By Rabbi Moshe Hauer
Do we live in a world, a community or a home that fosters disagreement and betrayal, or in one that encourages togetherness and trust? What role do we play in shaping those critical aspects of our environment?
The dispute between Moshe and Korach reaches its climax when Moshe declares that to prove his authenticity the earth would “open its mouth” to swallow up Korach and his partners (Bamidbar 16:30). Fascinatingly, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37b) notes that this is the second time the earth opened its mouth. The first time was when Kayin killed Hevel and the earth “opened its mouth” to swallow and cover the blood of Hevel (Bereishit 4:11).
Both stories—those of Kayin and Hevel and of Korach—are paradigms of conflict. In a deeper sense, the second is in fact a repeat of the first—as Korach is seen in mystical sources as a reappearance or gilgul of Kayin, while Moshe is associated with Hevel (see Shelah haKadosh, Torah Ohr, Parshat Korach). Kayin successfully corrupted the earth’s environment, directing it to be his accomplice in destruction by swallowing up the blood of Kayin, thereby erasing from the world the presence of the person who had brought God’s presence to dwell within it. Moshe—on the other hand—activated the earth to support his efforts of strengthening faith in Hashem’s word and in erasing from the world those who had introduced division and disruption, and sown distrust.
This is reminiscent of the Torah’s description of the land of Israel whose environment cannot tolerate bloodshed or immorality (Vayikra 18:25-8; Bamidbar 35:33), as well as the famous Talmudic account of the spilled blood of the prophet, Zecharya, that would not be absorbed by the earth of the Temple where it had been spilt (Gittin 57b). The right environment neither nurtures nor even tolerates corrupting and corrosive behaviors.
It is to some degree in our hands to define our environment. We can—like Kayin—create a context that breeds and feeds dissent, swallowing those who would uplift us. Or—like Moshe—we can create a setting where the arguments dissolve and disappear, and where faith and trust thrive. True, we will be unable to do this with dramatic feats like asking the earth to “open its mouth.” But we can certainly play a defining role in the sense of togetherness and trust that our home, communal and global environments will nurture and encourage by the ways we choose to open our own mouths, by the tone we set in our personal relationships and by how we argue for what we believe in.
It is truly up to us to shape our environment for the better, such that it will encourage peace, trust and togetherness.
Rabbi Moshe Hauer is executive vice president of the Orthodox Union (OU), the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization
