B"H
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Sources:
1) Bamidbar 16:1
וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח בֶּן-יִצְהָר בֶּן-קְהָת בֶּן-לֵוִי וְדָתָן וַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב וְאוֹן בֶּן-פֶּלֶת בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן.
2) Midrash Tanchuma Korach, Chapter 10
ואון בן פלת. למה נקרא שמו און. שכל ימיו באנינות היה. בן פלת, שנעשו לו
נפלאות. אמר רב, און בן פלת, אשתו הצילתו. אמרה לו, מה ליך בהדין פלוגתא,
אי אהרן כהנא רבא, את תלמידא. אי קרח יהי כהנא רבא, את תלמידא. אמר לה,
ידענא דכולא כנישתא קדישא, דכתיב, כי כל העדה כלם קדושים. מה עבדת. אשקיתיה
חמרא וארויתיה ואגניתיה בערסיתיה, והוה יתבא אבבא דביתא וסתרתיה למזייה.
כל מאן דאתא בשביל און בעלה, חזייה והדר. אדהכי והכי איבלעינהו ארעא. היינו
דכתיב, חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה ;משלי יד א
3) Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 109b-110a
דתן שעבר על דת אל אבירם שאיבר עצמו מעשות תשובה ואון שישב באנינות פלת
שנעשו לו פלאות בן ראובן בן שראה והבין אמר רב און בן פלת אשתו הצילתו אמרה
ליה מאי נפקא לך מינה אי מר רבה אנת תלמידא ואי מר רבה אנת תלמידא אמר לה
מאי אעביד הואי בעצה ואשתבעי לי בהדייהו אמרה ליה ידענא דכולה כנישתא
קדישתא נינהו דכתיב (במדבר טז) כי כל העדה כולם קדושים אמרה ליה תוב דאנא מצילנא לך אשקיתיה חמרא וארויתיה ואגניתיה גואי אותבה על בבא
וסתרתה למזיה כל דאתא חזיה הדר אדהכי והכי אבלעו להו איתתיה דקרח אמרה ליה
חזי מאי קעביד משה איהו הוה מלכא לאחוה שוויה כהנא רבא לבני אחוהי שוינהו
סגני דכהנא אי אתיא תרומה אמר תיהוי לכהן אי אתו מעשר דשקילתו אתון אמר הבו
חד מי' לכהן ועוד דגייז ליה למזייכו ומיטלל לכו כי כופתא עינא יהב במזייכו
אמר לה הא איהו נמי קא עביד אמרה ליה כיון דכולהו רבותא דידיה אמר איהו
נמי (שופטים טז)
תמות נפשי עם פלשתים ועוד דקאמר לכו עבדיתו תכלתא אי ס"ד תכלתא חשיבא
[מצוה] אפיק גלימי דתכלתא וכסינהו לכולהו מתיבתך היינו דכתיב (משלי יד) חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה זו אשתו של און בן פלת ואולת בידה תהרסנה זו אשתו של קרח
Frequently characters with only a fleeting appearance in the Torah* itself take on a much fuller role in midrashic exegesis of the text - so much so that their stories may become so closely associated to a particular text through shiurim/divreit Torah that it is a surprise to discover their apparent insiginificance in the Torah. A classic example of this occurs in parshat Korach with the tale of On ben Pelet and his (nameless) wife.
During the entire rebellion of Korach and his followers, On ben Pelet is mentioned only once at the beginning of events (see underlined at source 1 above) before disappearing from sight, while his cousins Dathan and Aviram lead the Reuvenite 'angle' of the rebellion. Even more surprisingly for some readers, On's wife - the heroine of our midrash - is not mentioned in the text of parshat Korach at all. However, it is precisely On's 'disappearance' from the text that midrashim pick up on in order explain On's role in the rebellion - shedding light not only on the true motivations of the rebels, but also on the sometimes unpalatable ways of extracting oneself from a cause in which one no longer wants to be involved.
The Midrash Tanchuma version of this midrash (see source 2 above) opens with the line:
'Lama nikra sh'mo on? Shekol yamaiv ba'aninut hayah. Ben pelet, shena'asu lo niflaot' (Why was he called 'On'? Becuase all his days were in a state of mourning. Son of Pelet? Because wonders happened to him).
