Parshat Korach  2 Tammuz 5761, 23 June 2001

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - Rebellion against Moses! The situation in the desert goes from bad to worst in this week’s Torah portion, descending from a rebellion against G-d’s will and Moses’ religio-political objective by the refusal of the Israelites to conquer Israel (the sin of the scouts) to an actual mutiny against Moses the leader. I might be able to understand a reluctance to urge war, fear of a powerful enemy which can even overwhelm - and subvert - the anticipated goal of entering the Promised Land, but why would so many Israelites be willing to push aside the many miracles of the exodus from Egypt and display such ingratitude to a leader who was Mandella magnified to the hundred-fold? After all, Moses took an oppressed and enslaved people and - at enormous personal sacrifice - forged them into a G-d-enthused, human-being- sensitized, responsible and independent nation! Why rebel against Moses?

To deepen our enquiry, it would appear that there were two rebellions, not one; and two different causes for rebellion, at that. The key to understanding what really caused the desert mutinies emanates from an insight expressed by the medieval Biblical commentator, the Ibn Ezra, who picks up on the fact that there were two different punishments meted out to the rebels: " the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up" one group, (Numbers 16:32) and

"fire came forth from the Lord and devoured the 250 bearers of incense”, the other group. (Numbers 16:35)

"...There are those who say that Korach was amongst those swallowed up by the earth ... and there those who say that he was burnt to death ...It is my opinion that only Datan and Aviram were swallowed up by the earth and Korach (was burnt together with) the incense bearers.." (Ibn Ezra to Numbers 16:35).

Let us revisit the Biblical text and attempt to reconstruct what actually occurred - as well as their motivations. Korach may have couched his words in the palatable and persuasive tones of democracy, but he was more a demagogue than a democrat. What he was really after was the priesthood, his frustration stemming from the fact the brothers Moses and Aaron had assumed for themselves both the Kingship and Priesthood respectively.

"It’s enough for you,’ he ranted, "because the entire congregation are all holy and G-d is in their midst; why do you raise yourselves up above the assembly of the Lord?" (Numbers 16:3).

This will also explain why the famed Rebbe of Kotzk refers to Korach as the “holy grandfather”. After all, Korach was only seeking a closer relationship to G-d, a more central role in the Divine service. He, like Nadav and Avihu (the sons of Aaron) before him, wished only to bring an offering to the Lord - even if he hadn’t been commanded to do so. He aspired for sanctity - but refused to accept the fact that there were divine limits upon the sacred, that one must be deemed worthy to come close to the Divine, that overly zealous and fanatic individuals can perform despicable acts in G-d’s name if they are not controlled. And so Korach and his band of followers are consumed by a fire sent by G-d - the very punishment meted out to Nadav and Avihu, and for a very similar reason. (Leviticus 10:1-3, and Rashi ad loc).

However, Datan and Aviram, although they banded together with Korach, had an entirely different agenda. They (at least according to the Midrash - which I believe stems from this interpretation) were long-time opposers of Moses’ authority as well of his religio-political agenda; they never wanted to initially leave Egypt, nor do they now wish to leave the desert for the Land of Israel. They were the two fighting Israelites encountered by Moses at the very beginning of his career as a Hebrew; they refused to accept his chastisement, responding: “Who appointed you as minister and judge over us: do you wish to slay us as you slayed the Egyptian...? (Exodus 2:14). They resented Moses’ having taken command, and they were perfectly content to remain in Egypt and “cooperate” with Pharaoh’s policies. And having been forced to swallow - Moses’ leadership when he returned from Midian, they now try to utilize the victory of the ten scouts to depose Moses for good.

Moses recognizes the fact that Datan and Aviram have an agenda different from that of Korach; they are rebelling against him and his rule, not against Aaron. He therefore asks to meet them separately (Numbers 16:12). They refuse to come, saying: “Was it not enough that you took us out of the land flowing with milk and honey (sic; Egypt for them is the land flowing with milk and honey) to die in the desert that you also wish to rule over us, yes to rule!” (Numbers 16:13). And when the punishment of the opening of the earth to devour the sinners is being executed, the Bible emphasizes the fact that Moses and the elders come to Datan and Aviram (Numbers 16:25); they may have lived in the section (mishkan) of Korach, but they are not identified with him in that Biblical context other than with regard to where they lived. And it is them and their families who are swallowed up by the earth (Numbers 16:26-35) - not Korach! They received their just punishment of disappearing into the earth - since it was the fruitfulness of the land of Egypt and the materialism of the earthly existence which led to their rebellion against a prophet of G-d, who may have lived on earth but who gave to his people an eternal bond with the heavenly spheres of the Divine.

Shabbat Shalom.

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