angel would take spices according to the list, not leaving a dead person among the living nor a living person among the dead, but according to the proper order, as is implied in "the plague had begun among the people'... Immediately, "Aharon took it as Moshe had spoken, etc." He found the angel standing and destroying, so Aharon stood against him and prevented him from destroying, "He stood between the dead". Said the angel to Aharon, Leave me alone, and let me perform my mission. Replied Aharon: Moshe sent me, and The Holy one, Blessed Be He, sent you; The Holy one, Blessed Be He, and Moshe are both in the Tent of Appointment, let us approach them. The angel ignored him until Aharon grabbed him by the loins and dragged him, as is written "And Aharon returned to Moshe to the entrance of the Tent of Appointment, and the plague was held back". What is the meaning of "the plague was held back?" Said Rabbi Yitzchak: He took the angel and restrained him. Therefore, when it came time for Moshe to depart from the world, he said, "Bless, O God, his wherewithal, and the works of his hand, accept with favor; smash the loins of those rising up against him" (Devarim 33)... "and the works of his hand, accept with favor" - with the ketoret which was in his hand, which atoned, as is written, "he put the smoking incense in it, and effected appeasement", "smash the loins of those who rise up against him" - he grabbed the angel and restrained him. Said Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, when Aharon saw the angel challenging him, he thrust the fire-pan in his face, as is written, "putting smoking incense in your nostrils and complete offerings on your altar." This is to teach you how beloved was the ketoret.

                                                                                                                                 (Tanchuma, Tetsaveh 15)

 

"Remove yourselves from this community, that I may annihilate them in an instant." (17:10). This accusation was really no more than personally inspired censure, and in reaction, God told Moshe: "If so you desire, remove yourselves from here and let [the fire] devour the crowd which has risen up against you." But they did not remove themselves: "They fell on their faces before the Lord". They did not act according to the intent which the rebellious crowd had attributed to them, they did not demand the death of those who had insulted them, and they refused to be the agents of death for God's people. But Aharon ran to midst of the gathering which had already been set aside for death; with the incense which rises up to God, he expressed total commitment - body and soul - to God, and he stood between the living and the dead, as an expiator and as a savior. Thus did he reveal to the people his nature and the nature of his mission, which is to save and overcome death.

 (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch Bemidbar 17:10-13)

 

 

 

                     CONTROVERSY - A PRODUCT OF CREATION

Michel Revel

 

They assembled against Moshe and against Aharon and said to them: Too much is yours! Indeed the entire community, the entirety of them, are holy, and in their midst is God! Why then do you exalt yourselves over the assembly of Israel?... Is it too little that you have brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to cause our death in the wilderness? That you should play the prince over us, even the prince? Then too, not to a land flowing with milk and honey have you brought us, nor have you given us an inheritance of field and vineyard. The eyes of these men, would you gouge out? We will not go up!

Moshe, the leader, faces civil rebellion. The passages sound like familiar political contention: Moshe! You have not kept your promise to bring us to the good land, to our rest, to our inheritance. On the contrary, you took us out of Egypt, where everything was great, and because of you we are in mortal danger in this wilderness, crawling with snakes and scorpions. We are voting non-confidence in you; we will follow you no further. The arguments of Korach and his assembly ring so crooked and unfair, that this controversy is engraved upon Chazal's consciousness as a paradigm for evil controversy. Tractate Avot teaches: "Every controversy which is for the sake of Heaven is destined to endure; that which is not for the sake of Heaven, is not destined to endure. What is a controversy which is for the sake of Heaven? A controversy between Hillel and Shammai. And one not for the sake of Heaven? The controversy of Korach and all his assembly." At first blush, this Mishna in Avot is very surprising. Certainly every controversy is bad; argument is the opposite of peace, says the Maharal. (Netivot Olam 2, 2).

 

Can there be such a thing as a good controversy? And what is the difference between a 'good' controversy and a 'bad' one?

