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Parshat Korach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"מעשר בני ישראל"

"Blessed are You HaShem our God Master of the Universe who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to take trumot and maasrot.”

This week's parsha is one of the portions of the Torah that deals more extensively with the laws of trumot and maasrot. It is clear from this week's parsha that these laws are brought here to emphasize the different rankings in Israel in opposition to Korah's claim that 'all the People are holy' and that there should not be a differentiation of ranking within Israel.

One of the most pronounced indications of this ranking is the obligation even on the Levites (in addition to the Israelites) to separate Trumat Maaser from the Maaser in order to give it to the Kohanim. This indication is not only clearly seen in the verses of this parsha, but also in our Oral Tradition and  the halacha learned from these verses. One example of this is halacha's discernement that if one decides to turn all his produce into Trumat Maaser given directly to the Kohen, thereby 'skipping' the step of Maaser, he is unable to do so (that is even an attempt to do such is rendered void). This law is learned from a verse concerning Trumat Maaser which contains the words 'its holiness (Truma) from it (Maaser)', implying that Maaser must exist in order to take Trumat Maaser from it. This law seems to highlight once again the Torah's emphasis on showing how even the Levites who are supposed to receive the Maaser must give recognition to their 'superiors', the Kohanim. If one were to 'skip' the Maaser given to the Levites, one ultimately 'skips' 'showing' this differentiation in ranking on a tangible level.

Just as we see that the Torah distinguishes the Kohanim from the Levites in regard to the holiness of produce that comes from the Land of Israel, so too we can see that the allocation of cities in the Land of Israel is specially divided between the Kohanim and the Levites in the book of Yehoshua. In Yehoshua the 48 Levite cities are enumerated, while the verse clearly emhasizes that the Kohanim, who also constitute as 'Levites' in regard to receiving 'Levite cities', were allotted their cities 'first', a matter that once again befits the honor given to the Kohanim in halacha to be first in reading the Torah, receiving an honor, etc, etc. Similarly, it is also clear that the Kohanim receive the cities specifically in the tribe territories that surround the Holiest City, Jerusalem, as befitting the Kohanim's 'holiest' ranking among the families of Israel.

Among the cities of the Kohanim we should notice that only one city of these 13 'Kohanic Cities' is both mentioned first, elaborated on, and titled 'the Refuge City'. In contrast, all the other Refuge Cities are under Levite, not Kohanic jurisdiction, even though they are 'prized' at being at the top of the other lists of Levite cities. This city is no other than Hebron - the first Jewish City, Honor of the Holy Land.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #123:

"The time to daven Minha was about to pass. I knew that if I stay where I was for a minyan I would miss the direct bus from Har Nof to Beitar (where I live), causing me to take many buses instead and wasting much time in travelling. I 'paskened' (ruled) to myself that it would be better that I daven alone on the bus. However, then a voice entered my head Hazal's teaching, 'one who listens to me does not lose', so I dragged my legs to the shul (minyan). Immediately when I finished davening, a voice called out to me: 'need a ride home?' It was no other than my neighbor..." A.B

Sources: Joshua 21, 13, Rambam Trumot 3, 22, Matnot Aniim 6, 6

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