Chukas

"When will your laundry be finished?"
"Mine's already done. I just didn't want you to stay alone in the
laundromat."

After Miriam died "there was no water for Bnai Yisrael".(Bimidbar
20:2)
The Gemara (Taanis 9a) says that the water the Jews had in the desert
was in
the merit of Miriam: She "waited" for Moshe when he was put in the
river as
a baby (to see what would happen to him).

Do you have time to wait for other people??

Have a great Shabbos !!

Rabbi Chaim Flom

Dear Rabbi Flom:

Your vort on Chukas regarding Miriam's well as I prepare for reading Korach, brings up a question I remember each year based on Pirkei Avos, and the juxtoposition of the two special unique creations of the mouth of the well and the mouth of the earth.

Is there any commentary which connects these two creations as perhaps being one in the same, just with the batteries put in backwards? Or kind of like putting the hose of the vacuum into the blower connection?

I saw in The Midrash Says that there was quite a suction pulling Korach and his followers into the mouth of the earth... all the more reason to make my vacuum analogy.

Perhaps if they were one in the same, and the well was no longer being used for water that it was available for use with Korach?

By the words of Moshe Rabbeinu's prayer regarding Korach's death he seems to cover the possibility that something already within creation could be used for Korach's punishment - perhaps there is support for considering whether Miriam's well might have been such a pre-existing creation?


And while I have not yet found this particular commentary, I am told that there is a Rashbam commentary that has something to do with how the mouth of the earth moved along. If anyone saw it last week, or will come to see it now, I'd very much appreciate seeing a translation.

Dear Rob,
I am terribly sorry that I didn't respond sooner but I was in America for a few weeks.

Regarding your question of "Is there any commentary which connects these two creations as perhaps being one in the same, just with the batteries put in backwards? Or kind of like putting the hose of the vacuum into the blower connection?" If the Mishna says that there were 10 things created before the first Shabbos, why should we assume that there were only 9 with one having a dual function?
Regarding "And while I have not yet found this particular commentary, I am told that there is a Rashbam commentary that has something to do with how the mouth of the earth moved along." I did not see this Rashbam, but I do have some ideas about it. First of all, there is a machlokes (argument) in the Yalkut Shimoni(#753/77) if Korach's gang were swallowed by many different openings(Rav Yehudah) or just one (Rav Nechemia) and things were sucked into it when they weren't directly over it.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 110a)[based on Bimidbar 16:30, and partially quoted by Rashi] says that Moshe asked Hashem that if the "mouth of Gehinnom" wasn't underneath Korach, it should be moved over to him. The Gemara doesn't say if it was underneath him or had to be moved. Rashi on Pirkei Avos 5:6 seems to say that the "mouth of the earth" WAS under Korach. I guess that if there is a Rashbam like you heard, maybe he said that it wasn't under Korach and was moved.If I see anything on this, I'll let you know.

I hope that I was helpful, and again I apologize for not answering sooner.
Take care,
Chaim Flom