Today’s daf TB Sanhedrin 11 is a tale of two wives, On son of Peleth’s wife and Korakh’s wife .
Korakh rebelled against Moses’s leadership. “Now Korah, son of Izhar son of
Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab,
and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben — to rise up against Moses, together
with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in
the assembly, men of repute. They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to
them, ‘You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and YHVH
is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above YHVH’s congregation?’”
(Numbers 16:1-3) if you remember the end of the story the earth opened up its
mouth and swallowed up Korah’s assembly. (Numbers 16: 28-34)
Because of
this insurrection the Mishna back on TB Sanhedrin 108a records that “The
assembly of Korah is not destined to arise for resurrection, as it is
stated: “And the earth closed upon them” (Numbers 16:33), meaning in
this world, and also: “And they perished from among the assembly”
(Numbers 16:33), meaning in the World-to-Come; this is the statement
of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Eliezer says: About them the verse says: “The Lord
kills and makes alive; He lowers to the grave, and raises” (I Samuel
2:6), indicating that the assembly of Korah has a share in the World-to-Come.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
Because the
Torah never mentions On son of Peleth again, the Gemara explains how he escaped
Korakh and his assembly’s fate. We shouldn’t be surprised that his wife saved
his life. “Rav says: On, son of Peleth, did not repent on his own;
rather, his wife saved him. She said to him: What is the difference to you?
If this Master, Moses, is the great one, you are the
student. And if this Master, Korah, is the great one, you
are the student. Why are you involving yourself in this matter? On said
to her: What shall I do? I was one of those who took counsel and I took
an oath with them that I would be with them. She said to him: I know
that the entire assembly is holy, as it is written: “For all the assembly is
holy” (Numbers 16:3), and they observe the restrictions of modesty. She said
to him: Sit, for I will save you. She gave him wine to drink and caused him to
become drunk and laid him on a bed inside their tent. She sat at
the entrance of the tent and exposed her hair as though she were
bathing. Anyone who came and saw her stepped back. In the
meantime the assembly of Korah was swallowed into the ground, and
On, son of Peleth, was spared.” (Sefaria.org translation)
In
contradistinction Korakh’s wife egg him on and caused his downfall. “Korah’s
wife said to him: See what Moses is doing. He is the king, he appointed his
brother High Priest, and he appointed his brother’s sons deputy priests.
If teruma comes, he says: Let it be for the priest; if the first tithe
comes, which you as Levites take, he says: Give one tenth to the priest.
And furthermore, he shears your hair and waves you as if you are as
insignificant as excrement (see Numbers 8:5–11), as though he set
his sights on your hair and wishes you to be shaven and unsightly. Korah
said to her: But didn’t he also do so; he shaved his hair like the rest
of the Levites? She said to him: Since it is all done for his own
prominence, he also said metaphorically: “Let me die with the
Philistines” (Judges 16:30); he was willing to humiliate himself in order
to humiliate you.
“She said to him: And furthermore, with regard to that which he said to you, to prepare sky-blue dye for your ritual fringes, one could respond to him: If it enters your mind, Moses, that using sky-blue dye is considered a mitzva, take out robes that are made entirely of material colored with sky-blue dye, and dress all the students of your academy in sky-blue robes without ritual fringes; why could one not fulfill the mitzva in that manner? Clearly, Moses is fabricating all this.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Unfortunately most people spend more
time researching and choosing a stereo system or car then a spouse. As we can see from the above
two wives, choosing the right person makes all the difference in the world.
No wonder “In
Eretz Yisrael, the custom was that when a man married a woman, they
would ask him: Matza or motzeh? In other words, they would
ask the groom whether the appropriate passage for his wife is the above verse
from Proverbs that begins with the word matza, as it is written: “He
who finds a wife finds good and obtains favor from the Lord” or whether the
more appropriate verse is the one beginning with the word motzeh, as
it is written: “And I find [motzeh] the woman more bitter than death”
(Ecclesiastes 7:26).” (TB Berakhot 8a, Sefaria.org translation)
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