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The Rav, Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik, Zatzal, as transcribed in Shiurei HaRav, pp.

4!4"#

The key challenge [of Korach] is why should you raise yourselves above G-ds assembly, ie,

!he "resum"!ion of #oses and $aron !o au!hori!y--!o rule, !o %udge and !o lead&$""aren!ly,

Korach was unaware of !he double as"ec! of 'echirah&The !wo as"ec!s of bechirah may be

described as !he (ocial $s"ec! of Kedushah [sanc!i!y], and !he )ndividual $s"ec! of Kedushah

The (ocial $s"ec! of Kedushah--!he chosenness of !he na!ion of )srael *bechira! $m +israel--

means !ha! each individual ew "ossesses Kedushah because he is a member of !he ewish

.ommuni!y&)f every ew derives his Kedushah from membershi" in Knesse! +israel [,]

Korachs argumen! [ ] would seem !o be legi!ima!e and morally a""ealing&/owever, !here is a

second as"ec! !o Kedushah, Kedusha! ha+achid *individual sanc!i!y, and a second source of

Kedushah, 'echira! ha+achid *individual chosenness The im"lica!ion of !his conce"! is !ha! !he

individual ew is !he direc! reci"ien! of Kedushah according !o his own uni0ue "ersonalendowmen!s, effor!s, and achievemen!s&Korach only unders!ood !he (ocial $s"ec! of

Kedushahoses in his rebu!!al [ ] refers ins!ead !o individual chosenness )n such a con!e1! !he

individual does indeed rise !o "osi!ions of !eaching and au!hori!y according !o his meri!s Thus

#oses eleva!ion is %us!ified&)n !he case of Gedolei +israel, !he communi!y raises !hem This is

s"iri!ual, no! "oli!ical kingshi"&[)]! is !he Torah role !ha! makes him a leader 2ur Torah

regards such au!hori!y as legi!ima!e3

The Rav, Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik, Zatzal, as transcribed in

Reflections of the Rav, $ol. ", b% Rav &vroho' (eisdin, pp."4" ) "4*#

Korach [ ] would cer!ainly concede !ha! !here were s"eciali4ed fields in which only e1"er!s who

have s!udied e1!ensively over many years are en!i!led !o be recogni4ed as au!hori!ies&

[5]easonable "eo"le concede !he au!hori!y of ma!hema!icians, "hysicis!s, and "hysicians in !heir

areas of e1"er!ise, and would no! !hink of challenging !hem merely on !he basis of common

sense 6hy, !hen, are so many well-in!en!ioned "eo"le ready !o 0ues!ion !he au!hori!y of !he

Torah scholar, !he lamdan, in his area of s"eciali4ed knowledge7&)n our day, we are wi!nessing

a resurgence of s!reng!h among !hose religious grou"s [who] recogni4e Torah scholars, Gedole+israel, as !he legi!ima!e !eachers of )srael3

+cerpted fro' -h% as the Torah /orced 0pon 0s1,2 b% Rav Hershel Schachter, and

available at http#33.toraheb.or53torah3643'oadi'3rsch7shavuos.ht'l

[$]ccording !o Talmudic !radi!ion *(habbos 88a, G-d "ressured !he ewish "eo"le !o acce"! !he

Torah, and forced i! u"on !hem agains! !heir wishes The commen!aries on !he Talmud all

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wonder, why i! was necessary !o force !he Torah u"on !he ews if !hey had already

en!husias!ically e1"ressed !heir willingness !o acce"! i!7 The "eo"le were "re"ared !o acce"! bo!h

G-d9s wri!!en Torah, and all !he halachos l9#oshe mi(inai : !ransmi!!ed direc!ly from G-d 'u!

