Rabbi's Blog

I am on a collision course with myself as my metabolism slows down and my appetite increases. In fact, I’m currently  having a mid-life crisis - not the kind of crisis which focuses on changing careers and such -   I have a crisis regarding my health as I now navigate through the middle years of my life. In trying to figure out different ways to motivate me to exercise more and eat healthier, my wife bought me a ‘Fitbit”. What’s a Fitbit? Fitbit is an American company known for its products of the same name, all of which are activity trackers & nasty scales which keep a log of  your BMI (body mass index), body/fat index and every single ounce gained or lost. Fitbit also makes wireless-enabled wearable technology devices that measure data such as the number of steps walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, steps climbed, and other personal metrics. It doesn’t help the user lose weight,  but it sure makes a person aware of how few steps have been taken  taken and that the wearer typically needs to walk more for that particular day.

A few weeks ago while I was learning with someone during our skype session, he noticed something on my wrist. He asked me, “is that a Fitbit? When I asked you your opinion on getting a Fitbit you told me I should not get one. You said it was a device that starts to control you and people get obsessed with things like that.” I was shocked and taken aback for two reasons: first, I don’t remember saying that, and second, at least now I think it is a good thing. After thinking about it for a few minutes I started to kind of remember. Maybe I was against wearing a Fitbit, but hey, you got to give a person some slack; we are allowed to change our minds. Another area where I may have changed my mind which recently surfaced is in regard to halachik guidance. Over the years’ questions arise and later on are asked again. At one time, perhaps I said something was to be done in a certain way, and now, many years later, I may say something different. Please don’t misunderstand that last statement. I am not changing the halacha;  I am rather presenting a change in understanding the law and its application. Changing one’s mind after receiving new information is an acceptable method of thinking, growing, and maturing. Technology is ever-changing, and that impacts the way halacha determines certain laws regarding  Shabbos, kashrus, and so forth.  Technological change affects the physical parts of life; information and life’s circumstances affect the mental parts of life.

People, being human, change their minds and may even alternate their viewpoints, bending from one point of view to another and back again over time. . In most cases the changes are not significant enough to notice or to make a big deal about. Nevertheless, changes do occur but not enough to comment on or to point out the difference. Teshuva/repentance is a changing of the mindset. The challenge in life is to make sure we change for the better, to do the right thing.  It is equally important to make the change in time. The Netz”iv and others delicately point out how some people change their minds in the nick of time and others do so when time has already run out; it was too late.

In this week’s Parshas Korach, Korach and his followers were swallowed up by the earth,  yet the sons of Korach were saved. In Bamidbar 16 the showdown between Moshe and Korach takes place. Moshe announces that if these men die in the same manner as all other men, it shows that Hashem did not send him. In verses 30-32 the Torah states: “But if God creates something entirely new, making the earth open its mouth and swallow them and all that is theirs, so that they descend to the depths alive, then it is these men who ae provoking God. Moshe hardly finished speaking when the ground under [Dasan and Aviram] split. The earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them and their houses, along with all the men who were with Korach.” The Netz”iv explains that when the earth split open, the people did not immediately fall in. Rather, the earth began to shake and tremble, creating more fear and panic among the witnesses than just being swallowed up in one quick swoop would have caused. At first, the earth opened up, becoming  ‘a mouth’ which then started to swallow. At that very moment, Korach and his followers had the chance to change their minds and realize their mistake, but they did not do so.  Therefore the mouth opened and began to swallow with the power or force of gravity, pulling and sucking, one by one, those who were ‘worthy’ of being swallowed up. ‘Worthy’ in this instance means they were worthy of this punishment because they still could still have repented, they could still have changed their minds but did not do so. As each individual passed up that opportunity he followed the fate of the previous man.

Regarding the words “V’Yardu Chaim She’olah”:  “so that they descend to the depths alive,” a question is asked: Was Moshe such a cruel person to have asked for such a horrific death? Rav Reuvain Margolias, in the name of the Belzer Rebbe, explains, to the contrary, how Moshe did a chessed/kindness for Korach. They specifically went down alive in order to give them time to repent and not die immediately. If they were to have died immediately without repenting, their souls would be lost forever. Moshe’s request is that they should still have that opportunity. This answer is seen in Gemara Sanhedrin 108: Rebbi Eliezer says that the ground had covered them up. The Navi Shmuel proclaimed, “Hashem Meimis U’M’Chayeh, Morid She’ole Va’Ya’al”: “God puts to death and revives. He lowers them to She’ole and He brings them back up…” presumably if they do Teshuva. Even Korach and his followers have a portion in the world to come because even if there is a only a little bit of life left, teshuva can be done. Teshuva must be confessed and recited by mouth. Korach and his followers sinned with their mouths by speaking Lashon Hora, so they were punished measure for measure.  The earth itself opened its own mouth.

It is interesting to note that when the Torah mentions Dasan and Aviram, their ‘homes’ refers to their future offspring who were also wiped out. This is in contrast to Korach’s own family whose children actually survived, hanging on to the lip of the mouth that opened up. They survived because they did change their minds when they looked down and saw She’ole, which is one of the seven levels of Gehenom below.

For some people, circumstances in their lives are changing for the worse, but they remain so stubborn that they won’t change even if it means throwing away everything special and holy which they had worked so hard to accumulate. On the other hand some people manage to change their minds, even at the cusp of disaster, thereby sparing  the fate of their future generations. We should be zocheh to re-visit situations in order to make the correct changes for ourselves, our immediate family, and for all future generations.        

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky