Parshat Korach

THEY GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST MOSES AND AARON AND SAID TO THEM, "YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR! FOR ALL THE COMMUNITY ARE HOLY, ALL OF THEM, AND THE LORD IS IN THEIR MIDST. WHY DO YOU RAISE YOURSELVES ABOVE THE LORD'S CONGREGATION?"

(Bamidbar 16:3)

 

And Korah took: Korah was envious of Moses, and now he took advantage of the opportunity when Israel was grieving over the edict of [punishment for the sin of the] scouts and the destruction, and he set out to execute his plan.

Korah and his congregation had seen all of the wonders performed by Moses; how could they possibly not believe in his commission [by God]? And if they, who were eye-witnesses, did not believe, then that creates doubts about Moses, that perhaps his [miraculous] deeds were fakes. However, the truth is that Korah and the people of his group did not deny the authenticity of Moses' signs and did not suggest that he used human trickery. After all, they said For all the community are holy, all of them, thereby admitting that God did indeed dwell in Israel's midst and did perform signs and wonders for them. Rather, Korah and his group made a great error because they had grown accustomed to living among the idolatrous Egyptians, learning false opinions from them about the Divinity and Providence. Korah and his group believed that there was a God in Israel, and that that God, known as the Lord had promised their fathers to give them the land, and that he performed signs and wonders. However, they further believed that through the action of special rites God had entered into a covenant with the priests and sages who knew the manner of His worship, that He would do their bidding. They believed that Moses, using God's power. did great things, but they also believed that God could be enticed by Moses, and hearken to him, when he would perform desirable rites before Him. Now that the Taberncale had been erected and they came to know the laws of sacrifices, and the manner of worship that is pleasing to God, they thought that anyone could be a priest and prophet, not just Aaron and Moses. Korah aggrandized himself and said: I shall be a priest and a prophet, and the Lord shall answer me with miracles and wonders just as he had answered Moses and his elder brother - shall I and my brothers now serve as your arms-bearers??? Moses understood his intention and told them: Take pans for yourselves, and see if your worship and incense are acceptable in their own right before Him - no matter who the burner of incense may be - or is it the Lord's will that he who burns incense before Him shall be special, chosen and beloved by Him.

(ShaDaL on Bamidbar 16:1)

 

 

From Misunderstanding to Clarity, from Arrogance to Contribution

Shlomo Fox

Parashat Shelah ends with the commandment of tzitzit, which contains the warning: do not follow [taturu] your heart and your eyes. In parashat Shelah, men, the leaders of the Israelites scouted-out [toru] the land of Canaan and were mistaken in what they saw. They erred and caused the entire congregation to err and they had to bear their punishment of a year for each day - forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Little time had passed before the complaint Why do you raise yourselves above the Lord's congregation was heard. This time, it seems to be case of an error of the heart. Those objecting to Moses and Aaron's leadership were led by famous men, Korah the Levite, Datan and Aviram and On ben Pelet of the tribe of Reuben, together with two hundred and fifty Israelite men, chiefs of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute (Bamidbar 12:2)

Moses had been called much more modest than any person on the face of the earth; what happened to his leadership, how could he be charged with lording it over others? Why does Korah deserve his very own parasha - wasn't he a sinner? What was the role of the incense, and why does the parasha end with the priestly gifts?

In his book Mei Ha'Shiloah, the Izbitzer Rebbe writes:

For all the community are holy, all of them, and the Lord is in their midst. As it is written: Truthful speech abides forever, a lying tongue for but a moment (Proverbs 12:19). There they said that truth is everlasting, while the lies that was in their mouths immediately ceased to exist. Because of this, the verse will be a tikkun ["repair'] for them in the future. King David of blessed memory attributed a psalm to the sons by naming their father, Korah. [In this way] he [David] returned him [Korah] to his principle [quality], for if they enjoyed no good from this [from being associated with their fore-father] he would not have associated them with evil, God forbid, as we read in the Gemara, "Could it be that sin came by his hand and Scripture associated them with him [as their ancestor]?" This is one of the thirteen hermeneutical rules of Torah interpretation: "Anything mentioned in relation to a general principle... cannot be returned to its principle until Scripture explicitly returns it." King David, may peace be upon him, explicitly returned him [Korah] to his general principle. Thus, The ARI z'l decreed that the psalm of the Sons of Korah be read before the blowing of the shofar, and this custom became accepted throughout Israel.

