Korach

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