פרשת קרח תש"ב - מחלוקת קרח

ויקח קרח — This section is beautifully expounded in the Midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma. ויקח קרח lit., AND KORAH TOOK — He betook himself on one side with the view of separating himself from out of the community so that he might raise a protest regarding the priesthood to which Moses had appointed his brother. This is what Onkelos means when he renders it by ואתפלג — “he separated himself” from the rest of the community in order to maintain dissension. Similar is, (Job 15:12) “Why doth thy heart take thee aside (יקחך)”, meaning, it takes you aside to separate you from other people (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 2). — Another explanation of ויקח קרח is: he attracted (won over) the chiefs of the Sanhedrin amongst them (the people) by fine words. The word is used here in a figurative sense just as in. (Leviticus 8:2) “Take (קח) Aaron”; (Hosea 14:3) “Take (קחו) words with you” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 1).

ודתן ואבירם AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM — Because the tribe of Reuben had their place, when they encamped, in the South, thus being neighbours of Kohath and his sons, who, too, encamped in the South (cf. Numbers 3:29), they (the Reubenites) joined Korah in his quarrel. “Woe to the wicked, woe to his neighbour!” — And what induced Korah to quarrel with Moses? He was envious of the princely dignity held by Elzaphan the son of Uziel (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 1) whom Moses had appointed prince over the sons of Kohath although this was by the express command of God (Numbers 3:30). Korah argued thus: “My father and his brothers were four in number — as it is said, (Exodus 6:18) “and the sons of Kohath were [Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uziel]”. — “As to Amram, the eldest, his two sons have themselves assumed high dignity, one as king and the other as High Priest; who is entitled to receive the second (the rank next to it)? Is it not “I” who am the son of Izhar, who was the second to Amram amongst the brothers? And yet he has appointed as prince the son of his (Amram’s) brother who was the youngest of all of them! I hereby protest against him and will undo his decision”. — What did he do? He arose and assembled 250 men, fitted to be heads of the Sanhedrin, most of them of the tribe of Reuben who were his neighbours, viz., Elizur the son of Shedeur, (the prince of the tribe of Reuben; cf. Numbers 1:5), and his colleagues, and others of a similar standing, — for here it states (v. 2) that they were “princes of the congregation, those who were called to the assembly (קראי מועד)”, and there (in another passage) it states, (Numbers 1:16) “these were they who were called to the congregation (קרואי העדה)” (amongst whom was also Elizur the son of Shedeur; cf. Numbers 1:5 and Rashi on Numbers 1:16), — and he attired them in robes of pure purple wool. They then came and stood before Moses and said to him, “Is a garment that is entirely of purple subject to the law of Zizith or is it exempt”? He replied to them: “It is subject to that law”. Whereupon they began to jeer at him: “Is this possible? A robe of any different coloured material, one thread of purple attached to it exempts it, and this that is entirely of purple should it not exempt itself (i.e. ipso facto be exempt) from the law of “Zizith”? (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 2).

רב לכם You TAKE TOO MUCH UPON YOU — i.e. much more than is proper have you taken for yourselves in the way of high Office.

כלם קדשים [FOR] ALL [THE CONGREGATION] ARE HOLY — they all heard the utterances on Sinai from the mouth of the Almighty (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

ומדוע תתנשאו WHY THEN LIFT YE UP YOURSELVES [ABOVE THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LORD] — “If you have taken royal rank for yourself, you should at least not have chosen the priesthood for your brother — it is not you alone who have heard at Sinai: ‘I am the Lord thy God', all the congregation heard it!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

