Where did Moshe get the idea that Korach and co. should offer ketores as a test?
Ramban writes:
והנה משה מעצמו חשב המחשבה הזאת ורצה בקטרת יותר משאר קורבנות, כי ראה כבר בנדב ואביהוא כי
בהקריבם קטרת זרה לפני ה' נשרפו, והתיר לאהרן להקטיר אותה לצורך השעה
Ramban says Moshe thought of the idea himself (he has another answer as well, ayen sham.)
Ramban says it a second time later in the parsha. When the people complained to Moshe that he was the cause of the death of those who rebelled, Ramban explains their argument:
יפתור, כי יאשימו אותם על שנתנו העצה הזאת להקטיר קטורת זרה לפני ה', מדעתם שהמקריבים אותם נשרפים. כי השם לא אמר למשה להקריב הקטורת הזאת, והוא לא אמר לישראל בשם ה' לעשות כן, אם כן מעצמם נתנו העצה הזאת אשר מתו בה העם, והיו יכולין לתת אות ומופת אחר במטה או בזולתו.
The people blamed Moshe because it was his idea to offer the ketores -- it's not something that he was instructed to do by G-d.
In the sefer Kol Rom, thoughts on chumash from R' Moshe Feinstein that were collected and written up by someone else, R' Moshe is quoted as saying that this Ramban is inexplicable. How could Ramban say Moshe acted of his own volition? We know that "Shechina m'daberes mi'toch grono," that Hashem "spoke" through Moshe. When Moshe gave a command, it was as if G-d himself was speaking, albeit using Moshe's voice to communicate. If Moshe said to offer ketores, it was if G-d himself said to do so.
Furthermore, later, when Aharon, at the behest of Moshe, offered ketores to bring to a stop the plague that had broken out in the camp, there was no command from G-d to do so. Rashi writes that Moshe heard the secret that ketores stops the plague from the Malach ha'Maves. Offering ketores outside the Mishkan, outside it's proper time and place, is an issur. How could Moshe have done so? We don't find any other case where ketores was offered to stop a plague. e.g. David haMelech did not suggest doing so when there was a plague in his time. Why did only Moshe Rabeinu come up with this idea? It must be because only he was commanded to do so; only he had a hora'as sha'ah to do so.
According to the sefer, R' Moshe was so convinced that this pshat cannot be correct that he thought it was a printers error! Ramban never said it.
Amazing -- Ramban says it two times in the parsha, yet because of his kashe, R' Moshe gets rid of the whole thing.
(P.S. Should I ask whether Artscroll includes this Ramban in their edition, given their treatment of Rashbam in Braishis?)
(P.P.S. Another interesting idea from that sefer on this week's parsha: R' Moshe said that just like we finish reading Torah sheb'ksav annually, one should ideally keep one's Torah sheba'al peh learning in sync and finish sha"s annually as well.
Huh? We don't really finish Torah sheb'skav annually -- we finish the first 5 books. And what does that have to do with Torah sheba'al peh? I'm missing something here. )
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"How could Ramban say Moshe acted of his own volition?"
ReplyDeletebecause Moshe hadn't given a "command"*, given that Korach & company were presently challenging his authority: who are you, second son of Amram, to give 'orders'??
"The people blamed Moshe..."
and rightfully so**, to the extent that he'd placed a stumbling block [but no command!] before the blind (the ambitious); the people suffered a plague only for their final phrase, es-am Hashem (17:6), extending outstanding middos to the rebel rousers
*and, btw, there's no shelichus for sins
**such that Moshe had already felt the need to trade all the zechus of his integrity-- no donkey taken, no harm done (16:15) --for Hashem to refuse the aish zarah; he had sidestepped the temptations of power at every stumbling block in the sand...
if the unique ketores formulation was used by Korach and his cronies, then was the presence in it of frankincense (and wine equal? to oil) a reason Moshe thought that Hashem might accept* their offering at 16:15? Moshe was reminded by Dasan v'Aviram's use of d'vash/honey (twice, at 16:13,14), which addition would pasul ketores, that frankincense was NOT to be added to >test-cases of guilt< lifnei Hashem-- the sotah's offering lacked both levonah and oil (Bamidbar 5:15); thoroughly mixed, everyday ketores [with frankincense (and wine) inextricable therein] might not effectively incriminate Korach and his crew!?
Delete*'accept' meaning spare from death; Moshe already knew that >his< bidding Korach to bring an offering rather than Hashem's ordering the same, would not in itself prove fatal, since Nadav v'Avihu were it seems not killed for Hashem's lack of command (Bamidbar 3:4 drops Vayikra 10:1's missing Command as to the death of the two priests), but only for some other strangeness in their rite
Rav Hutner (I thinks it's in the sefer zikaron) explains the opinion in Tosfos Temurah 14 that dvarim shebichsav ee ata rashay leomran al peh only applies to chamisha chumshei torah and not Nach - because that opinion holds that only the chumash is Torah shebichsav in cheftza, Nach is a cheftza of Torah shebeal peh that was nitan likasev.
ReplyDeleteNot so likely that this is what Rav Moshe had in mind, but interesting nonetheless.
The Brisker Rav stencil has a similar idea to be mechaleik between Neviim and Kesuvim.
DeleteSee the Netziv (17:11-12) who clearly states that Moshe came up with the idea of the ketores to save klal yisroel by himself, and furthermore, because it was not from HaShem, Aharon felt justified in modifying his instructions.
ReplyDeleteThe sefer has a footnote where they point out the Netziv
DeleteHow is this different than the 3 things that Moshe did mida'ato that Hashem agreed with?
ReplyDeleteAderaba, since those three are singled out, mashma that this is not something Moshe came up with on his own.
DeleteAderaba, since chazal says that HaShem agreed with three things, there is an implication that there were others where there was no agreement.
Deleteyes, indeed moshe intended them to survive as a simple test, not in the mishkan itself, and therefor not "aish zarah". Hashem took it in His wisdom in another direction
ReplyDelete