“With some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig to balance himself on a ladder) Snowball
climbed up and set to work, with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away.
They ran thus:
THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.” (Animal Farm by George Orwell, 1945)
The Seven Commandments proposed by Napoleon and Snowball (before he was banished) were meant to be set in stone, to usher in the new phase in the animals’ desire to create an equitable and fair society. It didn’t take much until the sadly familiar refrain of “"four legs good, two legs bad” replaced the first two commandments. It also didn’t take long for Commandment No.5 to be amended to include the words ‘to excess’. The final indignity is the chilling statement that ‘all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The Seven Commandments had been desecrated and reframed.
Animal Farm is a classic metaphor of how a movement built on an idealistic basis can abuse its position and result in the creation of a society that is ruled by fear and ultimately doomed to failure in the long term.
climbed up and set to work, with Squealer a few rungs below him holding the paint-pot. The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away.
They ran thus:
THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.” (Animal Farm by George Orwell, 1945)
The Seven Commandments proposed by Napoleon and Snowball (before he was banished) were meant to be set in stone, to usher in the new phase in the animals’ desire to create an equitable and fair society. It didn’t take much until the sadly familiar refrain of “"four legs good, two legs bad” replaced the first two commandments. It also didn’t take long for Commandment No.5 to be amended to include the words ‘to excess’. The final indignity is the chilling statement that ‘all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The Seven Commandments had been desecrated and reframed.
Animal Farm is a classic metaphor of how a movement built on an idealistic basis can abuse its position and result in the creation of a society that is ruled by fear and ultimately doomed to failure in the long term.
(א) וַיִּקַּ֣ח קֹ֔רַח בֶּן־יִצְהָ֥ר בֶּן־קְהָ֖ת בֶּן־לֵוִ֑י וְדָתָ֨ן וַאֲבִירָ֜ם בְּנֵ֧י אֱלִיאָ֛ב וְא֥וֹן בֶּן־פֶּ֖לֶת בְּנֵ֥י רְאוּבֵֽן׃ (ב) וַיָּקֻ֙מוּ֙ לִפְנֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַאֲנָשִׁ֥ים מִבְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים וּמָאתָ֑יִם נְשִׂיאֵ֥י עֵדָ֛ה קְרִאֵ֥י מוֹעֵ֖ד אַנְשֵׁי־שֵֽׁם׃ (ג) וַיִּֽקָּהֲל֞וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֲלֵהֶם֮ רַב־לָכֶם֒ כִּ֤י כָל־הָֽעֵדָה֙ כֻּלָּ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים וּבְתוֹכָ֖ם ה' וּמַדּ֥וּעַ תִּֽתְנַשְּׂא֖וּ עַל־קְהַ֥ל ה'׃
(1) Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben—
(2) to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute.
(3) They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! you (both) take too much upon you seeing that the whole congregation (i.e. all of us) are holy and Gd is amongst them. Why do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
Korach is Moses’ first cousin, a respected and by the sound of his description, a highly influential man. However, the language in the first verse seems clumsy:
“and he took…”
What did Korach take?
Rashi tells us that the Midrash Tanhuma explains that he set himself apart from the congregation in order to claim that Moshe had appointed the wrong person. Instead of Aaron HaCohen, the narrative should have referred to Korach HaCohen. Korach, on the face of it appears to be genuinely aggrieved. Perhaps he is more worthy of the position than Aaron? However, he soon reveals his true colours, conveniently sidestepping the issue of priesthood, and says to Moses and Aaron:
“…you (both) take too much upon you seeing that the whole congregation (i.e. all of us) are holy and Gd is amongst them. Why do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
It seems to have escaped Korach’s mind that Moses and Aaron have never ‘set themselves’ above anyone. Indeed, if we look at the beginning of the Book of Shemot (Exodus), Moses did everything he could to avoid leading the people!
“and he took…”
What did Korach take?
Rashi tells us that the Midrash Tanhuma explains that he set himself apart from the congregation in order to claim that Moshe had appointed the wrong person. Instead of Aaron HaCohen, the narrative should have referred to Korach HaCohen. Korach, on the face of it appears to be genuinely aggrieved. Perhaps he is more worthy of the position than Aaron? However, he soon reveals his true colours, conveniently sidestepping the issue of priesthood, and says to Moses and Aaron:
“…you (both) take too much upon you seeing that the whole congregation (i.e. all of us) are holy and Gd is amongst them. Why do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
It seems to have escaped Korach’s mind that Moses and Aaron have never ‘set themselves’ above anyone. Indeed, if we look at the beginning of the Book of Shemot (Exodus), Moses did everything he could to avoid leading the people!