The rest of the midrash focuses more on On's wife and her actions. After having remonstrated with her husband and shown him the futility of his joining the rebels (on the grounds that, regardless of the outcome, he will be a 'student' of either Aharon or Korach as the Kohen Gadol), she twists the rebel's own argument that 'kol ha'edah kulam k'doshim' (all the assembly are holy) to her advantage by getting her husband drunk, hiding him in his bed, and sitting outside with her hair loose to discourage the other members of said 'edah k'doshim' from approaching the tent to involve her husband any further in the rebellion. While On is unconscious, his relatives Dathan and Aviram are punished together with Korach by being swallowed up by the earth - a fate which On, who had originally stood alongside them, is saved from. The midrash concludes by applying a proof-text from sefer Mishlei (Proverbs) to On's wife praising her as a 'hachmot nashim' (a wise one amongst women), in contrast to Korach's wife who is an 'ivelet' (foolish one) for having incited her husband to rebellion.**
The contrast between On's virtuous wife and Korach's sinning wife is consistent with the Rabbinic idea that, for better or worse, wives shape their husbands.** However, if we look an alternative version of this midrash found in the Babylonian Talmud in Sanhedrin 109b-110a ( see source 3) above), we can find a little more about On's own reaction to events which explains the Rabbi's reasoning for his name.
In terms of the 'On ben Pelet' part of this midrash, the most significant differences in the Sanhedrin version are that On responds to his wife asking how he can get himself out of the rebellion having already committed himself to it (unlike in the Midrash Tanchuma, where On remains silent even when not in a drunken stupor); and that the Rabbis see fit to add an additional explanation for the phrase 'bnei Reuven' after On's appearance in parshat Korach*** showing that this meant On 'saw' (re'eh) and 'understood' (hevin) the folly of the rebellion. If we link this explanation with the earlier interpretations of 'On ben Pelet' combining both mourning (at On's having sided even briefly with teh rebels) and 'wonders' (which could refer both to the extraordinary punishment meted out to Dathan and Aviram and to the fact that On was saved from these), we can see that the midrash interprets On's name to sum up both why he 'disappeared' after the earlier stages of the rebellion and his state of mind during and following the events of parshat Korach.
Despite his slightly stronger presence in the Sanhedrin version of this midrash (in that he actually gets to say something), On ultimately remains a much more passive figure than his anonymous wife. Even when he realises the futility of continuing to side with the rebels, he feels unable to withdraw from his earlier commitment and is ultimately only able to be saved by being entirely removed from events through wine-induced unconsciousness. The fact that his wife uses this as a strategm in addition to discouraging passers-by points shows that she is perfectly aware that - despite knowing intellectually that the mass movement of Korach's rebellion was wrong - On does not have the strength of character to consciously show his change of heart and refuse to participate in this.
We live in a time of 'causes' and movements - and while some may be worthwhile, others may be ill-thought through or merely turn into a fashionable bandwagon for people to jump onto. Ideally, one would avoid placing oneself in On ben Pelet's situation by making an informed and considered decision before joining a 'cause'; however, sometimes through no fault of our own we can find ourselves in a situation or group in which we no longer want to participate due to a change of heart/new information/changed circumstances etc. In this case, if we lack the strength of character to resist the surrounding peer pressure and publicly retract our earlier views, at the least we should have the wisdom of On ben Pelet's wife to realise our own weakness and - if this is the only way 'out' - to quietly walk away from the situation completely.
Shavua tov
RPT
*When using 'Torah', I am referring to the Torah Sheb'k'tav (Written Torah) only.
**The Midrash Tanchuma does not give any details as to what exactly Korach's wife does to deserve this label - for a fuller version of her 'incitement' of Korach, including proposing the idea of the all-techeilet garments, see the version in Sanhedrin at source 3.
***It appears that the Rabbis may link this phrase to On in particular due to its juxtaposed to On's name in the text of parshat Korach as Dathan and Aviram were also bnei Reuven, they could just as easily have been described as such before On was named
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