Weekly D'var Torah

In almost every D’var Torah written about Korach, the leader of the rebellion against Moses and Aaron that broke out after the nation was told that they would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land after all, the rebel leader is painted as a figure of greatness turned to evil.

Korach is no disaffected outsider.  He is Moses’ cousin, son of his father’s brother. He is a Levite leader from the holy tribe that serves in the Tabernacle.  More than this, he possesses Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit and is one of the greatest of his generation.

The Levitical rebellion doesn’t stem from anger about the loss of the Promised Land.  After all, the Levites serve in the Tabernacle and have no stake in the Land of Israel.  The other tribes, notably the Reubenites, are angry that the fulfillment of G-d’s promise must be put off for a generation.  “Is it not enough that you brought us OUT of a Land flowing with Milk and Honey…but you have failed to bring us into a fertile land and leave us in this desert?” (16:8)

The Levites’ claim is different: “You have gone too far, Moses and Aaron! Is not HaShem within the entire community? Why do you lift yourselves over HaShem’s congregation?”  (16:4)

Isn’t there some justice to this demand for spiritual equality?  Just two Parshas back, Moses himself opines: “Would that all of HaShem’s people were Prophets and HaShem would put the Divine Spirit upon them all?” 11:30.

But still.  How dare Korach rebel against Moses, the leader who brought us out of Egypt and who gave us the Torah? 

That’s where Korach’s own prophetic gifts come into play.  He receives a holy vision that his descendants will compose Psalms (nine Psalms actually, some of which are very well-known parts of our liturgy).  What’s more, he sees through the vision that one of his descendants, Samuel, will be one of the greatest of the Judges of Israel, equal in stature to Moses himself. 

So if his descendants are destined for such greatness, Korach figures that his rebellion is justified by the test of time.

And even if his motives are not wholly pure but tainted by nepotism as the Rabbis claim- so what?  The claim is that Korach is angered that he was not chosen to be Prince of the tribe of Levi, being passed over in favor of the son of his father’s younger brother. 

But spiritual equality- the inalienable right of every created being to stand before G-d without the need for mediation: no priest, no sacrament, no intermediary- how can that ever be wrong?

And so, Korach and his 250 Levite followers arrive the next day with their fire-pans and incense at the Tabernacle ready to lead the way into a big tent Judaism where everyone can approach the Holy of Holies.  Moses tries to warn them: “G-d will show who may draw near and who many not” but Korach, depending on his vision, is sure that he is the one who will be chosen.

And Korach and his followers are indeed chosen but in the most horrible way imaginable: “Fire shot out from before the Holy of Holies and consumed the 250 men who had brought the incense.  G-d told Moses to tell Elazar the Priest to take the fire-pans from the charred remains and to have them beaten into thin sheets to plate the Altar as a memorial to the Children of Israel and as a warning that only those of the Seed of Aaron may approach the Holy of Holies. (17:5).

Where did it all go wrong?  Because, the Rabbis explain, being a Jew, having G-d’s presence within us, does not confer privilege.  Instead, it implies potential. 

Yes, everyone has access to G-d’s light.  But that access must be achieved by the way we live, by the spiritual heights to which we ascend through our own practice, thoughts, speech and action.   And ultimately, that access depends not on us at all but upon G-d’s will.  Each of us can be become great but only in the way, only in the unique path for which we were fashioned.  The Jewish soul can indeed catch fire- but in order to not be consumed, it must be able to contain.  That can only come when we fulfill our own potential, not another’s.

You cannot storm the gates of heaven.  You can rise only so high- and then, as a final act of devotion, you must surrender your will to the Divine. 

Every test of spirituality has a level for courage, for discipline, for human will and determination.  But when you reach the top of the mountain of human potential, the next step forward leads into the abyss.  It us up to the One to determine the next step.  That is why when we count the Omer, the days of ascent to Mount Sinai, we stop at forty nine and do not complete the fiftieth day of counting: that day’s ascent is not for us to make, but for G-d and G-d alone to grant.

Had Korach and his followers accepted their roles as Levites, serving G-d and their people with all of their strength, who knows what they might have achieved?  But trying to force their way into a place that was not meant for them brought only destruction.

But what about the vision of Korach’s descendants?  If Korach’s path was one that led to destruction, how did Samuel and the Psalmists descend from him?

Because there is indeed one path that leads straight to G-d.  A path that cannot be denied or destroyed.  A path of self-transformation that can bring those who dare walk it to a place higher than that achieved by even the most perfect Tzadik, the most perfect sinless person.

That path is called Teshuvah or repentance.  When we overcome our shortcomings and sins, when we are able to forgive and ask forgiveness, when we put off from ourselves the poison of ego and hatred and all that drags us down, we become Ba’alei Teshuva that nothing can stand against in our search for holiness.

That is what Korach’s children achieved.  Their father could not fathom the power of turning back, of relinquishing; but it was this power that allowed his descendants to learn from his example not to follow him into the flame but to rise above it in humility and repentance.

The Prophet Samuel, descended from Korach, led the people but also listened to them and, when it came his time, he stepped down and presided at the coronation of the first King of Israel- and eventually, at the coronation of David, the progenitor of the Messiah.

So in a way, Korach was not wrong after all.  Judaism is a way of life based on bold action.  But the final step, the highest step, must be the step of Emunah, of full faith, of letting go, of trusting HaShem.