(יא) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלֹקִ֔ים מִ֣י אָנֹ֔כִי כִּ֥י אֵלֵ֖ךְ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה וְכִ֥י אוֹצִ֛יא אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃
(11) But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?”
Gd reassures him that He will accompany Moses.
Moses desists again later on….
Moses desists again later on….
(א) וַיַּ֤עַן מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיֹּ֔אמֶר וְהֵן֙ לֹֽא־יַאֲמִ֣ינוּ לִ֔י וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁמְע֖וּ בְּקֹלִ֑י כִּ֣י יֹֽאמְר֔וּ לֹֽא־נִרְאָ֥ה אֵלֶ֖יךָ ה'׃
(1) But Moses spoke up and said, “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to me, but say: The LORD did not appear to you?”
Gd reassures Moses again by showing him that his staff turns into a snake and then his hand becomes leprous.
Moses refuses to follow Gd’s command and says, in verse 10:
Moses refuses to follow Gd’s command and says, in verse 10:
(י) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶל־ה' בִּ֣י אדושם לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי גַּ֤ם מִתְּמוֹל֙ גַּ֣ם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔ם גַּ֛ם מֵאָ֥ז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל־עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֧י כְבַד־פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי׃
(10) But Moses said to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
The dialogue continues and Gd (understandably!) becomes angry with Moses, telling him that his brother Aaron will initially speak for him.
These references exemplify the very nature of Moses, whom the Torah refers to numerous times as being a beacon of humility.
Taken at face value, Korach’s words don’t make much sense until you appreciate what is really taking place in this episode. Moses’ not-so-erstwhile cousin is effectively attempting to wrestle power from the man who is least interested in benefitting from his position. The difference between the two is that Moses’ is fully aware of his responsibility to lead the people, particularly in light of both the seismic repercussions of the spies’ failed venture, which itself came on the back of plague that accompanied the Children of Israel’s lust for meat (as described a fortnight ago in Parshat Beha’alotecha).
Korach has successfully rallied the disgruntled Datan and Aviram, who themselves have managed to master the art of rabble-rousing to a professional level, whilst simultaneously shedding crocodile tears for injustices they felt have been meted upon the tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s eldest but fickle son (see Jacob’s description of him at the end of Sefer Bershit/Genesis). His charisma has even extended to poisoning the minds of two-hundred-and-fifty ‘men of renown’ across the range of tribes. He is a very dangerous individual.
You can imagine him adapting the “Seven Commandments” to plead his case along the lines of:
Rabbi Sacks, in this week’s ‘Covenant and Conversation’ writes:
“There was not the slightest attempt to set out the real issues: a leadership structure that left simmering discontent amongst the Levites, Reubenites and other tribal chiefs; a generation that had lost all hope of reaching the promised land; and whatever else was troubling the people. There were real problems, but the rebels were not interested in truth. They wanted power.”
Societies are shaped by the people who form them. They evolve and change, sometimes gradually and occasionally on the back of a populist movement, such as the historic dismantling of the USSR at the end of the 1980s. Could any of us fail to be moved by the site of Germans of all ages physically breaking down the Berlin Wall and thus allowing families to be reunited due to the reunification of the country?
Contrast this with the mob violently tearing down the statue in Bristol and you realise how different these scenes are and how, in both cases, they can lead to very diverse outcomes.
If Korach had genuinely wanted to challenge Moses, he could have employed a different approach. Moses was a man who like all others, didn’t always make the correct decisions, as we are going to be reading about next week when it comes to his sin of striking the rock.
The characters and events depicted in Animal Farm, though fictional, were very much based on personages and events before, during and after the Russian Revolution. The Monarchy it replaced and the injustices it foisted on the Russian people could have been addressed, had the leaders really wished this to be the case. With the death of Lenin and introduction of Stalin’s brutal regime, all hope of developing the USSR into a leading world power were all but lost. The only commandments that became ingrained in the makeup of three-score-and-ten years that followed the revolution were focussed on subjugating the population and making their lives as miserable as possible.
It is to Moses’ and Aaron’s credit that they were able (with Divine Intervention) to thwart Korach’s plans. Had he succeeded; the very heart of the Jewish people would have been ripped asunder.
It is no coincidence that the separation of “Church” and “State” was enacted through the introduction by Gd of the Priests, Levites and Israelites. In this model, the Priests were able to focus on ritual and teaching whilst allowing the Levites and Israelites to produce the prophets and Kings that would shape our future to this day.