!he bulk of !he 2ral Torah is really [ ] halachos which were develo"ed over !he cen!uries wi!h

much rabbinic in"u! This !he ews a! /ar (inai were no! "re"ared !o acce"! This is a human

Torah, and all humans can err 6hy should !hey agree !o be subservien! !o !he idea of o!her

human beings7 $nd i! was !his "ar! of !he Torah !ha! G-d had !o force u"on us 6he!her we like

i! or no!, G-d e1"ec!s us !o follow !he "osi!ions se! for!h by !he rabbis in in!er"re!ing !he Torah

This is !he significance of !he e1"ression we use *from !he 5ambam9s formula!ion, !ha! we

believe *ani maamin !ha! !he Torah as i! is observed !oday, is an accura!e !ransmission of !ha!

;ivine Torah which was given !o #oshe 5abbeinu This added "hrase, as i! is observed !oday,

im"lies e1ac!ly !his idea : !o include all of !hose halachos where !here was rabbinic in"u! 6e

have emunas chachomim 6e believe !ha! !hroughou! all !he genera!ions !here was an invisible;ivine assis!ance given !o !he rabbis !o develo" !he halacha in a correc! fashion 2f course, !he

a""lica!ion of !hose middos is a science un!o i!self, which is only mas!ered by a small handful

of 0ualified individuals in each genera!ion $nd !he new addi!ional halachos !ha! read in

be!ween !he lines have !o fi! in wi!h !he s"iri! of !he res! of !he Torah, which again can only

be fully sensed by !hose few 0ualified individuals who have a "ro"er sense of wha! !he s"iri! of

!he law is was a conver!, so !ha!9s why he always favors conver!s, and 5abbi + didn9! like

women, so !ha!9s why in his decisions he will always "u! down women, and 5abbi ? is a ?ionis!,

so !ha!9s why he will always "asken lehokel in ma!!ers regarding @re!4 +isroel, is in viola!ion of

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!his )kar *"rinci"le of fai!h 6e no! only believe !ha! !here e1is!ed a! one !ime a Torah shebaal

"eh which was ;ivinely ordainedA bu! ra!her we believe !ha! /ashem con!inues !o assis! !he G-d

fearing 0ualified rabbis so !ha! !hey should "asken "ro"erly @mmunas chachomim is !he

founda!ion of all 2r!hodo1 Tradi!ionorach asked, should ;oshe alone be the final authorit% on all

halachic 'atters1 Shouldn?t each individual have the ri5ht to interpret the Torah accordin5 to his

on understandin51

This a!!i!ude of Korach is no! uni0ue !o him alone $ny in!elligen! human being wan!s o!hers !o res"ec! his

in!elligence, and "refers !o main!ain his inde"endence in making decisions !ha! affec! him Beo"le do no!like being subservien! !o o!hers

&ccordin5 to the tradition recorded in the Tal'ud @Shabbos **aA, a! !he occasion of #a9amad /ar

(inai B!d had to force the Torah upon the Ceish people by !hrea!ening !o bury !hem alive if !hey didno! acce"! i! *(hemos CDECF The co''entaries have 5reat difficult% ith this state'ent. The Torah

see's to sa% eplicitl% that the entire Ceish nation accepted the Torah at Har Sinai out of their on

free ill*(hemos HEF 6hy did G-d have !o force i! u"on !hem7

The ;edrash Tanchu'a @9arshas oachA su55ests that perhaps the to passa5es referred to above

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correspond to the to parts of the Torah. The people ere prepared to accept the Torah Shebiksav,

as this co'es directl% fro' B!dE 'an does not find it that hu'iliatin5 to hu'ble hi'self before B!d.

