היום יום

"They went down to the pit alive"[1] - even in the grave they think they are alive.

There is a blessing contained in "They went down to the pit alive," as with "the sons of Korach did not die,"[2] - "a place was established for them[3] and they repented." For תשובה, repentance, is effective only while one is still alive. This, then, is the blessing - that even in the pit they will live, and they will be able to effect תשובה.

Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.

Bamidbar 16:30.

Ibid. 26:11.

In Gehinom ("the pit," Purgatory for the soul); Megilla 14a. See Supplementary Footnotes.

וירדו חיים שאולה - שגם בשאול חושבים שהם חיים. הברכה בוירדו חיים שאולה, כמו בני קרח לא מתו, מקום נתבצר להם ועשו תשובה, כי תשובה מועלת רק כל עוד שהוא חי, וזוהי הברכה, שגם בשאול יהיו חיים ויוכלו לעשות תשובה.