He continues:

Why do you raise yourselves above the Lord's congregation? It is written: And I shall place My word in your mouth, and cover you in the shade of My hand (Isaiah 51:16). The point here is that every soul in Israel contains a good and precious point that God apportioned to it in particular. However, in this world that point is dressed in a garment that appears as its opposite, that is the meaning of and cover you in the shade of My hand. God also prepared garments for precious souls that appeared as the opposite of their preciousness. So it was, too, with our Rabbi Moses; since Scripture proclaimed that he was very humble, he was dressed in an opposite garment. That is why they charged him with seeking to lord over others...

According to the Izbitzer Rebbe, it is impossible that Scripture would mention a sinner and his sin - such a thought is a mistake on our part. The "garment" of the deed is confusing, the people and it leaders misunderstood Moses; they suspected him of arrogance - perhaps this is also true of how we relate to Korah and his party? The error resulted from the garment - the unexplained choice of Aaron and his sons led the leadership to ask: why them and not us?

It seems that Sanhedrin 110a can shed some light on the Izbitzer Rebbe's comments:

And Moses arose and went to Datan and Aviram (Bamidbar 16). Resh Lakish said: From here [we learn that] one should not maintain a disagreement, for Rav said: Anyone who maintains a disagreement transgresses a negative commandment, for it is said: do not be like Korah and his party... Rabbi Hisda said: Anyone who disagrees with his Rabbi is like someone who disagrees with the Divine Presence, for it is said [who agitated against Moses and Aaron as part of Korah's band] when they agitated against the Lord (Bamidbar 26).

That is to say that we must learn from our errors. Moses teaches us how to behave in a dispute - you must abandon your position and approach your opponent. This is something like what Eruvin 13b explains to us: Why was the halakhah determined according to the House of Hillel if "Both these and these [the opinions of the House of Hillel and of the house of Shamai] are the words of the living God"? "Because they were easy to get along with and humble, and taught both their own dicta and those of the House of Shamai. Not only that - they would teach the dicta of the House of Shamai before their own." Moses also understood that he must go and talk to the Reubenites.

What is the force of the trial of incense and why were the pans used to line the altar?

Moses tells Korah and his party:

Do this: You, Korah and all your band, take fire pans, and tomorrow put fire in them and lay incense on them before the Lord. Then the man whom the Lord chooses, he shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi! (Bamidbar 16:6-7).

After the fire came out, we read:

Order Eleazer the son of Aaron the priest to remove the fire pans - for they have become sacred - from among the charred remains; and scatter the coals abroad. [Remove] the fire pans of those who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar - for once they have been used for offering to the Lord, they have become sacred - and let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel. Eleazar the priest took the copper fire pans which had been used for offering by those who died in the fire; and they were hammered into plating for the altar, as the Lord had ordered him through Moses. It was to be a reminder to the Israelites, so that no outsider - one not of Aaron's offspring - should presume to offer incense before the Lord and suffer the fate of Korah and his band. Next day the whole Israelite community railed against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have brought death upon the Lord's people!" (Bamidbar 17:2-6)

It seems that the complaint made by Korah and his party can be attributed to a lack of communication between Moses and the people, a failure to understand that the appointment of Aaron and his sons to serve in the Tabernacle had to be explained to the people and their leaders. Even after the earth tears open in what would seem to be an irrefutable validation of Moses and Aaron, the people still accuse them of killing the Lord's nation. Apparently, Korah's charge of arrogance expressed an even deeper problem, so that the gulf separating Moses and Aaron from the people persisted even after Korah's death.

Which is why the incense ended the plague!

