Proud Assemblies

זֹאת עֲשׂוּ קְחוּ לָכֶם מַחְתּוֹת קֹרח וְכָל עֲדָתוֹ 

 “This do: take for yourselves fire-pans, Korach and his entire assembly.” (Bamidbar 16:6) 

No Reason to Be Ashamed 

A Chassid once came to R’ Pinchas of Koritz zt”l, and complained that he found it hard to keep serving Hashem with the proper enthusiasm, because so many people mocked him for it. 

The R’ of Koritz answered him: 

“The Rema opens the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 1:1) with the words, ‘A person should not be ashamed before those who mock him in his service of Hashem.’ We can read that line on two levels. On the plain level, it is a directive: when people mock you for serving Hashem, don’t be ashamed. 

  

“But if a person wonders where he is supposed to find the strength to overcome that mockery, the Rema’s own words point to the answer — read them again: ‘from those who mock him in his service of Hashem.’ Learn from the very people who mock you. 

  

“A person has to realize that the ones who mock his commitment and dedication to Avodat Hashem (serving Hashem) are, in truth, the ones who ought to be ashamed. They pursue a life of falsehood and jeer at the truth. And if they feel no shame over their own disgraceful conduct, then certainly he should not feel ashamed, for he is the one holding fast to the truth.” 

Wiser From My Enemies 

In a similar vein, the Baal Shem Tov explained the words of Dovid HaMelech in Tehillim (119:98): “Mei’oyvai techakmeini mitzvosecha, ki l’olam hi li” — “From my enemies Your mitzvot make me wise, for they are mine forever.”   

Mei’oyvai — from the conduct of my enemies, the wicked who chase so feverishly after fleeting pleasures; 

techakmeini mitzvosecha — I am becoming wise about your mitzvot, for I draw a kal v’chomer (all the more so) for myself: how much more ought I to run with that same fervor after the mitzvot.

Ki l’olam hi li — for the mitzvot bring an everlasting pleasure, one that stays with me forever. 

Uprooting Shame 

This principle is vitally important in our times. 

There are organizations of every kind, made up of those who seek to uproot the faith and religion, who work to strip away a person’s natural sense of shame, so that they can indulge every sort of depraved desire, openly and unapologetically. To that end, they try to make those who stand against them feel ashamed of their very opposition. 

Now is the time when people must stand up against this culture of moral bankruptcy. And, we can find the strength to continue on the path of the just, by witnessing how committed they are to their own empty pursuits. 

If they exert themselves so greatly for the sake of their desires — going to such lengths not to feel ashamed of things that truly ought to shame a person — then how much more must we exert ourselves for the service of Hashem, so that we feel no shame whatsoever in walking the true path of the Torah and standing against their falsehood. 

The Pull of the Crowd 

In truth, there is something else worth learning from them as well: how they manage to strengthen themselves and their families to stay on their path. 

It is the matter of uniting and gathering together with like-minded individuals — something that we can see carries an enormous power of influence. 

Chasing after these empty and depraved desires is the height of folly. People are drawn to pour into it all their thought, energy, time, and money, all to grab a few fleeting moments of pleasure, never once reckoning with the enormous and lasting harm it can bring upon them, in body and in soul alike. 

The similar goes for the great preoccupation with things like sports. Think of it. A handful of men run around after a single ball, and thousands of people lay out their money and their time just to watch them, swept up in excitement. It serves no purpose, and it brings no genuine benefit to them at all. 

And yet, the organizations devoted to such things, succeed in spreading them far and wide, because they form dedicated communities drawing in all sorts of people, and they hold massive gatherings where one person fires up the next. 

The very act of assembling becomes its own source of strength: each person sees how many others are walking the same road. Being apart of these groups reinforces their commitment to empty pleasures. And that empowers them to keep chasing this lifestyle even when anyone can plainly see it is destroying their lives. 

Gathering for Good 

From this we must learn the sheer power of unity and gathering, and we must put that very strategy to work for ourselves. 

We should make the effort to surround ourselves always with good friends and neighbors, to be part of a steady kehillah of those who fear Hashem, and to seize every opportunity to come together with fellow Torah-observant Yidden who share our outlook — whether at Torah shiurim (lectures) and gatherings of chizuk (strengthening) in the beit midrash (synagogue), or at any gathering on Shabbat and Yom Tov (holiday). 

So too, it is worthwhile to travel from time to time to places where one sees many ovdei (servants) Hashem, for the sight of it strengthens a person to walk the straight path. 

The Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 612) and the Rambam (end of Hilchot Chagigah) explain that this was the central purpose of the mitzvah of Hakhel: all of Yisroel were commanded to gather at the Beit HaMikdash on Sukkot to hear the king read aloud from Sefer Devarim, so that the very sight of such an assembly of those who fear Hashem coming to hear words of Torah, would strengthen each person’s commitment to the faith. For this reason they were commanded to bring even the young children, who do not yet understand the words of Torah, as the Malbim explains (Devarim 31:13). 

Why Tehillim Opens This Way 

This is a most important lesson, that we learn specifically from the gatherings of the wicked. 

R’ Naftule Zvi of Ropshitz zt”l writes in his sefer Zera Kodesh (Parshat Vayishlach) that this is why Dovid HaMelech chose to open Sefer Tehillim with these very words:   

“Ashrei ha’ish asher lo halach ba’atzas resha’im, uv’derech chata’im lo amad, uv’moshav leitzim lo yashav” — “Praiseworthy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the path of sinners, nor sat in the company of scoffers.”

He did not let himself be drawn after the counsel of the wicked, who stage all kinds of rallies and gatherings to reinforce their own ideologies. 

“Ki im b’soras Hashem cheftzo” — “but his desire is in the Torah of Hashem.” Only for the sake of strengthening his yearning to walk the way of the Torah, did he adopt their very strategy: to unite and gather together for the sake of strengthening emunah. 

What Korach Understood 

This same lesson could already have been learned from Korach. 

This was precisely how he reinforced his faction: he gathered his entire assembly to sit together through the whole night, and busy themselves with mockery of the mitzvot. 

The power of the crowd, emboldened each of them to rise up against Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of Yisroel. 

Take the Fire-Pans 

Perhaps this is what Hashem was hinting to Bnei Yisroel in our verse. 

“Kechu lachem machtos” — “Take for yourselves fire-pans” — take for yourselves the strategy of how to keep the warmth of holy enthusiasm alive within you, like the fire-pans that hold the fire — the very strategy “of Korach and his entire assembly,” who gathered together to inflame one another and hold fast to his cause. 

In exactly the same way, you too should always unite and gather together to strengthen your keeping of the mitzvot with holy fire! 

*** 

The Kalever Rebbe is the seventh Rebbe of the Kaalov Chasidic dynasty, begun by his ancestor who was born to his previously childless parents after receiving a blessing from the Baal Shem Tov zy”a, and later learned under the Maggid of Mezeritch zt”l. The Rebbe has been involved in outreach for more than 30 years and writes weekly emails on understanding current issues through the Torah. Sign up at www.kaalov.org.