(Sichas Shabbos Noach 5748)
Opposition to Moses
Datan and Aviram informed on Moses’ slaying of an Egyptian to Pharoah, and Pharoah sentences Moses to death (Source 1).
Datan and Aviram leave some manna over for the next day, contrary to Moses’ instructions, and the manna gets infested (Source 2).
When the spies return from the Land of Canaan with their sorry findings, Datan and Aviram incite a rebellion, telling the people: “Let us choose another leader who will take us back to Egypt (Source 3).
Matters boil over with the story of Korach and his ilk, where Datan and Aviram take a leading role against Moses.
Raising a Hand is Wicked
The first incident teaches us that it is forbidden to raise a hand against anyone (Source 5). The source of this law is a remark from Reish Lakish in the Talmud, using this story as support (Source 6). Maimonides’ Sefer Hamitzvot also warns of the severity of raising a hand (Source 7).
The Rebbe asks, a) Why is one liable for mere intent? b) How can one be deemed wicked – and thus ineligible to be a witness – when he merely raised his hand but did not hit? c) Why specifically a hand? Is kicking with a foot any different?
The Change Hurts
The Rebbe explains that there’s a difference between the hands and feet. Most positive actions and most mitzvot are accomplished by the hands. On the other hand, the feet are primarily for walking and are not designed specifically for mitzvot or sins directly. Accordingly, we can understand the severity of raising a hand: when one takes their hand, which was created for mitzvot, and raises it against their fellow, they alter the nature of that hand. Thus, they are deemed wicked, because they are using the hand for the opposite of what it was created for!
Datan and Aviram Prove This
Accordingly, the Rebbe says, we can understand why the support for this law is from Datan and Aviram. Datan and Aviram loved their fellow Jews. They, as overseers, tried to make the lives of their fellow Jews easier, and they endangered their lives by asking Pharoah to ease the work conditions of the Jews. They didn’t refrain from telling off Moses and Aaron, whose actions worsened the conditions of the Jews (Source 8).
When people like that fought, there was no greater change to nature, which is why Moses called them wicked, because they were changing nature. That is why the support for this law comes from them, because raising a hand is altering the nature of the hand from its intended purpose.