The Ces ere not that keen on acceptin5 the Torah Shebeal 9eh, hich includes 'uch rabbinic

input,and whose main "rinci"le is =Io mesora hakosuv ella lechachomim= *.hagigah C8a This as"ec! of

Torah dic!a!es !ha! one "erson9s view is binding u"on ano!her, ie, your o"inion coun!s more !han mine

This conce"! is a very bi!!er "ill !o swallow The ewish "eo"le, who had %us! gained !heir freedom from

@gy"!, were no! ye! "re"ared !o acce"! !he rabbis9 role in develo"ing !he Torah (hebeal Beh Therefore,

/akodosh 'aruch /u had !o force !he Torah (hebeal Beh u"on !hem

;an% 5enerations later, after the 'iracle of 9uri' occurred, the rabbis instituted the first 'itzvah

'idirabanon, of readin5 the'e5illah. &t that ti'e, accordin5 to tradition of the Tal'ud, (nei

Yisroel accepted ane the oral TorahE this ti'e out of their on free ill. The rabbis of !ha!genera!ion, !he $nshei Kneses /agedolah, es!ablished !he !e1!s of blessings and "rayers and s!andardi4ed

!he observance of !he mi!4vos The (eder 2lam ?u!!a remarks !ha! af!er !he "assing of !he "ro"he!s .hagai,

?echaria, and #alachi, "ro"hecy !ermina!ed *un!il !he re!urn of @liyahu before !he coming of #oshiach,

and a new "eriod began /ence for!h we had !o =bend our ear, and lis!en !o !he words of !he chachomim=

This passa5e apparentl% refers to this ne period here (nei Yosroel had accepted the authorit% of

the rabbis,and !herefore !he Torah (hebeal Beh was able !o develo" much more !han ever before

6e some!imes hear from religious "eo"le in our own circles !ha! since 5av (olovei!chik has "assed away,!here is no one around !o whom !hey can refer !heir shaalos ;an% of those people use the passin5 of theRav as an ecuse to i5nore the piskei halacha of conte'porar% poski'. The% elect to 'ake their on

halachic decisions, Fustif%in5 the'selves b% ar5uin5 that ever%one in our 5eneration is entitled to

epress their opinions e=uall%, and all have e=ual authorit%. This as >orach?s vie, who s!a!ed !ha!

=!he en!ire na!ion is holy=, we all learned Torah !oge!her, and =all men were crea!ed e0ual= The Rav

hi'self spoke out eplicitl% a5ainst such an attitude @See Reflections of the Rav, $olu'e Gne,

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#esorah i!self3 /is insigh! and direc!ion goes beyond !he sources !ha! he can "oin! !oA he migh! be

ins"ired by !he sources, in some cases, bu!, maybe, no clear deduc!ive or com"ellingly logical argumen!

can always be cons!ruc!ed&3 /is insigh! and direc!ion go beyond source ma!erial and !e1!ual evidence3

Tha! s"ecial !ranscendan! 0uali!y, halachic insigh! and ins!inc! !ha! !ranscends knowledge and !ha!

!ranscends even analy!ical skills, is some!imes referred !o as, ;aas Torah3

The no!ion !ha! ac!ions !ha! are no! described e1"lici!ly in !he (hulchan $ruch are merely ma!!ers of

"ublic "olicy and are neu!ral vis*+*vis halacha is falseE

The fac! is !ha! ma!!ers of /ashkafa and values are every bi! as im"or!an!, and guidance in !hose areas,

every bi! as crucialMand !he role of .hachmei /a#esorah is maybe even more crucial in !hose areas3

Guidance in !he area of /ashkafa [beyond !he ascer!aining of fac!s], wha! im"ac! [ ] "olicies are likely !o

haveM!hese are areas in which !he consul!a!ion of ;aas Torah, .hachmei /a#esorah, becomes

cri!ical3No! all rabbanim are e0ual&being #achria in [ ] Klal +isroel issues re0uires more !han skill and

"roficiency&i! remains !he "reroga!ive3 of .hachmei /a#esorah

[The] 0ues!ion of infallibili!y has of!en been !he s!rawman in !he argumen! agains!3 !he conce"! of ;aas

Torah ;aas Torah is !he basis for "owerful convic!ions, bu! no!hing is infallibleMe1ce"! !he 5ibbono

shel 2lam, of course3

;aas Torah is a "owerful !ool,3 no! infallibili!y3