민수기 16:4 해설: Rashi, Kli Yakar, Ramban & Or HaChaim

ויפל על פניו [AND WHEN MOSES HEARD IT,] HE FELL UPON HIS FACE because of the rebellion, for this was already the fourth offence on their part: when they sinned by worshipping the Golden Calf, it states, (Exodus 32:11) "And Moses besought [the Lord]”; in the case of the “people who complained”, (Numbers 11:1) it states: “and Moses prayed”; at the incident of the “spies”, (Numbers 14:13) “And Moses said unto the Lord, ‘When the Egyptians shall hear it ... [and now I beseech Thee etc.]”; but now at the rebellion of Korah, his hands sank down (he felt himself powerless) A parable! This may be compared to the case of a prince who sinned against his father and for whom his (the father’s) friend gained forgiveness once, twice, three times. When he offended for the fourth time the friend felt himself powerless, for he said, “ How long can I trouble the king? Perhaps he will not again accept advocacy from me!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

And Moses heard and fell on his face. In tractate Sanhedrin (110) they said: What news did he hear? This teaches that they suspected him of adultery, as it is said They were jealous of Moses in the camp (Psalms 106:16). For each man was jealous of him with his wife. This matter is very far from reason, and we do not learn it from the words of tradition, for who can say that this suspicion was specifically at this time, as there is no hint of it in the verse. Therefore, I say that the author of this aggadah wanted to interpret the verse For all the congregation are holy, and why do you lift yourselves up above the assembly of the Lord. What does holiness have to do with arrogance? And if you say there is a relationship between them and that holiness should prevent arrogance, then he should have said, “Why do you lift yourselves up above the holy assembly” or “the holy congregation.” But certainly Korah said thus to Moses, because we find in tractate Sotah (4b) that our Rabbis said: Anyone who is arrogant will eventually stumble into adultery. And elsewhere they said (ibid.): Anyone who is arrogant is as if he has committed all the sexual sins. It is known that wherever you find holiness, there you find a fence against sexual immorality, for sexual sins desecrate holiness. And thus Korah said, based on his own reasoning: Behold, all the congregation is holy and guarded against sexual immorality, so why do you lift yourselves up to dominate and be arrogant, for this will cause you to stumble into adultery and desecrate the holiness of the people. Therefore, he said above the assembly of the Lord and did not say “above the holy assembly,” because after arrogance there is no holiness here, for anyone who is arrogant will eventually stumble into adultery, and this causes the desecration of the people’s holiness. By this, Moses understood that Korah suspected him of eventually stumbling into adultery; therefore it is said, And Moses heard and fell on his face. The reason for this seems to be that anyone who is arrogant wants to be higher than all the high ones — with none beside him ruling the whole world except him. And since every woman is subjugated under the hand of her husband, as it is written And he shall rule over you (Genesis 3:16), therefore the arrogant person cannot tolerate even this rule being in the hand of another. And therefore he specifically mentioned adultery and not other sexual sins. And the language is precise when it says “eventually stumbles into adultery,” for anyone who is arrogant goes about examining all kinds of authority that he sees in others, to conquer everything under his hand so that his hand is in all forms of rule. And the man will not rest with all the authority he has already achieved until eventually he sets his eyes also on the man’s rule over his wife and wants to conquer it under his control. This is the meaning of “eventually,” because truly this rule that he eventually seeks is the end of all things and the limit of them all. And this is a very precious interpretation, both in this portion and in the language of the Gemara.

AND WHEN MOSES HEARD IT, HE FELL UPON HIS FACE. It does not say “and they fell [upon their faces],” for Aaron in his modesty and holiness did not utter a word throughout this whole controversy, but he was as one that held his peace,⁴¹I Samuel 10:27. and who admits that Korach’s status was greater than his own, and he only acted according to Moses’ behest, fulfilling the king’s decree.