Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat Korach – Erev Shabbat June 23, 2017

Week of June 18-24

Torah portion: Num. 16:1-18:32 Haftarah: I Sam. 11:14-12:22

Moses continues to lead the people bamidbar (in the desert) between Egypt and the Promised Land. He has already endured a series of revolts, first by Miriam and Aaron, then the “scouts,” then an attack on the Amalakites not sanctioned by God. Now he and Aaron face another revolt, this one instigated by their cousin, Korah, a Levite, and by Dathan and Abiram, sons of Reuben. In his accusations against Moses and Aaron, Korah has enlisted the support of two hundred and fifty prominent leaders of the community.

 

What to make of this most serious of all revolts? For this I draw on a workshop given in 2004 in Winnipeg by Brother Jack Driscoll, much loved director of Bat Kol, entitled Israelites in the Wilderness: Revolt and Reform. Br. Jack opened by pointing us towards identifying the characters. “Remember…names can be one of the narrator’s clues. Who are these people?” So we focused on the geneaology of Korah and found that Korah’s father Izhar was the second son of Kohath after Amram, Moses and Aaron’s father. Yet it was Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel, Kohath’s fourth son, who was named prince of the family (Num 18:2). This perceived injustice embittered Korah and led him to confront and challenge Moses as God’s chosen leader and Aaron’s position as priest, as opposed to his lesser position as Levite. At this point, Korah along with Dathan and Abiram “took” two hundred and fifty chieftains of the community to confront Moses and Aaron. Using other scriptural references to “took,” Br. Jack expanded this to mean, “He drew their hearts with persuasive words.”

 

Here then is their accusation against Moses and Aaron: “Too much is yours! Indeed, the entire community, the entirety of them, are holy, and in their midst is YHWH. Why then do you exalt yourselves over the assembly of YHWH?” (Num.16: 3). This is a rather compelling argument, something that resonates into today! After all, are we not all “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (Ex.19: 6)? Anyone familiar with Br. Jack’s passion for archaeology of the Word would recognize his next instruction: Find out where this intersects with your own life!

 

In the Women’s Commentary, R. Frishman raises the question: Is this merely a power struggle? Or is this also a struggle with personal worth, with understanding one’s role and purpose in life…How easily Korah twists and challenges the reputation of Moses and Aaron, ascribing his own ambition to them. How easily the people listen and are fooled. How little Korah understands the true responsibility and burden of authority and power that rest on Moses and Aaron.

 

Turning to Fox (p. 734) we read: “Martin Buber points out that the rebels’ contention that “the entire community are holy” is in reality a most dangerous claim. Holiness in the Bible is a trait that can be acquired, even transmitted to an extent, but it is not absolutely innate, except in the case of God; and the Torah sees as one of its major goals developing the means whereby people can, with holy intent and preparation, properly serve the Holy. The fate of the rebels therefore bespeaks the seriousness of the threat they pose, and is unique in the Bible.”

 

We return to the workshop and Br. Jack. There is a great controversy at stake here and Br. Jack introduces a portion from Mishnah Avot 5:17 to expand on it. The Mishnah reads: “Every controversy which is for the sake of heaven will in the end endure; but one which is not for the sake of heaven will not endure in the end. A controversy for the sake of heaven? Such was the controversy of Hillel and Shammai and one, which was not for the sake of heaven? Such was the controversy of Korah and all his company.” (Hillel and Shammai were founders of two different schools of Phariseeism; the first accepted the oral tradition, the other only the written tradition.) The Mishnah continues: “For the sake of heaven: that is, to establish truth…and not out of a passion for lording it over others or building up a reputation or self-glorification at the expense of others Rabbi Jonah adds: “But controversy “which is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure in the end”; on the contrary, the disputants will perish in the very first controversy, as in the instance of Korah.” And such is indeed what happened, as God put to death over fourteen thousand Israelites to end the revolt and restore Moses and Aaron’s standing as his chosen leaders in the eyes of the whole community.

 

Question and Discussion: How aware am I of debate/ controversy for the sake of heaven and not for the sake of heaven, both within myself and in the world in which I am involved?

 

Bibliography: Fox Five Books of the Bible (Schocken Press NY 1995; The Torah, A Modern Commentary; Modern Commentary (UAHC New York 1981); Frishman, Women’s Torah Commentary; Jack Driscoll. Israelites in the Wilderness:

 

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

Winn Leslie, Winnipeg, Canada, Bat Kol Alumna 2001, 2007 and 2015

E-mail: w.leslie@shaw.ca

[Copyright © 2017]

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