Parashat Korach

Parashat Korach
Sivan 23, 5771 ~ June 25, 2011
by Todd Wilkof

Parshat Korach offers another portrayal of the minds of the newly liberated. Fresh on the heels of the debacle of the spies and its punishing aftermath, we observe in Parshat Korach a generation unable to live on the lofty plane of closeness to the Almighty promised at Sinai. Instead, we observe their descent into a petty world of jealousies and empty prestige. Personal willfulness and misguided longing for what they believe is their due, gives way to frustration with their peerless leader Moshe. Individualized discontent festers and grows, with each group of dissenters cultivating their own set of grievances. Korach, Moses and Aaron's first cousin, is indignant that he was not chosen as Kohen Gadol. The Reubenites, Datan and Aviram, are the descendents of Jacob's first born but their birthright of leadership is passed over to their relative Joshua. And as if there were not enough ill feelings percolating, the 250 firstborn leaders who lost their privileges after the sin of the Golden Calf to Levites are reeling from their loss of status. At the heart of all these individualized complaints is a misunderstanding of what G-d requires of the Jewish People.

With each group dismayed by their own circumstances, the entire camp falls victim to a spiraling descent into strife and contentiousness. Complaint quickly morphs into open opposition to Moshe and potential mutiny. Together, all the separate parties, nursing their own individual grievances, cried out against Moshe and accused him of not only being unfair but also devious and dishonest. A confrontation ensues, led by Korach, who tries to show the camp of dissenters that Moshe and Aharon do not have a monopoly over sanctity and kedusha.

"Why have you raised yourselves up over them," Korach demands of Moshe while standing before the people. He goes on to argue that Moshe had exerted his own will, in disregard to reason and the personal longings of the people to share in his leadership. Korach's solution is that there should be no subgroups such as Moshe has dictated- Cohanim, Leviim, kings, and prophets and so forth- they should all be identical. Everyone is equally close to G-d in Korach's vision of Jewish Nationhood.

Moshe must determine if Korach is against the institution of the priesthood and the special status it confers, or if he is in fact seeking the priesthood for himself. In his complaint against superiority and privilege, is Korach actually trying to establish his own title of distinction? To ferret out the truth Moshe's first response is to address Korach's complaints rationally:

"Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey?''

"Is it not enough for you, and the Leviim, that G-d set you apart from the rest of Israel? He brought you close to Him in order that you might work in His Mishkan and lead the people..... Yet you still demand priesthood?"

When this approach proved unsuccessful, and only after the dissenters refuse to come and meet Moshe and discuss matters as equals, does Moshe seek Divine intervention.

He prays to G-d that He should prove to the nation the legitimacy and veracity of all his actions. He asks of Hashem to open up the earth to swallow Korach, Datan and Aviram in order to show everyone that Hashem has chosen him as leader. Indeed, the next day the ground did open its mouth and swallowed Korach and all his men, and all their property.

What is the outcome of this miracle and the quelling of the mutiny in this harrowing fashion? Everything returned to its previous order. The fire disappears, the earth closes its mouth and the people revert to their grumblings and lack of faith in Moshe.

"But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moshe and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord."

These are the words of people who experienced the miraculous escape from Egypt, the receiving of the Torah at Sinai, the protective embrace of the clouds of glory, the daily nourishment of manna and countless other miracles in the desert. Once again they remain unmoved by this latest phenomena of nature. What follows in the ongoing chapters that describe their desert experience are antidotes to this entrenched recalcitrance. The parsha that follows Korach is Hukkat, which describes the Red Heifer. It is one of the most mystifying sections of the Torah, defying reason and resisting understanding of even our wisest sages. In keeping with the unfathomable character of Hashem's ways, no explanation of the reasons behind the rites of the Red Heiffer are offered up. Instead, the precepts of the commandment cannot be questioned rationally, as they posses a sublime meaning known only to the King who commanded it. This is the crucial lesson to be internalized by the newly liberated minds of the children of Israel. In contrast to those who genuinely accept the yoke of the Divine, are those who appeal to their own sensibilities, seeking personalized explanation to things which the laws of the human nature do not apply. For those who accept the yoke of heaven as Divinely prescribed they will be purified of their own will. Those determined to rely on their understanding are destined to be swallowed up by their own limitations. Korach is the symbol of the negative side of this dichotomy. We are commanded "Do not be like Korach and his band (17:5). His arguments for self-determined privilege not only weakened the nation but also in turn were an attack on G-d Himself. As a result the earth swallowed him alive and left no trace of him.