In this week's parasha (Torah portion), Korach, we read about a group of people who rebel against Moshe and Aharon's authority. God becomes so angry that S/He wants to destroy the entire congregation except for Moshe and Aharon. The text reads:
The idea that God knows our thoughts and whether we have sinned or not can be a little hard to imagine for some. Many people do not usually think of God in such a literal way as a Being who is aware of each detail and each action in our feelings and lives. On the other hand, it can also be a comforting through if we allow ourselves to open up to it emotionally. What would it mean to have someone in your life who knows you completely, who knows your thoughts before you say them, who knows what lies in your heart, who knows all that's happened in your day without you telling Him/Her? That person, or Being rather, is God as imagined by chazal (the sages). When thought of in this way, we can feel both intimidated and also relieved. It means never being alone, but it also means we stand also before the King.
Then the presence of the Lord appeared to the whole community and the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "Stand back from this community that I may annihilate them in an instant.." But they fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, Source of the Spirits of all flesh! When one man sins, will you be wrathful with the whole community?" (Numbers 16:21-22)The Hebrew for the phrase "God, Source of the Spirits of all flesh" is Elohei ha'ruchot l'chol basar. However, it can be translated in other ways as well, as is the case with so many names of God. The word Elohei means "God," the word ruchot means "spirits" or "winds" or "souls" and l'chol basar means "all flesh." So Moshe and Aharon are essentially calling upon God as the Source of Life. God breathed life into the first human and so the roots of the words for breath and wind are also used in Hebrew to name the soul (ruach and n'shama). The idea that God breathes a soul into each of us is found in numerous places in the Tanach (Bible). For example:
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and blew into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
וַיִּיצֶר ה' אֱל-הִים אֶת הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה:
Thus said God the Lord, he who created the heavens, and stretched them out; he who spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; he who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk in it . . . (Isaiah 42:5)
כּה אָמַר הָאֵ-ל ה' בּוֹרֵא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנוֹטֵיהֶם רקַע הָאָרֶץ וְצֶאֱצָאֶיהָ נתֵן נְשָׁמָה לָעָם עָלֶיהָ וְרוּחַ לַהלְכִים בָּהּ
The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel, says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man inside him. (Zecharia 12:1)
מַשָּׂא דְבַר ה' עַל יִשְרָאֵל נְאֻם יְהוָה נטֶה שָׁמַיִם וְיסֵד אָרֶץ וְיצֵר רוּחַ אָדָם בְּקִרְבּוֹ:
When Moshe and Aharon ask God not to punish the innocent among b'nai Yisrael with the wicked they appeal to God as Elohei ruchot chol basar. Why? Midrash Rabbah on the verse from our parasha teaches:
They [Moses and Aaron] said to Him: ‘Sovereign of the Universe! In the case of a mortal king, if a province rebels against him and rises and curses the king or his deputies, even if only ten or twenty of them have done so, he sends his legions there and carries out a massacre, slaying the good with the bad, because he cannot tell which of them has rebelled and which has not, or who has honored the king and who has cursed him. You, however, know the thoughts of man and what the hearts and reins counsel. You discern the inclinations of Your creatures and know which man has sinned and which has not, who has rebelled and who has not. You know the spirit of each and every one.’ Accordingly it says, "The God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be wrathful with all the congregation?" The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: You have spoken well! I shall make it known who has sinned and who has not. (Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XVIII:11)According to this midrash, Moshe and Aharon appeal to God as creator of life since S/He alone knows the very soul of each person, having breathed life into each body.
The idea that God knows our thoughts and whether we have sinned or not can be a little hard to imagine for some. Many people do not usually think of God in such a literal way as a Being who is aware of each detail and each action in our feelings and lives. On the other hand, it can also be a comforting through if we allow ourselves to open up to it emotionally. What would it mean to have someone in your life who knows you completely, who knows your thoughts before you say them, who knows what lies in your heart, who knows all that's happened in your day without you telling Him/Her? That person, or Being rather, is God as imagined by chazal (the sages). When thought of in this way, we can feel both intimidated and also relieved. It means never being alone, but it also means we stand also before the King.
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