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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>A pasuk in this week’s
sidra caused headaches to almost all of the meforshim.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>(Bamidbar 16,11) Lachen ata
vechol adatcha Hano'adim al Hashem – ve’Aharon ma hu ki talinu
alav.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Free translation: “Therefore
you and your whole crowd, who are gathering against Hashem – and Aharon,
what is he, that you instigate against him?”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The first half of the pasuk
seems to be missing something (i.e. the verb), as it does not conclude what
about Korach and his crowd, what are they actually doing?!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The Ramban quotes Ibn Ezra
with an explanation, that the letter “He” at the beginning of the
word “Ha-no’adim” might be superfluous, so the meaning would
be as if it would say “no’adim” (verb = gather), and not “ha-no’adim”
(with He ha’yediah, adjective = those who gather), meaning that Korach
and his crowd are in fact not gathering against Aharon, but rather agains
Hashem,.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>I was thinking of a maybe a
bit more sophisticated solution. Both the Ibn Ezra and the Ramban often quote a
way of interpreting a word with an apparently superfluous He ha’yediah,
mostly referring to a pasuk in Divre Hayamim (II – 15,8), ve’hanevua
Oded hanavi – interpreting the word “hanevua”, as a
substitute of TWO words, the one with He ha’yediah and the second one
with semichus to the next word: ve’hanevua – nevuas Oded Hanavi
(see Radak ibidem). Similarly Ibn Ezra explains (Bereshit 24,67) ha’ohela
Sarah imo, as: ha’ohela – ohel Sarah imo. And also (Bamidbar 34,2)
el ha’aretz Kanaan, as: el ha’aretz - eretz Kanaan. Ramba”n
explains (Vayikra 26,42) vezacharti et briti Yaakov, as: et briti – brit Yaakov.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>I think that maybe here too,
we might understand the word hano’adim as substituting two words: vechol
adatcha Hano'adim – no’adim al Hashem; Therefore you and your whole
crowd, gathering with you, do in fact gather against Hashem.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>As I have not seen anybody
mentioning this explanation, I wonder if it might be the deeper meaning of the
Ibn Ezra’s (and the Ramban’s) pshat?!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:324.0pt;text-indent:36.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Courier New"'>Berysz Rosenberg<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:324.0pt;text-indent:36.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Zurich</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>
(<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Switzerland</st1:place></st1:country-region>)</span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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