In later generations, when the Hasmoneans broke this golden rule and combined leadership and priesthood, the implosion of both the monarchy and Jewish State alongside it within the span of two hundred or so years, led to the destruction of the Second Temple along with the deaths of over a million Jews and the long, long painful diaspora that we still find ourselves in.
Thank Gd for all of us that Korach and his followers failed.
Shabbat Shalom.
These references exemplify the very nature of Moses, whom the Torah refers to numerous times as being a beacon of humility.
Taken at face value, Korach’s words don’t make much sense until you appreciate what is really taking place in this episode. Moses’ not-so-erstwhile cousin is effectively attempting to wrestle power from the man who is least interested in benefitting from his position. The difference between the two is that Moses’ is fully aware of his responsibility to lead the people, particularly in light of both the seismic repercussions of the spies’ failed venture, which itself came on the back of plague that accompanied the Children of Israel’s lust for meat (as described a fortnight ago in Parshat Beha’alotecha).
Korach has successfully rallied the disgruntled Datan and Aviram, who themselves have managed to master the art of rabble-rousing to a professional level, whilst simultaneously shedding crocodile tears for injustices they felt have been meted upon the tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s eldest but fickle son (see Jacob’s description of him at the end of Sefer Bershit/Genesis). His charisma has even extended to poisoning the minds of two-hundred-and-fifty ‘men of renown’ across the range of tribes. He is a very dangerous individual.
You can imagine him adapting the “Seven Commandments” to plead his case along the lines of:
- Whoever works in the current priesthood is an enemy
- Whoever is amongst the other Levites is a friend
- No Priest shall wear different robes from the other Levites
- No Priest shall be allowed to dress differently to the other Levites
- No Priest or Levite should drink alcohol
- No Priest or Levite should kill another human being
- All Levites are equal.
- When No 6. adds the word “animal” to its charter and directly contravenes Gd’s intricate laws regarding sacrifices.
- When all Levites are equal except for Korach and his chosen friends, who become more “equal than others.”
- And does No 1. imply that Aaron and his two sons are destined to die at the hands of a mob that is bound to grow in size and confidence?
Rabbi Sacks, in this week’s ‘Covenant and Conversation’ writes:
“There was not the slightest attempt to set out the real issues: a leadership structure that left simmering discontent amongst the Levites, Reubenites and other tribal chiefs; a generation that had lost all hope of reaching the promised land; and whatever else was troubling the people. There were real problems, but the rebels were not interested in truth. They wanted power.”
Societies are shaped by the people who form them. They evolve and change, sometimes gradually and occasionally on the back of a populist movement, such as the historic dismantling of the USSR at the end of the 1980s. Could any of us fail to be moved by the site of Germans of all ages physically breaking down the Berlin Wall and thus allowing families to be reunited due to the reunification of the country?
Contrast this with the mob violently tearing down the statue in Bristol and you realise how different these scenes are and how, in both cases, they can lead to very diverse outcomes.
If Korach had genuinely wanted to challenge Moses, he could have employed a different approach. Moses was a man who like all others, didn’t always make the correct decisions, as we are going to be reading about next week when it comes to his sin of striking the rock.
The characters and events depicted in Animal Farm, though fictional, were very much based on personages and events before, during and after the Russian Revolution. The Monarchy it replaced and the injustices it foisted on the Russian people could have been addressed, had the leaders really wished this to be the case. With the death of Lenin and introduction of Stalin’s brutal regime, all hope of developing the USSR into a leading world power were all but lost. The only commandments that became ingrained in the makeup of three-score-and-ten years that followed the revolution were focussed on subjugating the population and making their lives as miserable as possible.
It is to Moses’ and Aaron’s credit that they were able (with Divine Intervention) to thwart Korach’s plans. Had he succeeded; the very heart of the Jewish people would have been ripped asunder.
It is no coincidence that the separation of “Church” and “State” was enacted through the introduction by Gd of the Priests, Levites and Israelites. In this model, the Priests were able to focus on ritual and teaching whilst allowing the Levites and Israelites to produce the prophets and Kings that would shape our future to this day.
In later generations, when the Hasmoneans broke this golden rule and combined leadership and priesthood, the implosion of both the monarchy and Jewish State alongside it within the span of two hundred or so years, led to the destruction of the Second Temple along with the deaths of over a million Jews and the long, long painful diaspora that we still find ourselves in.
Thank Gd for all of us that Korach and his followers failed.
Shabbat Shalom.