TORAH SPARKS ניצוצות תורה
פרשת קרח
PARASHAT KORAH BIRKAT HAHODESH
June 25, 2011 – 23 Sivan 5771 – כ"ג סיון תשע"א
Annual: Numbers 16:1 – 18:32 (Etz Hayim, p. 860; Hertz p. 639)
Triennial: Numbers 16:1 – 17:15 (Etz Hayim, p. 860; Hertz p. 639)
Haftarah: I Samuel 11:14 – 12:22 (Etz Hayim, p. 877; Hertz p. 649)
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
Rabbi Bunam of Pshyscha observed: “Rabbinic preachers select passages from the weekly Torah reading for their sermons, each week constrained by the corresponding parasha, but parashat Korach always provides wonderful material for the preacher, because there is always dissension and conflict in the Jewish community.” The Torah’s prototypical dissenter, Korach, supported by Dathan and Aviram, and leading a force of 250 men, incites a rebellion against Moses, assailing his claim to unique leadership. A dismayed Moses challenges his detractors to a cultic confrontation. Both the impudent rebels and Aaron are to bring offerings of incense on fire pans; Moses explains that “the man whom the Lord chooses, he shall be the holy one.” After Korach gathers the community to witness the decisive event, a frustrated God threatens to destroy the entire nation. Moses intervenes, praying: “God, Source of the breath of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be wrathful with the whole community?” God relents, ordering Moses to instruct the Israelites to distance themselves from Korach’s band. In accordance with Moses’ explicit warning, the earth opens up and swallows Korach, his ringleaders, and their households; fire consumes the rebels offering the incense, and the horrified and panicked community of Israel flees in fear.
Eleazar collects the fire pans that the rebels had used– unauthorized but now deemed sacred –“from among the charred remains.” The pans are to be used to cover the altar, as a reminder of the terrible consequences of this – or similar – uprisings. Despite the vindication of Moses and the dire fate of his detractors, the Israelite community begins to “murmur” – to complain against Moses and Aaron. This ill-advised sedition is met with further
divine wrath: 14,700 Israelites perish in a punitive plague, which is curtailed by
Aaron’s expiatory intercession.
Further divine proof is offered to substantiate the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Twelve staffs are provided, each inscribed with the name of a tribal chieftain; one staff is inscribed with Aaron’s name. Aaron’s staff miraculously sprouts, and it is placed beside the Ark as a reminder to other would-be rebels.
Following a fearful lament by the Israelites about the lethal power of God’s sanctuary, the Levites and priests are charged specifically with all that pertains to the sacred precincts and with the responsibility of keeping unauthorized parties from compromising its sanctity. The sacerdotal mission of the tribe of Levi is met with a number of perquisites: sacrificial emoluments – “the best of the new oil, wine, and grain, the choice parts that Israelites present to the Lord” – as well as tithes, are assigned to the priests and the Levites.
Theme #1: “Simply Revolting!”
“They combined 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
then do you raise yourself above the Lord’s congregation?’” Numbers 16:3
Study: Derash
“Those who engage in a controversy with the righteous will attribute to them traits
that are the very opposite of their true character. It was thus also in the case of Moses, of whom the Torah states that he ‘was very humble, more so than all men who were on the face of the earth.’ His detractors, seeking to find fault with him, settled on arrogance, of all things, as the failing for which to attack their leader.” Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
“Korach and his adherents have a cheap notion of holiness; he is smugly sure that he is already holy. Even the most contemptible person can boast of belonging to a holy nation.” Yeshaya Leibowitz
“I am not better nor more clever than any of you. But I am undaunted and that is why the leadership belongs to me.” Theodor Herzl
“Holiness is every man’s privilege. This democracy of holiness is one of the most magnificent creations of the Jewish religious genius.” Rabbi David de Sola Pool
“Those who excel in virtue have the best right of all to rebel, but then they are of all men the least inclined to do so.” Aristotle
Questions for Discussion
Professor Leibowitz (1903-1994) and Rabbi de Sola Pool (1885-1970) were roughly
contemporaries. Compare their stated views of holiness as it relates to Korach. Was the biblical rebel’s claim to holiness cheap and contemptible, as posited by Leibowitz? Or was it a magnificent and ingenious religious insight, as might be inferred from de Sola Pool? Was there an element of truth in the misguided rebellion?
Does the holiness of the people Israel necessarily devolve on the individual Jew? What does membership in the Jewish people mean in terms of our individual obligations and privileges? Does a “democracy of holiness” mean that we are all
equal in holiness and spiritual stature? What does the metaphor of “democracy”
teach us?
