Qorach vs. Moshe
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
The Torah tells us the story of the rebellion of Qorach (also spelled Qorah, Korach, Korah) and his followers. I would like to take a deeper look at this intriguing story. Lets first review this text so that we can begin to understand it’s depth:
Bamidbar (Numbers)
16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son
of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On,
the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;
2 and they rose up in
face of Moses, with certain of the children of
3 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 HaShem is among them; wherefore then lift
ye up yourselves above the assembly of HaShem?’
4 And when Moses
heard it, he fell upon his face.
5 And he spoke unto
Korah and unto all his company, saying: ‘In the morning HaShem 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.
6 This do: take you
censors, Korah, and all his company;
7 and put fire therein, and put incense
upon them before HaShem to-morrow; and it shall be that the man whom HaShem doth
choose, he shall be holy; ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.’
8 And Moses said
unto Korah: ‘Hear now, ye sons of Levi:
9 is it but a small
thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation
of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of HaShem, and to stand before the
congregation to minister unto them;
10 and that He hath
brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee? and will ye
seek the priesthood also?
11 Therefore thou
and all thy company that are gathered together against HaShem; and as to Aaron,
what is he that ye murmur against him?’
12 And Moses sent to
call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said: ‘We will not come up;
13 is it a small
thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey,
to kill us in the wilderness, but thou must needs make thyself also a prince
over us?
14 Moreover thou
hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us
inheritance of fields and vineyards; wilt thou put out the eyes
of these men? we will not come up.’
15 And Moses was
very wroth, and said unto HaShem: ‘Respect not Thou their offering; I have not taken one ass from them, neither
have I hurt one of them.’
16 And Moses said
unto Korah: ‘Be thou and all thy congregation before HaShem, thou, and they,
and Aaron, to-morrow;
17 and take ye every
man his fire-pan, and put incense upon them, and bring ye before HaShem every
man his fire-pan, two hundred and fifty fire-pans; thou also, and Aaron, each
his fire-pan.’
18 And they took
every man his fire-pan, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and
stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah
assembled all the congregation against them unto the door of the tent of
meeting; and the glory of HaShem appeared unto all the congregation.
20 And HaShem spoke
unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
21 ‘Separate
yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.’
22 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?’
23 And HaShem spoke unto Moses, saying:
24 ‘Speak unto the
congregation, saying: Get you up from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram.’
25 And Moses rose up
and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of
26 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.’
27 So they got them
up from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
on every side; and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their
tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
28 And Moses said:
‘Hereby ye shall know that HaShem hath sent me to do all these works, and that
I have not done them of mine own mind.
29 If these men die
the common death of all men, and be visited after the visitation of all men,
then HaShem hath not sent Me.
30 But if HaShem 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 HaShem.’
31 And it came to
pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground did cleave
asunder that was under them.
32 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.
33 So they, and all
that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit; and the earth closed
upon them, and they perished from among the assembly.
34 And all
35 And fire came forth from HaShem,
and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
The commentators explain that Qorach's sin was an infraction, for which there is no room for forgiveness. First, his declaration that Moshe had no right to lead a nation in which everybody was holy contradicts the order of creation. The world was created upon the principle of a mashpia (giver), one who influences, who inspires others, and on a mekabel (receiver), one who is influenced, who accepts from him. This is the relationship of male and female, heaven and earth, rebbe and talmid, teacher and student. Just as there is nothing on this physical world that is not in some way connected to the spiritual world from which it receives its sustenance, so, too, is everything in this world sustained through the mashpia/mekabel process. Qorach wanted to exist beyond the parameters that HaShem set for this world. He wanted everyone to be equal. This indicated rebellion against HaShem's course of directing the world.
The Jewish Encyclopedia, in the article “Sun”, tells us the following:
The
sun and the moon are employed as symbols in the Kabbala.
Generally, the sun is masculine and represents the principal or
independent—technically it is the "giver" ("mashpia'"); Abraham
is the sun; so is Samuel, because he was independent, accepting no gift or fee
from any one (I Sam. xii. 3). The moon is feminine, and represents the
secondary or dependent—technically the "receiver" ("mekabbel").
Thus the sun means the father; the moon, the mother.