Korach took. Rabbi Avraham (Ibn Ezra) wrote. “This event took place in the Sinai desert when the firstborn were exchanged for the Levites. The Bnei Yisroel thought that Moshe did this on his own accord, because he wanted to uplift his bother Aharon, the sons of Kehos, his relatives, and all the sons of Levi, his family. The Levites rose up against him because they were slated to be under the authority of Aharon and his sons. Dasan and Aviram rebelled because Moshe took away the rights of the firstborn from their father Reuven and gave them to Yosef. Korach was a firstborn as well.” In this, Rabbi Avraham follows his view that the Torah was written without regard to chronological order. However, I wrote (at the beginning of Parshas Acharei Mos) that in my opinion the entire Torah is written in chronological order, except for the places in which Scripture notes explicitly that it is out of order. In those places it is because of a certain need or suitable reason. Consequentially, the correct explanation here is that this event occurred in the Paran desert, at Kodeish Barnea, after the incident of the spies. The real reason for Korach’s rebellion is as explained in Midrash Rabbah and Tanchuma — Korach was angry about the appointment of Elitzafan to leadership. He was also envious of Aharon, as it says (v. 10), “And yet you ask to be kohanim as well?” Dasan and Aviram did not join with Korach because Moshe took away the right of the firstborn from the tribe of Reuven, for it was their forefather Yaakov who took it away from Reuven and gave it to Yosef. Rather, they stated their complaint (v. 13): “To kill us in the desert” and (v. 14), “Even into a land flowing with milk and honey you have not brought us.” As long as the Bnei Yisroel were in the Sinai desert, no bad event occurred, for even the very severe Sin of the Golden Calf resulted in relatively few deaths. The rest of the people were saved through Moshe’s prayers, which lasted forty days and forty nights (Devorim 9:28). Consequentially, the nation loved Moshe with all their soul, and obeyed him. If someone would have rebelled at that time he would have been stoned by the people. Therefore, Korach bided his time and refrained from reacting to Aharon’s appointment as Kohein Gadol. In the same way, the firstborn refrained from reacting to the elevation of the Levites and all of Moshe’s actions. However, when they arrived in the Paran desert many were burnt in Taveirah (11:1) and died in Kivros Hataavoh (11:33). When they sinned with the spies, Moshe did not succeed in annulling the decree with his prayer, and the leaders of the tribes died in a plague before Hashem. It was decreed upon the entire people to die in the wilderness. As a result, the people were embittered, and they began to feel that all their failures came as a result of Moshe’s leadership. Korach saw his opportunity now to dispute with Moshe, and he reasoned the people would listen to him. Thus, this is the explanation of Dasan and Aviram’s statement: “To kill us in the desert.” They claimed: You have brought us to this place, and you have not fulfilled the promise to bring us to a land flowing with milk and honey. You have not given us any inheritance at all. We will die in this desert and be annihilated here, and even our children will never leave this desert, for just as you have not fulfilled your promise to us, you will never fulfill your promise to our children.

... "And Moses heard and he fell on his face," to seek God, to know what to do. And then he was told, "In the morning, the Lord will make known, etc." However this was only mentioned in Moses' recounting to the people. And I have already showed you that [it is like this] in many places: One time it will be lengthy in the speech of God to Moses and brief in Moses' recounting, and one time the opposite; and sometimes one will not be mentioned at all - as with the story of the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben. [There,] Scripture recounts the story with Moses himself, but it was done according to God, as it states (Numbers 32:31), "That which the Lord spoke to your servants, so shall we do." And it is [likewise] written in Joshua 22:9, "to the land of Gilead, the land of their own holding, which they had acquired by the command of the Lord through Moses." And if we were to say that [God's "command" here] is because of God's agreement, in the way that the matter is stated [specifically to exclude them from the actual command] (Numbers 34:13), "This is the land you are to receive by lot as your hereditary portion, which the Lord has commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes" - and that this would be from the things that Moses did on his own and the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him (Shabbat 87) - [we would be wrong. For] it would not be right for Moses to do anything about dividing the land without authorization, as all of it was to be done upon the commandment of God - as it is written (Numbers 26:53), "To these shall you divide the land, etc." (which was spoken about Gad and Reuben as well).