The Book of Zohar explains that controversy is a product of Creation, that is to say: Lack of overall consensus is part of the natural world, and does not necessary flow from the Evil Inclination and from Man's sin. There is argument in the world because there are matters which are above and those which are below, matters on the right and on the left, and from these differentiations, flow the differences in points of view and quarrels. We read that on the second day of Creation "And God made the firmament, and He differentiated between the waters beneath the firmament and the waters above the firmament, and so it was. And God called the firmament Heavens; and it was evening and it was morning, day two. And God said let the water gather under the heavens into a single place." Regarding this the Zohar says (Bereishit 1. 42 in the commentary "Hasulam" of Rav Ashlag) "On the first day is the secret of the right, and here on the second day is the secret of the rule of the left, and because of this a great controversy broke out... that is to say that the left wanted to completely nullify the rule of the right, and the right wanted to totally annul the rule of the left... the middle pillar entered between them and removed the controversy and agreed with both sides". The resolution of the Creation controversy was achieved on the third day, of which is written, "Let the waters gather... to a single place", the unity returns thanks to agreement between the two sides which meet in 'a single place', which is called the middle line. The Zohar continues (46) Similar to this was the controversy of Korach against Aharon." The explanation for this is that Aharon the priest was one who "loved peace and pursued peace (Avot 1:12), and the quality of love is called, in Kabbalah, Chessed (goodness) or 'Right' ['right' - not in the sense of correct, but as opposed to 'left' - translator]. 'Left', in Kabbalah, is the inflexible quality of law, which accepts no compromise, and this was the nature of Korach. This, too, is a holy quality, but it differs from that of Aharon. Korach desired the priesthood, but he did not understand that the priesthood is primarily love, gratis love; the priests, as they bless the community recite the benediction "and commanded us to bless his people Israel with love". [Alternate translation: "to bless his people Israel as we - the priests - are in a state of love of the people"]. Korach obstinately argued that he, too, serves the priesthood, regardless of circumstances. Because of this, continues the Zohar, (48) "Korach rejected compromise, because the controversy was not for the sake of Heaven."

 

What, then, is "for the sake of Heaven?"

The concept "for the sake of Heaven" is so commonplace that it would seem that there can be no other explanation than that which is done according to the will of the Lord and for a religious objective. The Zohar, however, as is its wont, reveals an inner meaning, one almost revolutionary, one that has much clearer meaning for man. In that same chapter on Bereishit, there is an explanation of 'controversy for the sake of Heaven is like that of Hillel and Shammai': This is a controversy in which the two sides can exist as a pair, for the meaning of "for the sake of Heaven" is really "the pairing of name with Heaven. Without getting involved in the Kabalistic meaning, it is clear that the word 'shamayim' (=heaven) is of the same construction as 'eynayim' (=two eyes), 'yadayim' (=two hands); thus 'shamayim' is two 'shems' - i.e., 'two names'. 'L'shem shamayim' [lit. 'for the name of Heaven] means that each side in an argument sees itself as one name in a pair of names - and this pair is called Shamayim. For Hillel and Shammai and their disciples, what the Talmud has to say (Eruvin 13b) is obvious:

Three years the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel argued, these saying the law is as we say and these saying the law is as we say. A divine voice came down and announced, Both these and these are the words of the Living God but the law is according to the House of Hillel... Why did the House of David merit having their position accepted as the law? Because they were easygoing, never taking offense, always teaching The House of Shammai's position as well as their own, and presenting the House of Shammai's position before their own.

For both Hillel and Shammai, the words of both houses were words of truth, and the House of Hillel treated the opinions of the House of Shammai with respect, for both were as members of a couple who complement each other. Hillel's disciples had no desire to annul the words of the House of Shammai, and visa versa; therefore both fulfilled that which is written in Pirkei Avot, "A controversy which is for the sake of Shamayim, is destined to abide. Such a controversy ends with love, as is explained in the Talmud Kiddushin 30b), "Et vahev besufah" - at the end is love" (See also Zohar, Beshalach 272 in Sulam).

The existence of the controversy is not the problem. The problem is the lack of desire to find a solution, the refusal to compromise through an agreement which recognizes that every side has some element of truth. This was the mistake of Korach, who decided from the outset to reject any attempt to reach any sort of accommodation; he wanted only to totally deny the validity of any opinion other than his own. Therefore, the end result was that his controversy did not abide, he and his cohorts did not last. >From this perspective, one can understand the denouement of the event: "And they and all that was with them, descended alive to Sheol" (Bemidbar 17:33). Chazal stress that according to this passage, they remained alive in Sheol, and so we find in the Talmud "The sons of Korach did not die... a place was set up for them in Hell (Sanhedrin 110a, Mesilla 14a) The Ohr HaHayim similarly explains, that they remained alive. And the Maharal elucidates: "Even though they are alive and are real, they descended to Sheol, which is the hell" (Hiddushei Aggadot III, 267).

The meaning is clear: A disputant who is unwilling to concede and to accept anything from the other side, causes reality to become a real hell. Simply put, relentless contention turns life into hell.