Moses and Aaron; the rich man and the poor man; the Torah and the Talmud; Rabbi
and Rabina (or R. Ashi), are respectively the sun and the moon (Heilprin,
"'Erke ha-Kinnuyim," s.v.
). Samson's
name denotes "sun," as he, likewise, was independent. The initial
letters of the names Samuel, Moses, and Samson spell "shemesh" (=
"sun"). The Messiah is the sun: "And
his throne as the sun before me" (Ps. lxxxix. 36).
The root reason is that Qorach believed that they had already entered the Messianic age. He disputed that he had to be a receiver. It was Qorach’s understanding that he had become a giver, along with the other 250 men. They believed that they no longer needed to be receivers. There was no more rebbe and talmid. We are all holy, we are all Shabbat, we are all the sun, we are all givers.
The face of Moshe was like the face of the sun, where the face of Joshua was like the face of the moon.[1]
The Hebrew word for afternoon is צוהריים tzoharayam, this word has the same gematria as Moshe = 345. The value is equal is because the afternoon is when the sun is shining the brightest, and Moshe is the sun.
Not all those who were in Qorach’s company were enticed:
Sanhedrin 109b Rab said: On, the son of
Peleth, was saved by his wife. Said she to him, ‘What matters it to thee? Whether the one
[Moses] remains master or the other [Korah] becomes master, thou art but a
disciple.’ He replied, ‘But what can I do? I have taken part in
their counsel, and they have sworn me [to be] with them.’ She said, ‘I know
that they are all a holy community, as it is written, seeing all the
congregation are holy, everyone of them. [So,]’ she proceeded, ‘Sit here, and I
will save thee.’ She gave him wine to drink, intoxicated him and laid him down
within [the tent]. Then she sat down at the entrance thereto and loosened her
hair. Whoever came [to summon him] saw her and retreated. Meanwhile, Korah's
wife joined them [the rebels] and said to him [Korah], ‘See what Moses has
done. He himself has become king; his brother he appointed High
Priest; his brother's sons he hath made the vice High Priests.
If terumah is brought, he decrees, Let it be for the priest; if the tithe is
brought, which belongs to you [i.e., to the Levite], he orders, Give a tenth
part thereof to the priest. Moreover, he has had your hair
cut off, and makes sport of you as though ye were dirt; for he was jealous of
your hair.’ Said he to her, ‘But he has done likewise!’ She replied, ‘Since all
the greatness was his, he said also, Let me die with the Philistines. Moreover,
he has commanded you, Set [fringes] of blue wool
[in the corners of your garments]; but if there is virtue in blue wool, then
bring forth blue wool, and clothe thine entire academy therewith.’ Thus it is
written, Every wise woman buildeth her house — this refers to the wife of On,
the son of Peleth; but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands — to Korah's
wife.
HaShem clearly delineates the positions, rights, and duties of priests and Levites; He quickly rejects Qorach's impressive, but premature, attempt to establish a Messianic demonacracy. The wicked both quickly flourish and quickly wither:
Tehillim (Psalms) 92:7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and
when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever… 12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he
shall grow like a cedar in
The final letters of that verse's last three words TSADIK KATAMAR YIFRACH spell Qorach-- in the END of days, his egalitarian vision will indeed prevail (Joel 3).
"Qorach was such an intelligent person. How could he have made such a colossal blunder [and rebel against Moshe]?" This is the question that our Sages pose[2]. They answer that he misinterpreted the information that he had. Qorach knew prophetically that he would have extremely great descendants. The prophet Samuel, equal in stature to Moshe and Aharon, was one of them. Qorach reasoned that the merit and service of his future offspring were so great that it had be he that would prevail in the rebellion.
The problem is that Qorach did not hear that this greatness would be due to his sons, not to his own actions. Qorach's sons, Assir, Elkanah, and Avaisaph, saints and prophets, repent before it's too late, and they survive[3]; they're the first of 48 prophets succeeding Moshe[4]. They authored Tehillim (Psalms) 42, 44-9, 84-5, 87-8.
Qorach was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi. We do not mention that he was the son of Yaaqov.
