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The Human Magnet

This is the week where forty years passes in the blink of an eye. One minute we’ve been speaking of the rebellion of Korach – a rebellion which takes place not long after the investiture of the Levi’im, at Mt. Sinai – and the next thing we know, Miriam has passed away in the fortieth year of wandering. One generation is replacing its predecessor, and no one will be spared – including the other siblings, Aharon and Miriam. The demise of both is announced in this week’s parashah, Parah, in the wake of the incident at Mei Merivah. A sin at once so heinous that it brings on the death of the holiest of Am Yisrael, and on the other hand, is considered a sin of significance only for someone on the level of Moshe – but what is it?

The Torah is silent. It is true that in several places the sin is referred to, but in each case, it is referred to in general terms: You did not sanctify Me before the people, you violated My instructions, etc. What, precisely, is it that they did? It is rather strange that by not specifying Moshe’s sin, the Torah prepares the ground for the commentators’ speculations. One later commentator lists FIFTEEN different suggestions amongst the words of his predecessors as to what might have been the downfall of Moshe. Another takes the one prominent verse Moshe utters before the people gathered at the rock, - “Listen now, you rebels, shall we bring forth water from this rock?” – and explains how each word is the source of yet another commentator’s take on “the sin”.

I was taught a long time ago that when there are a lot of competing explanations for a phenomenon, usually NONE of them are correct. Nevertheless, I’d like to share a fascinating approach to Moshe’s mistake brought by the Shem MiShmuel. However, I’d like to take it in a different direction.

The Shem MiShemuel quotes his father, the Sochechover, who says that Moshe thought that the rock was a tashmish mitzvah and not a tashmish kedushah. Therefore, he though it necessary to HIT the rock to bring forth the miracle, instead of speaking to it.

A tashmish kedushah has been imbued with permanent holiness. Examples would be: stones of the mitzbeach in the Temple; a sefer torah. A tashmish mitzvah, on the other hand, has the holiness derivative of its use in performing a mitzvah. When the mitzvah usage is over, so is the kedushah. This is why when tefillin are worn out, them must be buried, while tzitzit can be thrown out after they are no longer useful (although the custom is not to through out tashmishei mitzvah, but to find a way to recycle them – etrog is made into havdalah scent source; left-over Hanukkah oil is used to burn Chametz, etc.)

This reminds me of ferromagnetism versus electromagnetism. The former is the product of nature – natural magnets have been magnetized in the earth’s core, and will remain magnets forever. But any piece of iron, when wrapped in a wire and a voltage applied, will become a powerful magnet as long as the current is flowing; when the current ceases, so does the magnetism.

Natural holiness is problematic, because it seems to exist on its own, it seems to be produced ex nihilo. Natural holiness is totemic. Kedushah, on the other hand, is all derived from Hashem. Even a tashmish kedusah is holy because it invokes a presencing of Hashem. Regarding tashmishei mitzvah, we say, “who has sanctified us with His mitzvot”. Jewish holiness is electromagnetic in the main – when the will of Hashem is flowing in our lives, we partake of kedushah; it was davka Korach who insisted that the people had permanent access to kedushah.

But Moshe – Moshe is different. Moshe is close to being ferromagnetic. The Rambam compares Moshe’s prophecy to a series of lightening flashes which constantly re-illuminate the landscape, showing the way; whereas others, even Avraham’s are at best occasional flashes. The flash is gone, and darkness seeps back in as the charge drains from our retinas. Moshe, however, is a true seer.

And the people KNOW this. They know that Moshe is on a different level. It’s true, they THINK that he has constant access instead of the flickering flashes that the non-initiate confuses with steady state. And SINCE THEY think that Moshe has that permanent charge, his stand before the people has the potential to confirm his almost godlike status in their eyes, if done the slightest bit wrong.

It’s late, they’re almost there, and while his strength has not abated, his patience may have slipped after forty years of non-stop “not quite GETTING it” on the part of the people. So he lashes out, showing he’s human.

And humans must die. The current stops flowing, and the magnet falls inert. And Hashem insures that the holiest imaginable human being will sanctify His Name through his demise, rectifying the sin of not realizing, due to his holy humility, just how holy he came across. When you come across too holy, you cannot come across.

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