I said this out loud on 6 July 2019, on Shabbat morning at Ha Kol Olin, London:
We read
today that Korach and other aggrieved members of the community feel left
out. So they combine against Moses and
Aaron and say to them You have gone too far. All of the community are holy, all of them. So why do you raise yourself above the Lord’s
congregation? And then the Korach rebels are all sucked into the earth together
with their entire households. The torah says. ‘They went down alive into Sheol,
with all that belonged to them and they vanished from the midst of the
congregation.’
These are my
issues.
I have a
problem that the children of Korach were included in the punishment of their
fathers. Secondly I believe like Korach
that all people in the community are holy. In fact I believe that all people are
holy. So when the high priest wears his
sign on his forehead that says Holy to God, I always think, yes, mate, you’re
holy because you’ve got a sign on your head but really in reality all people
are equally holy to god. In my theology God doesn’t bunch more in some people
than in others.
But that’s
on the plain of the ideal.
In real
life, society works more peacefully when there is authority and clear
leadership. That’s what makes the second
part of Korach’s statement more problematic. He says why do you raise yourself above the Lord’s congregation. Why indeed? There’s the problem right there
for Moses. It’s true that Moses and
Aaron have raised themselves, but did it because they had too. They had a huge task which was to free the
slaves from Pharoah, keep them alive in the desert for 40 years and receive the
Torah at Sinai and establish a new kind of society that is based on the rule of
law for everyone, loving-kindness and justice. Moses and Aaron had to steer a very large
ship. Try doing that without proper leadership.
The problem with Korach and his fellows
was that they were complaining about the ascendancy of Moshe and Aaron, and complaining
about the privileges of others instead of doing something constructive about
it. It was all ego driven and not
service driven.
When we face
existential issues, climate crisis for example, should we trade individual liberties
for clear, ego-less leadership that first consults and then offers decisive
action offering stability and ultimately survival?
Next, why
the terrible punishment for the children of Korach?
The Talmud
in Sanhedrin 110 is particularly wonderful on this Parasha. There are many interpretations given including Reish Lakish who says it teaches that one must not be obdurate in a quarrel and Rav who says it
teaches that we should not be unyielding in disputes.
But the
sweetest of the midrashim in the Talmud is this. It says the children of Korach
didn’t die. A Tanna taught: It has been
said on the authority of our teacher: A place was set apart for them in the
Gehenna, or a place was fortified for them in Gehenna where they sat and
recited songs. Ve-amru shira.
It comforts
me to know that the children of Korach are still in Gehenna singing songs, and if we
listen carefully we can still hear them.
But it’s
bittersweet, because they are underground and we are above, where on a day like
this, we can still see our beautiful world.
Shabbat
shalom