Korach took. Rabbi Avraham (Ibn Ezra) wrote. “This event took place in the Sinai desert when the firstborn were exchanged for the Levites. The Bnei Yisroel thought that Moshe did this on his own accord, because he wanted to uplift his bother Aharon, the sons of Kehos, his relatives, and all the sons of Levi, his family. The Levites rose up against him because they were slated to be under the authority of Aharon and his sons. Dasan and Aviram rebelled because Moshe took away the rights of the firstborn from their father Reuven and gave them to Yosef. Korach was a firstborn as well.” In this, Rabbi Avraham follows his view that the Torah was written without regard to chronological order. However, I wrote (at the beginning of Parshas Acharei Mos) that in my opinion the entire Torah is written in chronological order, except for the places in which Scripture notes explicitly that it is out of order. In those places it is because of a certain need or suitable reason. Consequentially, the correct explanation here is that this event occurred in the Paran desert, at Kodeish Barnea, after the incident of the spies. The real reason for Korach’s rebellion is as explained in Midrash Rabbah and Tanchuma — Korach was angry about the appointment of Elitzafan to leadership. He was also envious of Aharon, as it says (v. 10), “And yet you ask to be kohanim as well?” Dasan and Aviram did not join with Korach because Moshe took away the right of the firstborn from the tribe of Reuven, for it was their forefather Yaakov who took it away from Reuven and gave it to Yosef. Rather, they stated their complaint (v. 13): “To kill us in the desert” and (v. 14), “Even into a land flowing with milk and honey you have not brought us.” As long as the Bnei Yisroel were in the Sinai desert, no bad event occurred, for even the very severe Sin of the Golden Calf resulted in relatively few deaths. The rest of the people were saved through Moshe’s prayers, which lasted forty days and forty nights (Devorim 9:28). Consequentially, the nation loved Moshe with all their soul, and obeyed him. If someone would have rebelled at that time he would have been stoned by the people. Therefore, Korach bided his time and refrained from reacting to Aharon’s appointment as Kohein Gadol. In the same way, the firstborn refrained from reacting to the elevation of the Levites and all of Moshe’s actions. However, when they arrived in the Paran desert many were burnt in Taveirah (11:1) and died in Kivros Hataavoh (11:33). When they sinned with the spies, Moshe did not succeed in annulling the decree with his prayer, and the leaders of the tribes died in a plague before Hashem. It was decreed upon the entire people to die in the wilderness. As a result, the people were embittered, and they began to feel that all their failures came as a result of Moshe’s leadership. Korach saw his opportunity now to dispute with Moshe, and he reasoned the people would listen to him. Thus, this is the explanation of Dasan and Aviram’s statement: “To kill us in the desert.” They claimed: You have brought us to this place, and you have not fulfilled the promise to bring us to a land flowing with milk and honey. You have not given us any inheritance at all. We will die in this desert and be annihilated here, and even our children will never leave this desert, for just as you have not fulfilled your promise to us, you will never fulfill your promise to our children.

ויקח קרח lit., AND KORAH TOOK — He betook himself on one side with the view of separating himself from out of the community so that he might raise a protest regarding the priesthood to which Moses had appointed his brother. This is what Onkelos means when he renders it by ואתפלג — “he separated himself” from the rest of the community in order to maintain dissension. Similar is, (Job 15:12) “Why doth thy heart take thee aside (יקחך)”, meaning, it takes you aside to separate you from other people (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 2). — Another explanation of ויקח קרח is: he attracted (won over) the chiefs of the Sanhedrin amongst them (the people) by fine words. The word is used here in a figurative sense just as in. (Leviticus 8:2) “Take (קח) Aaron”; (Hosea 14:3) “Take (קחו) words with you” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 1).

Korach took. Rabbi Avraham (Ibn Ezra) wrote. “This event took place in the Sinai desert when the firstborn were exchanged for the Levites. The Bnei Yisroel thought that Moshe did this on his own accord, because he wanted to uplift his bother Aharon, the sons of Kehos, his relatives, and all the sons of Levi, his family. The Levites rose up against him because they were slated to be under the authority of Aharon and his sons. Dasan and Aviram rebelled because Moshe took away the rights of the firstborn from their father Reuven and gave them to Yosef. Korach was a firstborn as well.” In this, Rabbi Avraham follows his view that the Torah was written without regard to chronological order. However, I wrote (at the beginning of Parshas Acharei Mos) that in my opinion the entire Torah is written in chronological order, except for the places in which Scripture notes explicitly that it is out of order. In those places it is because of a certain need or suitable reason. Consequentially, the correct explanation here is that this event occurred in the Paran desert, at Kodeish Barnea, after the incident of the spies. The real reason for Korach’s rebellion is as explained in Midrash Rabbah and Tanchuma — Korach was angry about the appointment of Elitzafan to leadership. He was also envious of Aharon, as it says (v. 10), “And yet you ask to be kohanim as well?” Dasan and Aviram did not join with Korach because Moshe took away the right of the firstborn from the tribe of Reuven, for it was their forefather Yaakov who took it away from Reuven and gave it to Yosef. Rather, they stated their complaint (v. 13): “To kill us in the desert” and (v. 14), “Even into a land flowing with milk and honey you have not brought us.” As long as the Bnei Yisroel were in the Sinai desert, no bad event occurred, for even the very severe Sin of the Golden Calf resulted in relatively few deaths. The rest of the people were saved through Moshe’s prayers, which lasted forty days and forty nights (Devorim 9:28). Consequentially, the nation loved Moshe with all their soul, and obeyed him. If someone would have rebelled at that time he would have been stoned by the people. Therefore, Korach bided his time and refrained from reacting to Aharon’s appointment as Kohein Gadol. In the same way, the firstborn refrained from reacting to the elevation of the Levites and all of Moshe’s actions. However, when they arrived in the Paran desert many were burnt in Taveirah (11:1) and died in Kivros Hataavoh (11:33). When they sinned with the spies, Moshe did not succeed in annulling the decree with his prayer, and the leaders of the tribes died in a plague before Hashem. It was decreed upon the entire people to die in the wilderness. As a result, the people were embittered, and they began to feel that all their failures came as a result of Moshe’s leadership. Korach saw his opportunity now to dispute with Moshe, and he reasoned the people would listen to him. Thus, this is the explanation of Dasan and Aviram’s statement: “To kill us in the desert.” They claimed: You have brought us to this place, and you have not fulfilled the promise to bring us to a land flowing with milk and honey. You have not given us any inheritance at all. We will die in this desert and be annihilated here, and even our children will never leave this desert, for just as you have not fulfilled your promise to us, you will never fulfill your promise to our children.

