Today’s Sidra is named after the man who led a major rebellion against Moses and Aaron in the desert. Many commentators believe that this rebellion took place immediately after the catastrophic mission of the 12 spies. Korach and his “gang” thought that Moses’ leadership had been weakened. They, therefore, took this opportunity to challenge him and Aaron. There is a significant link between Korach’s speech against Moses and the Portion of Tzitzit which precedes it. In the Tzitzit portion we read: “Attach the fringes on your garments in order that you will remember and do my commandments and become holy to your God”. By contrast, Korach declared: “The whole nation is holy, so why do you raise yourselves above everyone else?” Korach denied the belief that to become holy is a divine duty and a life-long goal. Instead, he claimed that to be regarded as holy is a right, which is available on demand.
The leaders of the rebellion were Korach, who was from the tribe of Levi and the two brothers, Datan and Aviram, who were from the tribe of Re’uven. Thus, there were two separate groups of rebels. Korach led the Levites, who were jealous of Aaron and his sons, who had been given a higher rank than the rest of the tribe. Datan and Aviran, together with On, who may have been their uncle, were aggrieved because, being members of the eldest tribe, they felt that they had been side-stepped, in not being granted a special status, as first-borns.
The first words in the Sidra are VAYIKACH KORACH, which means ‘KORACH TOOK’. The syntax of this sentence is notoriously difficult, since, against the rules of grammar, we are not told whom he took. According to one interpretation, Korach took himself to one side, and divided the nation. Alternatively, it means that Korach took it upon himself to challenge and to start an argument with Moses and Aaron.
Our commentators have observed that ON SON OF PELET, is not mentioned again in the story. Our ancient rabbis believed that, in the last minute, he changed his mind and left the rebels’ camp. They say that his wife persuaded him to abandon this evil course of action, and, by her action, she saved his life.
Moses was very upset by this confrontation. He was, also, very surprised that they had turned against Aaron, because he assumed that everyone knew and acknowledged that God had chosen him. Clearly, he was not prepared for this kind of angry confrontation and the harsh antagonistic words. His immediate response was to fall on his face. This was either because he was very distressed, or it was in order to offer a prayer to God and to find out from Him, what action he should take.
After this short episode, Moses turned to Korach and his group of Levites and responded strongly and with determination. He rejected their claim and invited them to a test before the Lord, accusing them of being ungrateful for the privileges that they had been granted. He used exactly the same words against them, that they had used against him. They said RAV LACHEM, ‘You have taken enough’, and he said to them: RAV LACHEM BNEI LEVI, ‘You have taken enough, sons of Levi’.
At the end of his conversation with Korach, Moses sent a messenger to call Datan and Aviram to appear before him and settle the argument amicably. But they adamantly refused and said to the messenger that they would not go up, LO NA’ALEH, which means: We shall not appear before Moses and the elders. Their response was extremely belligerent. They used sarcasm to belittle Moses. They referred to the land of Egypt as the ‘land flowing with milk and honey’, knowing that this is the description that Moses had given to the land of Israel. They ended their message with an unusual expression: “Will you take out the eyes of the whole nation?” Some commentators explain the expression in this way: under no circumstances are we prepared to come and appear before you, even if you will impose upon us severe punishments, like taking out our eyes. According to a second interpretation, they said: do you think that you can take out our eyes, that is to say, blind us so that we shall not be aware that you want to control us in order to bring a great misfortune upon us.
Moses was extremely angry with them. Many commentators praise Moses for sending the messenger, emphasising that he went out of his way to seek reconciliation. Rashi points out that we should learn a lesson from Moses. Even though Datan and Aviram instigated this controversy, and were known to be extremely difficult men, he hoped that he would be able to dissuade them from continuing on their evil path. In his book Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Pliskin elaborates on Rashi’s comment and writes: “Even if someone is obstinate, a new approach or strategy might work to bring about peace. While the important principle for bringing about peace is the willingness to apologise; a person who sincerely loves and seeks peace will be willing to apologise, even if he doesn’t believe that he did anything wrong. In the clear majority of situations, we lose nothing by saying we are sorry and gain much in terms of harmony in peaceful relationships.”
A short time after these incidents, these confrontations became completely unacceptable to Moses. He couldn’t see any way out so, together with the elders, he made his way to the tents of these two evil men and made an absolutely unique declaration: “If God brings about a completely new natural phenomenon, so that the Earth will open its mouth and swallow them up alive, then you will know that these men have despised God”. As soon as he concluded his declaration, the Earth opened up underneath them and they were buried alive together with all of their possessions. There is a disagreement amongst the commentators whether or not Korach was also buried alive, because the narrative is somewhat ambiguous. Some say that he died in the fire which spread soon after this, which killed the 250 leaders who had also taken part in the rebellion. It is remarkable that Korach’s sons survived this tragic rebellion and later became great poets and musicians, whose Psalms are recited to this very day. It is a lesson which teaches us that children do not necessarily have to follow in the evil path of their fathers.