Parshas Korach (5768)

Bs”d

Parshas Korach (5768)
by Mordechai Dolinsky

Korach in his wicked performance of ridiculing Moshe and Toras Hashem selected the mitzvos of tzitzis and mezuzah. “If techeles is sufficient on one strand of the tzitzis a complete garment of techeles should surely do the trick… A room filled with sefarim should make the placing of a mezuzah on the door unnecessary. From all the mitzvos why should Korach single out these? Was there any sense to his jest?

‘Osos’ and ‘Adius’ are mitzvos which tzitzis and mezuzah are part of that the Torah itself explains that it serves the purpose of testimony to remind us of certain essentials. This is to the extent that some opinions hold that we do not fulfill the mitzvah unless we actually use it practically for this purpose.

Korach used the true purpose of these mitzvos for the logic of his foul ridicule. Korach’s error of course was that the benefit of these mitzvos is only attained by following the strict specifications of the Torah.

This episode should serve us as an inspiration to make use of these precious mitzvos to remind us of what they were intended for–the mezuzah, tzitzis, tefilin, Shabbos, the Yomim Tovim etc. etc..

Have a wonderful Shabbos and a redeeming and fulfilling Chodesh.