Nedarim 7b: Two forms of death

The Gemara states that the source for the precept that poverty is akin to death is from that which it is said (Shemos 4:19) Hashem said to Moshe in Midyan, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the people who seek your life have died.” The Ran explains that this verse, which was said regarding Dasan and Aviram, could not be referring to tzaraas, lack of children, or blindness. They could not have been blind because Dasan and Aviram said about themselves, (Bamidbar 16:14) “even if you would gouge out the eyes of those men themselves we shall not go up.” They could not have been afflicted with tzaraas because it is said regarding Dasan and Aviram (Devarim 11:6) in the midst of all Israel. It cannot be said that they were lacking children, because this would not warrant that they would not be able to stand before Pharaoh. Thus, Dasan and Aviram must have become impoverished, and for this reason they did not have a voice in the royal court. One must wonder, though, why the Torah felt it necessary to describe their poverty in this manner. Perhaps we can suggest that the Torah sought to teach us that poverty is akin to death, and the Torah chose this instance to demonstrate this concept. Yet, it would seem that there is a deeper meaning to the Gemara. When Yehudah told Yosef that his brother had died, Rashi writes that Yehudah uttered a lie out of fear. The Sefer HaKsav V’haKabala (Bereishis 44:20) writes that this does not mean that Yehudah lied outright. Rather, Yehudah made a declaration that could have more than one meaning. When the Torah mentions death, in addition to the conventional meaning of death, one can also interpret death to mean descending a level. Thus, writes the HaKsav V’haKabala, this is the meaning of the Gemara that states that four are akin to death. Death in this sense means that they have descended a level from where most people are at, and this is akin to death. It is for this reason that the Torah chose to state that Dasan and Aviram had died, because by becoming impoverished, they had fallen from their previous stature.

Nedarim 7b: Dasan and Aviram did not get away with murder

The Gemara states that that the source for the precept that poverty is akin to death is from that which it is said (Shemos 4:19) Hashem said to Moshe in Midyan, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the people who seek your life have died.” The Ran explains that this verse, which was said regarding Dasan and Aviram, could not be referring to tzaraas, lack of children, or blindness. They could not have been blind because Dasan and Aviram said about themselves, (Bamidbar 16:14) “even if you would gouge out the eyes of those men themselves we shall not go up.” They could not have been afflicted with tzaraas because it is said regarding Dasan and Aviram (Devarim 11:6) in the midst of all Israel. It cannot be said that they were lacking children, because this would not warrant that they would not be able to stand before Pharaoh. Thus, Dasan and Aviram must have become impoverished, and for this reason they did not have a voice in the royal court. The Shelah (Parashas Korach: Torah Ohr 5) writes that nonetheless, Dasan and Aviram died the death that is related to these four punishments. Dasan and Aviram did not bear children in Egypt, and even the children that they bore in the Wilderness died along with the entourage of Korach. They were certainly metzoraim, afflicted with tzaraas, because they were motzi sheim ra (slandered) on Moshe. Although they were not afflicted with the physical form of tzaraas, they were certainly afflicted with the spiritual malady of tzaraas. It is said (Mishlei 21:23) shomer piv ulishono shomer mitzaras nafsho, one who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles. The Zohar states: do not read the word as mitzaras, from troubles. Rather, read it as mitzaraas, that his soul should not become afflicted with tzaraas. Incorporated in the words (Shemos 4:19) for all the people who seek your life have died, is the punishment of becoming impoverished. By declaring even if you would gouge out their eyes of those men themselves we shall not go up, Dasan and Aviram inflicted blindness upon themselves.