Facts Don't Care

Last week, in the Diaspora, we read Parashat Shelach, which recounts the tragic Sin of the Spies. That Torah portion ends with the command to wear the four-cornered garment with tzitzit, and to look at its fringes and knots—which, according to tradition, collectively point to the 613 commandments—and remember all the commandments, “…and not stray after your heart and after your eyes.”

Tzitzit is the antidote to the Sin of the Spies. They were led astray by what they imagined they saw, revealing what was already in their hearts. The hard lesson here is, “Facts don’t care about your feelings.”

The command to wear tzitzit is the thread tied to the reading of Parashat Korach (Numbers 16:1–18:32), in which a Levite—one whose family who carried the Ark—challenged the leadership of Moses while also questioning the fitness of Aaron as Kohen Gadol. The accuser was Korach who, according to the Sages, mocked the command to wear tzitzit. This is also the key to Korach’s downfall.

In Pirkei Avot 5:17, there is a clear distinction between an debate and a challenge based on a personal agenda:

“Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; But one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure. Which is the controversy that is for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Hillel and Shammai. And which is the controversy that is not for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Korah and all his congregation.”

Korach’s language is quite revealing when he accuses Moses in Numbers 16:3: “You take too much upon yourself” — rav lachem, “too much for you.” This challenge was rooted in a deep hunger for honor that Korach could not transcend.

Compare this with the command given to Moses by HaShem in Numbers 19:2: “Take for yourself a red heifer” — kach lecha parah adumah. The same idea of “taking” Korach's words reveal his naked ambition yet God's command to Moses to prepare the Red Cow is a validation of Moses unique role in God's plan.

When Korach looked at Moses, he ignored the fact that his motives were devoid of any personal agenda. We know this because the Torah describes Moses as “…exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Korach imagined Moses was simply making things up as he went along.

Judgment was swift.

Korach and 250 of his followers were swallowed up by “the mouth” of the earth. And this elegant narrative thread takes us into the next Torah portion Chukat.

Only Moses fully comprehended this mysterious decree and the process of using ashes of a perfectly red cow to make the water of purification. Mosels understood because he possessed a clarity available only to the pure in heart, due to his unprecedented level of humility. We, too, can achieve a measure of purity by immersing our minds in the living waters of Torah.