One of the ingredients of the incense was the foul-smelling helbana [galbanum] (Shemot 30:34). Referring to this, the Talmud (Keritut 6b) states:

R. Hana bar Buzna said that R. Shimon Hasida said: Any fast that does not include the criminals of Israel [amongst its participants] is not a fast, for Helbana has a foul odor, yet Scripture included it among the ingredients of the incense. Abayey said, we learn this from [the verse]: and founded His vault [agudato - literally, His association] on the earth (Amos 9).

The incense is a symbol. Its preparation requires the combination of materials which, when separated, have a foul odor. However, when mixed together with the other ingredients they balance and enhance each other. Similarly, the criminal is also an "important and essential" part of the nation. Korah and his party were to be tested by the incense, and their fire-pans would be used to plate the altar forever. Aaron walks around with the incense in order to stop the plague; he is proclaiming: "We are one association."

The Kol Nidrei prayer begins with the words: "In the academy on high, and in the academy below, with the permission of the Omnipresent may He be blessed. With the permission of this holy congregation, we allow that prayer commence with the participation of sinners."

The verse from Amos mentioning agudato is cited by Sifrei Devarim 90: lo tegodedu - do not form various associations, rather have all of you be one single association, and so he says: Who built His chambers in heaven and founded agudato on earth (Amos 9:6). It is also used in the midrash (Vayikra Rabba 30) that compares the four species of Sukkot with the Jewish People, explaining that the former must be held together in one aguda, even though the willow branch represents those Jews who perform neither commandments nor good deeds.

The transformation of the fire-pans into a plating for the altar is reminiscent of the midrash mentioned by Rashi (Shemot 38:8), which states that the basin was made from tzovot mirrors: "The daughters of Israel possessed mirrors which they would look into while adorning themselves, and even those they did not hold back from bringing as a gift for the Tabernacle. Moses disparaged them because they were made to serve the evil inclination, but the Holy One blessed be He said, "Accept them, for these are most cherished by Me, for it was thanks to these that the women raised up great hosts [of children] in Egypt. When their husbands would return home from their harsh labor, they [the women] would go and bring them food and drink and feed them and take out the mirrors, and each would gaze at herself with her husband in the mirror and seduce them with words, saying, ‘I am more beautiful than you,' and this would induce desire in their husbands and they would cohabit with them, and become pregnant and give birth there, as it is said I aroused you under the apple tree (Shir HaShirim 8:5), and this relates to the expression tzovot mirrors. The basin was made from them, since it served to make peace between husband and wife, i.e., when its water was given to a woman whose husband had demonstrated his jealousy for her, but she met with another man nonetheless."

As the Izbitzer Rebbe said: the garment is confusing, but its existence points to the power of the different one, and that we must gaze into someone's inner self, rather than at his exterior.

Regarding the fact that the parasha ends with an account of the priestly gifts, Rashi on Bamidbar 18:8 (following the midrash in Sifrei Bamidbar 119) says: "The Lord spoke to Aaron: Hinei [see], I hereby give you charge of My gifts, all the sacred donations of the Israelites; I grant them to you and to your sons as a perquisite for all time (Bamidabr 18:8). Hinei [see], I hereby give you - joyously. It is an expression of joy, as in Hinei,[see],he is coming to you, and he will see you and his heart shall rejoice (Shemot 4:14). It is like the parable of the king who gave his friend a field, but he did not write it down, nor sign it, nor appraise it. Someone came and disputed the ownership o the field. The king told him [his friend]: If anyone wishes to come and dispute your ownership, I shall write [a deed] and sign it and have the appraisal done. So too here, when Korah came and disputed Aaron's claim to the priesthood, Scripture came and gave him the twenty-four priestly gifts in an eternal covenant of salt. That is why the two passages appear next to each other."

According to the midrash, Korah's complaining lead God to legally establish the twenty-four priestly gifts. In other words, Korah's complaint sprung from ambiguity, and as a result of his complaint the privileges of Aaron and his sons became written law, an eternal covenant of salt.

