Overlay for the Altar, Encompassing But Not Descending, Firmly Established, Healthy Equilibirum, Samson's Birth

26 Sivan 5784

Chumash Rashi

“Say to Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen that he should pick up the censers from the burned area (but throw the fire away), because they have become sanctified, the censers of these who sinned at the cost of their lives, and they shall make them into flattened out plates as an overlay for the altar, for they brought them before the Lord, and have [therefore] become sanctified, and they shall be as a reminder for the children of Israel.” (Bamidbar 17:2-3)

Why did the censers become holy? Weren’t they used for a sin? And even if they became holy, “since they made them into service vessels,” as Rashi explains, why to such a degree that they were to be used as “overlay for the altar.” Wouldn’t it have been enough to bury or redeem them for money?

The answer lies in the verse itself. It was because the served “as a reminder for the children of Israel.” But what kind of a reminder? A reminder “that no outsider, who is not of the seed of Aaron, shall approach to burn incense before the L-rd, so as not to be like Korah and his company” (Bamidbar 17:5). In other words, the negative example Korah and his company set was so significant that it gave even the vessels involved a superior form of holiness.

This is similar to the Gemara that Haman’s sons sit in Bnei Brak and learn Talmud (Gittin 57b). By what merit do they deserve this holiness? By the merit that their ancestor caused millions of Jews to do mass-teshuvah out of fear of his decree.

Tanya

“His thought and knowledge of all created beings actually encompass each and every creature, for [G-d’s knowledge] is verily its life-force and that which brings it into existence out of nothingness, in actual reality.” (Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah Chapter 7)

Hashem knows the world and that’s why it exists. But that doesn’t mean that this knowledge effects any change in him. This is what is meant by encompassing but not descending.

Rambam

“In a place where most of the wine merchants are Jewish, if one discovers large containers that are generally used only by wine merchants to store wine and which are filled with wine, it is permitted to benefit from [the wine].” (Sefer Kedushah, Ma’achalot Assurot 12:29)

Didn’t we learn in 8:11, “Whenever [the presence of a forbidden entity] is firmly established, the situation is considered as half and half?” The large containers seem to be in their fixed place in this example, for there is no mention of them being moved or found outside of there place, so why do we rely on a majority of Jewish merchants?

Answer: It’s not considered half and half unless the object is taken out from that firmly established place, as the example goes, “[The following rule applies when there are] ten stores, nine sell kosher meat and one sells nevelot. If one purchased meat from one of these stores and did not know which one he purchased from, [the meat] is forbidden. [The rationale is that] whenever [the presence of a forbidden entity] is firmly established, the situation is considered as half and half. If, however, meat is found cast away in the street, [it is judged] according to the majority. For [we follow the assumption:] Anything that was separated, separated from the majority. If the majority of sellers were gentile, [the meat] is forbidden. If the majority were Jewish, it is permitted.” This situation is more like the latter, not the former. The doubt is not from which established place the entity was taken out of, but from where its origin is.

Toras Menachem

“They, and all they possessed, descended alive into the grave; the earth covered them up, and they were lost to the assembly … A fire came forth from the L-rd and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who had offered up the incense.” (Bamidbar 16:33-35)

Why were some of Korach’s group swallowed up by the earth, whereas others were consumed by fire? The Rebbe explains that Korach’s rebellion was an attempt to upset the healthy equilibrium between yearning for spirituality and the need to be active in the physical world. Thus, those members of the group who overemphasized the spiritual were consumed by from from above, whereas those who had distorted the importance of physical deeds were swallowed up by the earth from below.

Tanakh

Shoftim Chapter 13: Israel continues to do evil and is delivered into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. An angel of Hashem appears to Manoah the Danite’s wife. He promises her a son but cautions her that he must be a Nazir (from wine and cutting hair) from the womb. She reports this news to Manoah. Manoah prays to Hashem that the angel should appear again to repeat his instructions. The angel again appears to Manoah’s wife. She tells Manoah to come and they question the angel as to the exact conduct and behavior of their son. The angel repeats his instructions. They offer an elevation-offering to Hashem and the angel ascends through its fire into heaven. They realize it was an angel of Hashem. The angel’s blessing is fulfilled.