Throughout the ages, philosophers have tried to figure out the balance, if any at all, between the spiritual the physical, the soul and body.When the spies where sent by Moses to search out the Land of Israel, they returned back to the wilderness with the report, “It is a land that devours its inhabitants.” Now, these spies where leaders of their tribes, and not only where they spiritual people, they where wise men. What exactly did they mean by these words? Is it possible they would speak badly of the land, G-d had in mind to award the Jewish people?
Our sages explain the following, after all the miracles they had recently experienced coming out of Egypt, and most recently in the wilderness. Seeing the miraculous hand of G-d, they did not want to enter a place where they would have to deal with the physical land and waste their time seeding and plowing in order to earn their bread. They preferred the spiritual ascetic life of the wilderness, where they would be sustained directly by G-d, manna from heaven etc., and ALL their time could be dedicated to spirituality.
They claimed, if we enter the land of Israel, and then, we are commanded to plow the ground in order to perform the commandments of tithing, and keeping the sabbatical etc., it will swallow our spiritual aspirations. But of course, we all know what happened. G-d punished them, because the ultimate reason why we are placed in THIS physical world, is to address the reality of the corporeal and materialistic world, and transform the challenge they present into a positive.
Comes the next portion of the Bible. Korach rebelled against Moses and claimed, everyone is holy since we all stood in the same way when we received the Ten Commandments from G-d. Korach too was a smart man. Why would he rebel against the leadership of Moses when it was obvious to all the superior qualities of this man?
Korach went to the opposite extreme of the spies. If what matters argued Korach, is the practical deed in a physical world, and what happens spiritually is not the ultimate. Dwelling in a spiritual oasis doesn’t cut it, but what is necessarily expected is to deal with the physical. Korach took this to an extreme and claimed that by observing an act, everyone is the same!
When one places a Mezuzah on one’s door, it doesn’t matter whether they are a Moses, or a simple person. The act is always exactly the same. So, why the exalted position of leaders? Everyone who does is equal to each other?
G-d was not happy with this argument, and Korach was swallowed alive in the ground he revered. G-d was indicating, that while it’s true that it’s the deed that counts, the intent and concentration, the inspiration behind a deed is not the same in everyone, and a Moses will be very different in their act, in comparison to a simple person.
Then, comes the rules of the red heifer, where the holy water was mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, to bring the ultimate level of purity and holiness in a person.
Fire is a substance that is always going upwards. This symbolizes the constant yearning of the soul for its spiritual quest. Water is always flowing to its lowest point, and this symbolizes the point of direction and focus towards addressing the needs of the lowest, coarsest point of this materialistic world. Addressing the weakness of the body and infusing it with the wisdom of above.
So while it is true that what counts most is the physical down to earth good deed, and all the spirituality in the world can’t put food and nutrition in your body. The intent and spiritual motivation behind the deed represent the soul to the body of the good deed. It’s the combination of water and fire that brings the ultimate of blessings.