Close To Torah

As discussed in the introduction, Tehillim is broken up into five books just like the Chumash contains five books. Psalm 42 begins Book Two which corresponds to Sefer Shemos. The Gemara (Bava Basra 14b) tells us that ten people authored the text of Tehillim and David compiled and completed the entire book. The ten composers were: Adam, Malkitzedek, Avraham, Moshe, Heiman, Yeduson, Assaf and the three sons of Korach. The entire Book One of Tehillim is all composed by David. The second book begins with eight psalms which are each attributed to the son’s of Korach. Who were they?

Korach’s Family

An entire parsha in the Torah recounts the tragic incident of Korach’s rebellion and his downfall. Korach spread evil slander against Moshe and caused a great rift in the Jewish nation. All of the people who joined Korach and supported him were killed in a most tragic yet deserving way. The Jews saw that Hashem did not allow disrespect towards the great leader Moshe. Despite Moshe’s pleas with Korach and his followers to make peace so that they would not be punished, they stood their ground, and literally went down into the ground. One of the most tragic aspects of the incident was that all of Korach’s family who supported him, even young children perished because of the severity of machlokes, disputes.

Originally, the three sons of Korach who were Assir, Elkanah and Aviassaf, stood by their father’s side, however, when they witnessed the ground open up, they sincerely repented and as they were being swallowed into the ground a ledge protruded and caught them protecting them from falling into the fires of Purgatory. It is not clear what happened to them after that point. It seems that they received Divine Prophesy at that point and composed numerous psalm.

Their Words

The themes discussed by the three sons of Korach cover the exile of the Jews, the destruction of the temple and the advent of the Davidic dynasty. This seems to be in line with what they began to challenge. Machlokes, discord, among the nation causes exile and destruction. The solution and repentance for this is the unity which David brought and the coming of the Messiah. Interestingly, this psalm is the Song of the Day for the second day of Sukkos according to the Vilna Goan. It was on that day that the Simchas Beis Hashoava, water-drawing celebrations began. This psalm is inundated with references to water and the temple. Once again, this is a festival of unity that made up for the discord of Korach’s group.

Coming Together

The rift of Korach and his evil scheme threatened the unity of the nation. It is for this reason that Book Two begins with a mention of Korach because the number two represents discord when compared to one which is unity. David composed the entire Book One because his life goal was to unify the nation and bring Hashem and the Jews together as one, with true service, dedication and Torah scholarship. Korach represented two, separation and discord. This is why the Song of the Day for Mondays mentions Korach as the number two represents discord. Our goal is to come together as a nation and to sing the praise of Hashem.

 Print

Categories: Uncategorized Tags: