Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 11:6

בקרב כל ישראל [AND THE EARTH SWALLOWED THEM UP] IN THE MIDST OF ALL ISRAEL — Wherever one of them fled the earth was riven beneath him and swallowed him up. This is the view of R. Judah. Rabbi Nehemiah said to him: But is it not already stated, (Numbers 16:32) “And the earth opened its mouth”, and it does not state “its mouths”? Whereupon he (R. Judah) asked him: “But how, then, can I explain the words: “in the midst of all Israel” (if there was but one spot at which they were swallowed up, as you suggest Scripture states by the word פיה, “its mouth”)? He replied to him: you can reconcile the two texts by assuming that the earth became a declivity, — something like a funnel, — and wherever it was that one of them happened to be, he rolled down until he reached the place where the fissure was (cf. Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 752).

He mentions and what He did unto Dathan and A biram,²⁹⁸Verse 6. but did not mention of Korach and his company that a fire came forth from before the Eternal and consumed them, because it is a prohibition of the Torah for a stranger [non-priest] to approach [the Sanctuary] to burn incense,²⁹⁹See Ramban to Numbers 17:5 (Vol. IV, pp. 185-186). such a transgressor being punished in all future generations, as happened also to King Uzziah;³⁰⁰II Chronicles 26:19. therefore he did not enumerate it among the signs in the wilderness.

כל היקום..בקרב כל ישראל, "every substance…in the midst of all Israel." This means that the earth swallowed even the substances belonging to Datan and Aviram which were not in the vicinity of their owners wherever they happened to be at that moment. Bamidbar Rabbah 18,13 claims that even a needle was included in this statement.

ואשר עשה לדתן ואבירם, “and what He has done to Datan and Aviram, etc.” Moses does not mention what G’d had done to Korach and his family and followers and how heavenly fire consumed the 250 people offering incense. The sin of those people who had encroached on privileges reserved for the priests was such that it is irredeemable even after death. History has shown that King Uzziah who tried to arrogate similar privileges to himself, was similarly stricken. What had happened to those 250 men therefore was not something unique to the generation of the Israelites in the desert; this is why Moses did not mention it as such at this time. [Compare Chronicles II chapter 26. Uzziah only became stricken with leprosy, was not burned by heavenly fire, according to that report. Perhaps the fact that he was stricken after having been specifically warned was sufficient of a miracle for Moses in the opinion of our author to compare his fate to that of the 250 men who had heeded Moses’ dare to offer incense. Ed.]

The ground sloped, funnel-like, etc. Rashi does not explain the verse in the order that it is written. [He explains “Amid all of Israel,” before explaining, “And all the sustenance, etc.”] The reason is: “Amid, etc.” also refers to, “You will know (v. 2).” [I.e.,] it is fitting to accept my reprimand since you witnessed all the signs He performed in Egypt, and what He did for you in the wilderness, and what He did for you when Dosson and Avirom were swallowed up amid all of Israel — the ground sloped (funnel-like), and no one from Israel fell in even if he were standing next to him, and this was a great miracle.

V. 6. בתיהם neben אהליהם sind wohl die Familienglieder des Hauses (vergl. Bamidbar 16, 27 u. 32). כל היקום אשר ברגליהם ist wohl das dort durch כל האדם אשר לקרח Bezeichnete. Es sind dies die sonstigen Hausgenossen. יקום (siehe zu Bereschit 7, 4) daselbst 23 umfasßt יקום alles Lebendige. Möglich, dass auch hier Tiere mit verstanden sind, heißt es doch Bamidbar 16, 32 ואת כל הרכוש, Sanhedrin 110 a wird יקום vom ganzen Reichtum Korachs verstanden. — אשר ברגליהם, in diesem hier und sonst häufig das Gefolge bezeichnenden Ausdruck ist wohl רגל als Schritt zu begreifen, wie לרגל המלאכה (Bereschit 33, 14).

ואת בתיהם, “and their houses.” Wives, children, and their young infants went to their deaths.

ואת כל היקום אשר ברגליהם AND ALL THE SUBSTANCE THAT WAS AT THEIR FEET — This means a man’s money, that places him on his feet (Sanhedrin 110a).