פרשת קרח תשכ"ז - קרח ועונשו

אל אלהי הרוחות O GOD, THE GOD OF THE SPIRITS [OF ALL FLESH] — i.e., “[O God] who knowest the thoughts of every man”. Thy nature is not like that of human beings: an earthly king against whom part of his country commits an offence, does not know who the sinner is, and therefore when he becomes angry he exacts punishment from all of them. But Thou — before Thee all human thoughts lie open and Thou knowest who is the sinner (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 7).

האיש אחד means, THE ONE MAN IS THE SINNER, and על כל העדה תקצוף YOU ARE ANGRY WITH ALL THE CONGREGATION?! Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, replied, “You have spoken well; I know and shall make known who has sinned and who has not sinned” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 7).

העלו GET YOU UP [FROM ABOUT THE DWELLING OF KORAH] — Understand this as the Targum does: withdraw from the vicinity of Korah’s dwelling.

יצאו נצבים [AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM] CAME OUT, STATIONING THEMSELVES [AT THE ENTRANCE OF THEIR TENT] — The word נצבים suggests that they stood with erect stature in a challenging attitude, ready to revile and to curse. The phrase is similar in meaning to (I Samuel 17:16) “And he stationed himself (ויתיצב) there for forty days”, which occurs in the story of Goliath (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 3).

לעשות את כל המעשים האלה [HEREBY YE SHALL KNOW THAT THE LORD HATH SENT ME] TO DO ALL THESE THINGS — i.e. that I have acted by the Divine Command in giving Aaron the High Priesthood, and in making his sons second in rank in the priesthood and Elzaphan prince of the Kohathites.

לא ה' שלחני [IF THESE MEN DIE THE COMMON DEATH OF ALL MEN] … THEN THE LORD HATH NOT SENT ME. but I have done everything of my own accord and he (Korah) is therefore right in rebelling against me.

ואם בריאה BUT IF A CREATION — i.e. an entirely new one. יברא ה׳ THE LORD WILL CREATE, to slay them by a kind of death by which no man has hitherto died — and what is this new creation?

ופצתה האדמה את פיה THAT THE EARTH OPEN WIDE HER MOUTH AND SWALLOW THEM, then וידעתם כי נאצו YE SHALL KNOW THAT THEY HAVE PROVOKED the Holy One, blessed be He, and that I have spoken only by authority of the Almighty. Our Rabbis, however, gave the following explanation: ואם בריאה, if there has been a creation, i.e., if there was already a mouth to the earth from the six days of Creation, well and good! but if not, יברא ה׳ the Lord will create one now (Sanhedrin 110a; Nedarim 39b).

And they fell upon their faces, and said: ‘O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt Thou be wroth with all the congregation?’

And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

And he spoke unto the congregation, saying: ‘Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be swept away in all their sins.’

But if the LORD make a new thing, and the ground open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men have despised the LORD.’

But if the LORD make a new thing, and the ground open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men have despised the LORD.’

And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

And all the people belonging to Korach. This refers to the male and female servants he owned, for he had household members who were Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Canaanites that he had purchased. They were punished because they were part of his possessions, for they were purchased both monetarily and physically. Another possible explanation: There were proselytes and residents from Bnei Yisroel in his home as well, and they were punished because they followed his false views. However, the verse does not refer to his seed, as it says (26:11), “But the sons of Korach did not die.” This is because they were adults, righteous and good, and their merit protected them. And he had no children of minor status, because the verse does not mention “infants” concerning Korach.

כל האדם אשר לקרח, all the people who had made common cause with Korach in this rebellion. Seeing that this is the meaning of the these words, we need not be surprised to be told that Korach’s sons did not die, as they did not “belong” to their father spiritually or philosophically.

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

And the magicians did in like manner with their secret arts, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.