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By Rabbi Shimmy Sternfield
ויפלו על פניהם ויאמרו קל אלקי הרוחת לכל בשר האיש אחד יחטא ועל כל העדה תקצף (פרק ט”ז, פסוק כ”ב)
They fell on their faces saying, “G-d of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with the entire assembly?”
When בני ישראל gathered against משה and אהרן, Hashem told them, “Separate yourselves from this assembly, and I will destroy them in an instant!” משה and אהרן replied, “Hashem, will You punish everyone for the sin of one man?” This is a puzzling conversation. If only one person had sinned, why was Hashem prepared to punish everyone? And if the assembly had, in fact, sinned, how could משה and אהרן say that only one person had sinned? Reb Yaakov Meir Padwe (Av Beis Din of Brisk in the mid-nineteenth century) answers, that most of בני ישראל had not joined קרח in his rebellious behavior. Nevertheless, Hashem wanted to punish them because they did not stand up against קרח and protest his actions. The מצוה to rebuke another Jew is a positive commandment and is not normally subject to such a harsh punishment. However, חז”ל teach that, at a time that Hashem is angry and His מדה of דין (Divine retribution) is active, one may be punished severely even for a small infraction, such as failing to fulfill a positive commandment. Since Hashem was already angry at קרח and was going to punish him, בני ישראל were in danger of also being punished at this time. When משה and אהרן heard that Hashem would punish בני ישראל because of His anger at קרח, they Davened on behalf of בני ישראל. “Hashem,” they said, “shall you consider this a time of anger at the entire assembly because of the sins of one man?” A true period of anger is only when a large percentage of בני ישראל have angered Hashem. Then, even the others are punished for not protesting. Since the majority of בני ישראל were not involved with קרח, it did not make sense for them to be punished together with him for not standing up against him.
ואת שם אהרן תכתב על מטה לוי וגו’ ויהי ממחרת ויבא משה וגו’ והנה פרח מטה אהרן לבית לוי ויצא פרח ויצץ ציץ (פרק י”ז, פסוקים י”ח-כ”ג)
The name of Aharon shall you inscribe on the staff of Sheivet Levi…The next day, Moshe came, and behold the staff of Aharon had blossomed, sprouted a bud…”
After the story of קרח, Hashem told משה to have the staff of the נשיא of each שבט inscribed with the name of that נשיא. Hashem then told משה to place the twelve staffs in the אהל מועד, and Hashem would cause one of the staffs to blossom. This would be a sign from Hashem that this was the שבט chosen to serve Him. The next morning, it was the staff belonging to אהרן that had blossomed. Reb Nissan Alpert, זצ”ל, is troubled by the word הנה- “behold”- in this פסוק. The word הנה is used when something unexpected has occurred. Why does the Torah say, “Behold! The staff of אהרן had blossomed”? Didn’t Hashem tell משה from the start that He would cause the staff of the chosen שבט to blossom? Why was משה surprised? Rav Alpert explains, that משה expected the blossoms to be symbolic of the jobs of the לוים, such as singing at the time קרבנות were brought and opening and closing the gates. After all, Hashem had referred to the staff as “the staff of לוי.” However, when משה arrived in the morning, he discovered that ויצץ ציץ, the staff had sprouted a bud. The word for “bud” is similar to the word ציץ, the headplate worn by אהרן. Thus, משה was surprised to see that it was actually “the staff of אהרן,” not לוי, that had blossomed.