Rashi introduces our Parasha with the statement: "This Parasha is explained nicely in the midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma”. Rashi quoted the midrash Tanchuma, that the Patriarch Yaaqov had pleaded not to have any share in the rebellion of Qorach. For that reason, Qorach's genealogy stops before mentioning Yaaqov. The Midrash Rabbah adds additional insight:
Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XVIII:5 NOW KORAH, THE SON OF IZHAR, THE SON OF
KOHATH, THE SON OF LEVI... TOOK. Why is it not written, ‘The son of Jacob’ or
‘The son of
Yaaqov was the ultimate receiver. Yaaqov is represented by the moon. In Kiddush Levanah (the moon blessing) we face the moon and we say:
ברוך יוצריך
ברוך עושיך
ברוך קוניך
ברוך בוראיך
The first letter of each word spells: יעקב - Yaaqov. The “man in the moon”, the face, is the face of Yaaqov. This explains why he did not want to be associated with a receiver who had failed.
Qorach went around “all night” according to the Midrash:
Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XVIII:10 NEITHER HAVE I HURT ONE OF THEM (XVI, 15).
By this Moses meant: I did not condemn the innocent nor acquit the guilty. When
Moses saw that they persisted in their haughtiness, he said to them: BE THOU
AND ALL THY CONGREGATION BEFORE THE LORD... TO-MORROW (ib. 16) Korah went about all that night and misled the Israelites. He said to them: ' What do you suppose? That I
am working to obtain greatness for myself? I desire that we should all enjoy
greatness in turn, not like Moses who has appropriated the kingship to himself
and has given the High Priesthood to his brother!’ And so he went about winning
over each tribe with arguments suited to that
particular tribe, until they made common cause with him. How is this inferred?
From the text, AND KORAH ASSEMBLED ALL THE CONGREGATION AGAINST THEM (ib. 19). They approached Moses, all speaking
as Korah did. Instantly, THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON, SAYING:
SEPARATE YOURSELVES FROM AMONG THIS CONGREGATION,.. AND THEY FELL UPON THEIR
FACES (ib. 20 f.).
Qorach did his work of gaining support at night, because subconsciously he knew that he did his best work at night. Qorach is the night man. The night is the receiver in the same way Qorach was a receiver.
Moses says that “in the morning” HaShem will reveal His will. The Midrash lends us some additional insight:
Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XVIII:4 Said He: In the morning the Lord will show
who are His (Num. XVI, 5). What is the reason why He chose such a time? R.
Nathan explained: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: ' If all the magicians of
the world were to assemble and try to turn the morning into evening, they would
not be able to do so, and as I made a partition between light and darkness, so
have I set Aaron apart to sanctify him as most holy.’
Moshe procrastinated till the morning because he is the sun the daytime. Qorach is the moon, he is the night. Therefore, Moshe wanted to wait until his time, his turf had arrived. Moshe wanted Qorach to see that this is the reality, that Qorach is the receiver.
Midrashim relate that Qorach's 250 men donned solid blue four-cornered garments (talit) and ridiculed Moshe's ruling, that they still needed the blue string, amidst the other fringes, at each corner of the garment. The Midrash Rabba offers further insight:
Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XVIII:3 NOW KORAH... TOOK. What is written in the preceding passage? Bid them that they make them... fringes... and that they put with the fringe of each corner a thread of blue (Num. XV, 38). Korah jumped up and asked Moses: ‘If a cloak is entirely of blue, what is the law as regards its being exempted from the obligation of fringes? 'Moses answered him:' It is subject to the obligation of fringes. 'Korah retorted:' A cloak that is entirely composed of blue cannot free itself from the obligation, yet the four blue threads do free it! If,’ he asked again, ‘a house is full of Scriptural books, what is the law as regards its being exempt from the obligation of mezuzah?’ He answered him: ‘It is under the obligation of having a mezuzah.’ 'The whole Torah,’ he argued, 'which contains two hundred and seventy-five sections, cannot exempt the house, yet the one section in the mezuzah exempts it! These are things,’ he continued, ‘which you have not been commanded, but you are inventing them out of your own mind!’
The Keli Yakar quotes the above Midrash. At the end of the previous Parasha (Shelach), we were informed of the mitzva of tzitzith. Qorach "took" the Parasha of tzitzith and challenged Moshe in the realms of Halacha. If a garment is completely made of techelet does it need tzitzith of techelet on its' fringes? Moshe replied in the affirmative. Qorach challenged the answer given by Moshe. If one thread of techelet can be used to exempt a garment of tzitzith, then surely a garment of techelet would not require tzitzith?