“You have gone too far!” Moses and Korach each hurl this accusation at the other. What differentiates the two men and their motives? Is Moses’ handling of this crisis in keeping with his character and his storied humility? Or does Moses here fall short of his usual standard? That is, is Moses at his best or at his worst in dealing with Korach? Did Korach actually succeed in diminishing him?
Reflect on Aristotle’s aphorism. Do Korach’s actions undermine his own claim from the outset?
Herzl – undaunted though he was – brought a variety of other strengths to his
leadership of the Zionist movement. What traits does he share with Moses? What traits do we most value in a political leader? In a religious leader? How might parashat Korach have unfolded differently if Moses had responded to his detractors with Herzl’s words?
Theme #2: “Holy Smoke!”
“Order Elazar 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.”
Numbers 17:2
Study: Derash
“The fire pans became sacred and therefore forbidden for profane or secular use, for they had already been used as implements of divine service.” Rashi
“I do not know the reason for the prohibition (asserted by Rashi). For they offered unauthorized incense, and a non-priest who prepares an implement of divine service for use outside the sacred precincts, and in a forbidden manner, is not sanctified. One might say, though, that since they acted at the instruction of Moses, they were sanctified, since they intended their use for the service of Heaven, and thought God would look favorably upon their fire-offering, and that their fire-pans would be used as implements of divine service in the Tent of Meeting forever.” Ramban
“‘They have become sacred’ – and it would be improper to treat them disrespectfully.” Sforno
“The fire-pans, by virtue of having been carried into sacred space, even though by unauthorized persons who paid for the encroachment with their lives, have become holy.” Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses
“Religions are kept alive by heresies, which are really sudden explosions of faith. Dead religions do not produce them.” Edward FitzGerald Brenan
“Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense.” Amelia
Earhart
Questions for Discussion
Why does Scripture consider the fire-pans of the slain rebels sacred, instead of demeaned as vehicles of idolatry and spiritual sedition? For whom was the message conveyed by this divine command intended? Was it Moses? The nascent Israelite priesthood? The Israelite rank and file? What does this verse have to teach the twenty-first century Jewish community, with our wide variety of religious styles and expressions and – too often – mutual recriminations? How does this relate to Professor Alter’s comment?
How do we demonstrate respect for objects, implements, and places we consider holy? Does the requisite deference asserted by Sforno extend beyond our own sancta? How are we to relate to the religious expressions of those faithful to other religious traditions? Does it depend on the religion? On the specific observance?
Is it not odd that care of the fire-pans seems to have taken precedence over care of the “charred remains” of the rebels? Does this fact lend greater credence to the view
of Rashi or Ramban? Were the fire-pans rendered sacred by the efforts of the
rebels? Or were they sanctified by God’s incendiary intervention?
How would Amelia Earhart have counseled Korach?! How might Korach (in light of the famous aviatrix’s comment) more wisely have served his nation, his own
spiritual life, and those within his sphere of influence? Was Korach’s rebellion
actually a “sudden explosion of faith” demonstrating the vitality of the religious mission of the Israelite nation, and in the end, therefore, a service to Moses’ cause?
Historic Note
We read of the lethal consequences of Korach’s revolt against Moses on June 25,
2011. On June 25, 1919, a fledgling Weimar Germany crushed the pro-Communist
Spartacus Revolt, which had seized government buildings in Berlin and driven various officials from the city. The leaders of the Spartacus movement, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, were shot. The new republic’s constitution had not yet been written, and so its earliest days thus were marred by political violence.
Halachah L’Maaseh
At the onset of Korach’s fateful revolt, Scripture informs us, Moses “fell on his
face” (Numbers 16:4); Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz explains this as “either as an expression of despair at this sinful rebellion, or of prayer for guidance.” The penitential Tachanun prayer, recited on weekdays after the Amidah of Shacharit and Minchah (with many notable exceptions), is also referred to as Nefilat Apayim – “Falling on One’s Face.” Ashkenazi practice is to recite Tachanun sitting, resting your head on your left arm (i.e., “falling on your face”), with the face turned somewhat to the right (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 131:2, Rema ad loc., Mishnah Berurah #4). If you are wearing Tefillin on your left arm, it is customary to lean on your right arm. Left-handed worshipers, however, always lean on their left arms. This was also the custom of the Vilna Gaon. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein put his two arms together and leaned on both, in order to satisfy both customs (Responsa Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20). Some authorities rule that Tachanun should be recited only in the presence of a sefer Torah or, at least, in a building in which a sefer Torah is stored, even if in another, secure location. In Jerusalem, however, it is customary to recite Tachanun even in the absence of a sefer Torah, with the sanctity of the Holy City itself compensating for the absence of the scroll (see Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 3:129; Rabbi S.Z. Auerbach, Halichot Shlomo, Tefillah 16:11 # 37)