Korach Mutiny #5

It is in the context of insecurity about principles that we can understand the allure of Korach's vision of “clothing made all of tcheiles” and a “world without tzizit”. Man desperately wants a power of principles (yishuv daat ) that will be instrumental to acquiring his needs (yishuv aretz). A stable lifestyle requires a stable set of principles that can continuously secure these needs. It is for this reason that thoughtful men are always vulnerable to a set “paradigm” of principles that will secure their activity. Thomas Kuhn in “structure of scientific revolution” documents this paradigmatic rigidity. The thinking community settles on its paradigm and then wants to proceed in securing accomplishments- Nobel prizes, PHD's, patents etc. Any deep questioning of the paradigm evokes terror that the community's very existence will be challanged. He who dares challenge consensus about Newtonian mechanics,relativity Quantum theory or Evolution faces the wrath of the entire thinking community.
Such was the fate of Moshe Rabbenu. Korach crystallized the thinking community around a paradigm of thought that secured their principles against challenge. They were a holy community of thinkers no longer in need of constant reconsideration of the basis of their principles. Constant preoccupation with first principles is characteristic of primitives not a mature community of mind. A community of mind has thought embedded in its modern way of life-wears clothing of techeiles- and has no need for old style religion -tzizit.

Korach is the perfect representative of אויל pointed to by Yiras Hashem Reihees Daas Chochma umussar evillim bazu. The אויל flourishes by offering a false “paradigm” that releases thinkers from the indignity and fear of constant re-evaluation of core assumptions. He substitutes group think security through derision of those who challenge theoretical consensus rather than a strategy of slow and arduous reality testing of principles. “Zechira” is precisely the opposite approach to knowledge. The humble “zocher” constantly seeks applications of his core theoretical assumptions that test his understanding. Far from seeing himself as a great “tcheiles person” and seeking a “world without tzizit” the “zocher” relishes each and every life scenario as a new opportunity to test his principles and make them more clear.

The Mitzvot are designed with this very feature of reality testing in mind- they are the very basis of creating a theoretical community shielded from the allure of group think. The true thinking community acknowledges the true weakness of the human mind and its slow manner of testing principles. It keeps the need to see tcheiles principles embedded in the white tzizit strings of everyday material life at the forefront of its methodology. As Chazal say in Menachot tzizit identifies this essential purpose of reality testing accomplished by the Mitzvot tools and therefore is equal to all Mitzvot. It reminds of the dependence of our principles (“Dvarim”) upon reality testing to overcome the security need of our psyche (Vihayu haDvarim.. al livavecha) that is a core lesson of Keriat shema- the “ole” in ole malchut shamayim. Only the one commited to this program of reality testing can hope to succeed and “recieve the shechina”.