Go See Your Ophthalmologist, Now!
T’cheiles, the blued dyed wool, related to the word that means to be consumed, we are taught in Kabbalah and Chassidic literature, represents the height of spiritual ambition, where one is totally consumed in his pursuit of spirituality.
Tzitzis: Exhibit One
Parshas Korach, describes in detail, how Korach, Moses’ cousin, started an ill-fated rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Our Sages note the juxtaposition of the Korach narrative and the section that deals with the commandment to put tzitzis-fringes on the four corners of our garments.
According to the Midrash, Korach used the Mitzvah of tztizis to make his case to Moses. According to the Biblical formulation of this precept to place fringes, one must also place a specially dyed blue thread—known as t’cheiles—, along with the other threads. Korach asked Moses whether a garment that was made entirely out of t’cheiles needed tzitzis. Korach was convinced that it did not. When Moses answered that it did, he was incredulous and started his rebellion against Moses.
What connection is there between the Mitzvah of tzitzis and Korach? And why did Korach insist that the talis-four cornered garment did not need tzitzis?
One obvious connection is that tzitzis is a Mitzvah that controls our eyes. In the Torah it says, “And you shall see them and you will remember all of G-d’s commandments. And you will not follow your hearts and eyes…”
Indeed, Rashi explains that one of the reasons it is called tzitzis is because it is etymologically connected to the Biblical word “meitziz” that means “he sees.”
Vision Problems
There are two general problems that people have with their vision, both physical and spiritual. The first and most common is near-sightedness, where one can only see from close and not from far. In a spiritual sense this refers to a person who does not see the far-reaching and long-term effects of his actions. Because this person is near-sighted they will do things that are short-sighted; they appear harmless now, but can cause great harm later.
The Talmud, therefore, says, “Who is a Chocham– a wise person? One who can see the future.” Likewise in Ethics of the Fathers, Rabbi Shimon, in response to his teacher’s question “What is the best approach that a person should follow? replied: “One who sees the future.”
There is, however, a second problem people have with their spiritual vision. It is called far-sightedness. Just as in the physical sense it means that a person can only see well from the distance but not from close range, similarly, in a spiritual vein it refers to a sophisticated person who is prescient and can see into the future. His handicap, however, is that he cannot see close by.
Far-Sighted Korach
Such a person was Korach. Korach started off as a righteous and an extremely brilliant individual. In fact, he was endowed with incredible vision into the future. Korach saw how his descendants would be great people, included among them would be Shmuel Hanavi, Samuel the prophet, who was compared to Moses and Aaron combined. He failed to realize that Samuel would descend from his sons who did repent in the end, but that he, Korach, would be doomed. His fault then was that he saw the future clearly, but could not see the evil in what he was doing in the present and its immediate consequences.
On a deeper level, Chassidic thought tells us how Korach was able to see far into the future, into the days of Moshiach, where he saw how the Levites—his tribe— would occupy a more exalted position than the Kohanimpriests. He therefore demanded that his position should not be subordinate to that of Aaron, the High Priest.
Korach was incapable of appreciating the present; he did not realize that the world was not yet at that stage where the Levi was on a higher level.
A T’cheiles Personality
In effect, Korach was lacking the “corrective lenses” of the Mitzvah of tzitzis. This is evident in his argument to Moses that a garment that is completely made of t’cheiles does not need tzitzis. T’cheiles, the blued dyed wool, related to the word that means to be consumed, we are taught in Kabbalah and Chassidic literature, represents the height of spiritual ambition, where one is totally consumed in his pursuit of spirituality. In his mind, he was a t’cheiles person whose vision of the future placed him head and shoulders above all those caught up in the “petty-ness” of the present. He reasoned that he did not therefore need the tzitzis, or the visual aid they provide.
Little did he realize that his own vision—while superior in one direction—was inferior and defective in the other direction. While he could see from afar, he could not see the present and immediate future.
Spiritual Ophthalmologists
The lesson from Korach is to go to our spiritual Ophthalmologists, the Moses and Aaron of each generation, whose vision is clear because it springs not from personal ambition, but from the Divinely radiant words of the Torah.
The Torah vision does not negate Korach’s yearning for the future Messianic state of existence. On the contrary, that vision is a positive one, and as long as we are in exile we must combine Korach’s vision and yearning for the future with the realistic needs of the present. Both are dictates that come from one G-d. One cannot sacrifice one for the other, because they are complementary.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Korach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