ויקח קרח, he approached;

בני ראובן, some of the members of that tribe.

ויקח קרח, these verses have to be read as if the Torah had written: “Korach, Datan and Aviram as well as On son of Pelet, plus others totaling 250 men, all men of distinguished standing in the community. They rose up against Moses, supported by people from the Children of Israel.” This is followed by:

and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them: ‘Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?’

רב לכם You TAKE TOO MUCH UPON YOU — i.e. much more than is proper have you taken for yourselves in the way of high Office.

You have [taken] too much for yourselves. This is similar to די לכם — it is enough for you, i.e., you have seized the larger portion.

יש לי כל I HAVE EVERYTHING — all that will supply my needs. But Esau spoke proudly (v. 8): I have (רב) abundance — far more than my needs.

And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.

ויפל על פניו [AND WHEN MOSES HEARD IT,] HE FELL UPON HIS FACE because of the rebellion, for this was already the fourth offence on their part: when they sinned by worshipping the Golden Calf, it states, (Exodus 32:11) "And Moses besought [the Lord]”; in the case of the “people who complained”, (Numbers 11:1) it states: “and Moses prayed”; at the incident of the “spies”, (Numbers 14:13) “And Moses said unto the Lord, ‘When the Egyptians shall hear it ... [and now I beseech Thee etc.]”; but now at the rebellion of Korah, his hands sank down (he felt himself powerless) A parable! This may be compared to the case of a prince who sinned against his father and for whom his (the father’s) friend gained forgiveness once, twice, three times. When he offended for the fourth time the friend felt himself powerless, for he said, “ How long can I trouble the king? Perhaps he will not again accept advocacy from me!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

And he spoke unto Korah and unto all his company, saying: ‘In the morning the LORD will show who are His, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto Him; even him whom He may choose will He cause to come near unto Him. .

והקריב AND HE WILL BRING them אליו UNTO HIM. The Targum proves that this is so (i.e. that Scripture alludes to two different matters), for it renders the first phrase by “He will bring near to Him”, and the second by “He will bring near to His service”. — A Midrashic explanation of the word בקר (instead of the more usual מחר) is the following: Moses said to him (Korah): “The Holy One, blessed be He, has assigned bounds in His world; can you, perhaps, change the morning into evening? Just as little, will you be able to make this (Aaron’s appointment as High Priest) of none effect, — as indeed it states, (Genesis 1:5) “and it was evening and it was morning… (Genesis 1:4) “and God separated (ויבדל) [light from darkness]”; and in the same sense (that the separation should be of a permanent character) it states, (I Chronicles 23:13) “and Aaron was separated (ויבדל) that he should be sanctified [as most holy … to minister unto him]” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).

Therefore thou and all thy company that are gathered together against the LORD—; and as to Aaron, what is he that ye murmur against him?’

לכן אתה וכל עדתך, a reference to the insurgents described previously as הנועדים על ה'.

לכן, אתה וכל עדתך הנועדים, know that I leave the matter of judging who is right entirely up to the Lord. Let Him decide who has offended Him. I do not take any countermeasures against you at all.