Parashat Korah can teach us the importance of communication, how important it is to explain things rather than assume that everything is clear. This message does not apply only to Moses and other leaders, but to every person as well. Every human act bears meaning, all deeds are written down and are instructive.

The midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 34:8) states: R. Yitzhak bar Merion said: The Torah teaches proper behavior: When a person performs a commandment, let him perform it with a joyous heart, for if Reuben had only known that the Holy One blessed be He had written about him Reuben heard and saved him [Joseph] from their hands (Bereishit 3721), he would have taken him [Joseph] up on his shoulder and carried him back to his father.

If Aaron had known that the Holy One blessed be He wrote of him and see, he is coming to you and when he sees you his heart shall rejoice (Shemot 4:14), he would have met him with drums and dancing.

R. Kohen R. Yehoshua DeSakhnin said in the name of R. Levi: Earlier, a person would perform a commandment and the prophets would write it down. Now that there are no prophets, who writes it down? Elijah and King Messiah, and the Holy One blessed be He signs it through their agency, as it is written: Then those who revere the Lord talked to each other. The Lord has heard and noted it, and a scroll of remembrance has been written at His behest (Malachi 3:16).

It appears possible to understand the verse and the sons of Korah did not die (Bamidbar 26:11) as an example. Korah's objection brought the Holy One blessed be He to establish the priestly gifts in law. So too, we may learn the need for clarity from Korah's deed, we may learn o accept the sinners among us, to distinguish between content and "garment", and to prepare the "incense" of society.

Shlomo Fox teaches at Hebrew Union College, at Beit Shemuel and at Koly. He is an educational director at the IDF project of Beit Morasha.

 

 

God of the Spirits

O God, God of the spirits - He who knows thoughts - his justice is not like that of mortals. When parts of the state rebel against a mortal king, he does not know who sinned; that is why he takes his anger out on everyone, but all thoughts are revealed to You and You know who the sinner is.

(Rashi Bamidbar 16:22)

 

[The term] God [el] - says that He has the power to annihilate them in an instant, and He is God of the spirits, or He can annihilate them, for the spirits are in His hand.

(Ibn Ezra Bamidbar 16:22)

 

God of the spirits of all flesh - He knows the hearts of humans, and knows whether they sinned because of a lack of faith or because they are flesh, and thus susceptible to temptation.

(Rabbi Yitzhak Shemuel Regio Bamidbar 16:22)

 

They flung themselves on their faces, and said: O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, at the entire community will you be furious?!"

It is revealed and known before you that the spirit of the masses are easily inflamed by dazzling claims, and a person such as Korah, who is spiritually superior and who enjoys full confidence heretofore unblemished, is able to dupe the people and lead them to sin. When the masses sin, usually the guilt can be attributed to a few instigators of high standing. When human beings intervene against the transgression, as a rule it is the incited masses - who are less guilty -who are hurt; the inciters themselves usually go unpunished. But you are God, God of the spirits of all flesh, because you are all powerful 'God', you have it in your power to punish whoever is guilty; and since you are God of the spirits of all flesh, you can discern in your wisdom the degree of every man's guilt. When one man sins - Korah alone was guilty, whereas the incited masses are deserving of your graces. We have noted a number of times in similar cases: when The Holy One, Blessed Be He, leads Moshe to prayer, He arouses in his heart the understanding of His ways of supervision; He elevates his spirit, as it were, to think - along with Him - the thoughts of divine supervision.

(Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, Bamidbar 16:22)

 

God of the spirits Why is this said? He said to Him, "Master of the universe, the character of each person is revealed to you, and no two are alike. Appoint over them a leader who will tolerate each person according to his individual character."

(Rashi Bamidbar 27:16, Judaica Press translation)

 

O God, God of the spirits - He knows the spirits [i.e., human souls], and which spirit is worthy.

(Ibn Ezra Badibar 27:16)

 

God of the spirits - He knows the thoughts of humans - who is worthy to lead His people.

(Reggio ad loc.)