וַיִּֽקָּהֲל֞וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֲלֵהֶם֮ רַב־לָכֶם֒ כִּ֤י כָל־הָֽעֵדָה֙ כֻּלָּ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים וּבְתוֹכָ֖ם יְהוָ֑ה וּמַדּ֥וּעַ תִּֽתְנַשְּׂא֖וּ עַל־קְהַ֥ל יְהוָֽה׃
They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the LORD’s congregation?”
רב לכם. הַרְבֵּה יוֹתֵר מִדַּאי לְקַחְתֶּם לְעַצְמְכֶם גְּדֻלָּה:
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.
רב לכם. כמו די לכם והטעם שתפשתם החלק הרב
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.
לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם יְרֵא שָׁמַֽיִם בַּסֵּֽתֶר וּבַגָּלוּי וּמוֹדֶה עַל הָאֱמֶת וְדוֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ וְיַשְׁכֵּם וְיֹאמַר:
A person should always be in fear of God, privately as well as openly,50Some people conduct themselves in a God-fearing manner in the presence of others (in public), but in the privacy of their homes, do whatever they please. There are others who do just the opposite. In private they are governed by fear of Hashem, but in the presence of others they are too embarrassed or intimidated to be God-fearing. A Jew must always fear Hashem, in private as well as in public.—Si’ach Yitzchak [he should] admit the truth,51Acknowledging the truth is fundamental to serving Hashem, and to all human behavior. One who is concerned merely with “winning the argument” will go to any extreme to come out on top. This attitude caused the downfall of the 250 leaders who joined Korach, rather than acknowledge the truth of Moshe’ declaration (Bamidbar 16:2-35).—Si’ach Yitzchak and speak truth in his heart,52It is not sufficient to merely acknowledge the truth verbally but one must speak truth in his heart as well. Rashi on the Talmud (Maseches Makos 24a) cites the following incident as an example of how one should speak truth in his heart: A buyer once offered to purchase an article from Rav Safra while he was reciting the Shema. Because he could not indicate his acceptance, the anxious purchaser increased his offer. Rav Safra refused the increment because in his heart he had already accepted the original offer. and rise early and proclaim:
3. KORACH
A Freudian slip
Korach and Moses confront one another with overt hostility. A political rebellion is afoot; power issues are at stake. Korach defies the leadership of Moses and Aaron: “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above God’s congregation?” (Num. 16:3). The rebels’ claim sounds appealingly democratic. Moses “falls on his face” on hearing it.
A Freudian slip
Korach and Moses confront one another with overt hostility. A political rebellion is afoot; power issues are at stake. Korach defies the leadership of Moses and Aaron: “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above God’s congregation?” (Num. 16:3). The rebels’ claim sounds appealingly democratic. Moses “falls on his face” on hearing it.
Earlier we mentioned that Moshe got caught up in the non-communicative style of Korach and his cohorts. Yet, even before that, Moshe appeals far too quickly and far too helplessly to God. No sooner does Korach present his (albeit rather shocking) claims, than Moshe falls on his face (Bemidbar 16:4). And things do not necessarily go uphill from there. Assuming that the dramatic showdown between Moshe and his opponents with the incense pans (see below) is Moshe’s own strategy, it does not seem to be very effective in getting Korach and company to back down or to get the people’s support. But even if we suppose that the Torah simply doesn’t reveal that Moshe is following God’s instructions here, Moshe’s own desperate petition that God not listen to his adversaries (Bemidbar 16:15) rings very strange: If his opponents are wrong (which would seem to be clear), why would Moshe think that God would listen to them? In this and throughout the rest of the story, we encounter a Moshe seemingly unprepared for the task at hand.