Now the words of Chazal in Avot are easily understood. There is a quarrel for the sake of Heaven, when each party to the argument feels that he is only one side of a dialectic in which the truth is the whole of a pair of opinions in encounter. Such a dialectic controversy, e.g., Hillel and Shammai, is part of the work of Creation. Thus was the world created, for it is impossible to build everyone on one side alone. But the continuation of the two sides depends upon their ability to reach "one place" as on the third day of Creation. Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, in his book "Man of Faith", adopts this approach in order to explain the unity between Adam as he appears in the first chapter of Bereishit - who resembles today's scientist - and Adam of chapter two - the man of religion, the believer:

The basis of the Biblical dialectic lies in the fact that the first Adam, the man of glory, of rule, and of success, and the second Adam, lonely man of faith... are not two separate people found in external encounter, as when I face you, but they are one man locked in internal encounter... should we attempt to reject one side of humanity, it will seem as though we are negating the divine plan for Creation (pp. 49-50).

The blueprint of Creation calls for scientists and men of faith complementing each other, on the middle line of the third day of Creation.

On the other hand, controversy such as that of the second day remains without pacification, "in such a controversy the fire of anger intensifies, and hell comes from such controversy" (Zohar, Bereishit I, 44 in the Sulam). Korach was infected by this hell (52). This is evil controversy, which is not for the sake of Heaven, which does not strive for dialectic and dialogue; it is the opposite of peace and mutual reconciliation. Then appears the curse of "And the earth opened its mouth", for when men hate each other, and they do not open their mouths to speak on with the other, then the land which consumes it inhabitants overcomes them, and it opens its mouth at the location of the disputants, and their lives become a hell. This will not happen to us, provided that we be pursuers of peace.

Michel Revel, recipient of the Israel Prize for Medicine, 5759, conducts research in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weitzman Institute in Rehovot.

 

More on "Controversy for the Sake of Heaven"

The author of the Midrash Shmuel on the Mishneh (Avot 5:7),writes (as per the Rambam): 'Every controversy for the sake of Heaven etc.,' the reason for this is that we know (Sanhedrin 17a) that "If all [judges] convict - he is acquitted", for when there is no opposition, offering question and arguments, the matter cannot be completely illuminated, and it is possible that all are subject to error. Understand that by everyone striving to make his point, the picture will sharpen and truth will come to light.

(Yismach Moshe II;7/2)

 

They flung themselves on their faces, and said: O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, at the entire community will you be furious?!"

It is revealed and known before you that the spirit of the masses are easily inflamed by dazzling claims, and a person such as Korach, who is spiritually superior and who enjoys full confidence heretofore unblemished, is able to dupe the people and lead them to sin. When the masses sin, usually the guilt can be attributed to a few instigators of high standing. When human beings intervene against the transgression, as a rule it is the incited masses - who are less guilty -who are hurt; the inciters themselves usually go unpunished. But you are "God, God of the spirits of all flesh", because you are all powerful 'God', you have it in your power to punish whoever is guilty; and since you are 'God of the spirits of all flesh', you can discern in your wisdom the degree of every man's guilt. 'When one man sins' - Korach alone was guilty, whereas the incited masses are deserving of your graces. We have noted a number of times in similar cases: when The Holy One, Blessed Be He, leads Moshe to prayer, He arouses in his heart the understanding of His ways of supervision; He elevates his spirit, as it were, to think - along with Him - the thoughts of divine supervision.

(Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Bemidbar 16:22)

 

The Ketoret (Incense) and the Torah - Elixir of Life or Potion of Death?

Why ketoret? Because Israel were maligning the ketoret, saying it is a potion of death, it caused the death of Nadav and Avihu, and because of it 250 people were killed, The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said: You will see that it arrests the plague and that it is the sin which kills.

 (Rashi Bemidbar 17:13)

 

Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, what is the meaning of (Devarim 4) "And this is the Torah which Moshe set before the Children of Israel" - if they are deserving, it will be an elixir of life, but if they are not deserving, it will be for them a potion of death. (The Hebrew for "set" is "sam". "Sam" may be spelled in two ways; spelled with a "sin" it means "set"; spelled with a "samech" it means a potion.) (Bavli, Yoma 72b)  

 

'Which you shall set before them' -- if they are deserving, it will be an elixir of life, but if they are not deserving, it will be for them a potion of death. The explanation for this is that this is the reason for scripture using the word 'tasim' ('set') - derived from the word 'som', to teach that if the judge judges justly, he will be an elixir of life, and if not, he becomes a death potion. Similar to this is Chazal's explication of the verse (Devarim 11) "And you shall set these words" - from the word 'som' - and this is what they meant when they said that if one acquires words of Torah, they become for him an elixir of life, but if he does not acquire them - they become for him a death potion.

(Rabenu Bahayeh, Shemot 21:1)

 

 

 

 

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem Klein

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