The word tzitzith, fringes, is related to that which bursts forth with life from seemingly dead earth and trees; this week, after Qorach's debacle, we read that only Aharon's rod flowered, "Vayatzetz Tzitz", and put forth buds (Bamidbar 17:23). The garment, begged, represents external physical reality, the illusory world of the senses, limited by its four corners, unless one progresses to the transcendental world of truth and eternity, via the mitzvot, linking every aspect of mundane life to HaShem, it's represented by the blue string.
We are to see the tzitzith. If we wear a talit at night, we do not need tzitzith. They only need tzitzith by day so that we can see them. Thus we understand that the reason Qorach chose to dispute this mitzva was due to his perspective. He was coming from the perspective of night! And from his perspective, he was right!
Moshe took his perspective of the sun, of daytime. The talit requires tzitzith during the day.
Qorach’s eye mislead him. Qorach saw that Shmuel the prophet would be his descendant. He sought leadership because he saw how great his descendants would be, even though the one not chosen would die. The Midrash confirms this:
Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XVIII:8 Now Korah, who was a clever man--what
reason had he for such folly? His mind's eye misled him. He foresaw that a long and distinguished progeny
would emanate from him, particularly Samuel, whose importance would equal that
of Moses and Aaron; as may be inferred from the text, Moses and Aaron among His
priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His
Name (Ps. XCIX, 6), and that from among
his descendants there would be formed twenty-four
levitical divisions all of whom would prophesy under the influence of the Holy
Spirit; as it says, All these were the sons of Heman (I Chron. XXV, 5). He
argued: ‘Is it reasonable that, since such greatness is destined to emanate
from me, I should keep silent? ' He did not, however, foresee accurately. In
fact his sons repented, and it was from them that the distinguished progeny was
to emanate. Moses, however, did foresee it. The reason then why Korah was
foolish enough to risk that danger was because he heard from Moses that they
would all perish and one of them would escape; as it says, AND IT SHALL BE THAT
THE MAN WHOM THE LORD DOTH CHOOSE, HE SHALL BE HOLY.
Because in order to hear a prophecy in it’s entirety, one must learn how to listen, how to be a receiver. Without this skill, Qorach did not hear the whole prophecy. Qorach wanted to give, therefore he missed the part that comes from a giver. Moshe, on the other hand, had perfected the art of hearing by being the receiver from HaShem. He had perfected the art of hearing.
The eyes see during the day. We need light to see. Dathan and Abiram said they were givers, men of the day, and they did not need to see, because eyes receive whilst we are givers now. Light will come from our eye sockets, we are givers now. They had bought into Qorach’s arguments.
The ground “received” Qorach to indicate that Qorach and his followers were receivers. This was HaShem’s last message to Qorach. The ground formed a mouth which receives, and the mouth swallowed Qorach.
Aharon was the giver in the area of the priesthood. Aharon represented the sun, too. Obviously Aharon’s staff was still connected to it’s source. It produced fruit because it is still connected to it’s source. Aharon was therefore the source – the giver. Everyone else is the receiver that had cut themselves off from Aharon the giver.
Qorach was wise and there will be a time when he is a giver. Unfortunately, his timing was way off. Qorach was trying to assume the role of a giver at a time when HaShem still had him as a receiver. But the letters of Qorach’s name appear at the end of the words to indicate that in the end Qorach will be a Tzadik, not now.
Moshe receives Torah from HaShem and then he turns around and becomes the rebbe, the teacher, giving Torah to Joshua and the people. Joshua later turns around and becomes the giver. However, because he assumes the role of the giver a minute early, his punishment is to forget what he received, because he is still supposed to be a receiver! Joshua said that he had never left Moshe’s side, therefore he had received everything, yet it was not yet his time to be a giver.
In each generation there is a Torah teacher who is the giver of his generation.
One day the world will be filled with the knowledge of HaShem. We will all be filled to capacity. Thus we learn that this current situation where we have a rebbe and a talmid, is a temporary situation. It will not always be this way.
Only Shabbat has sanctity, the six days have no inherent sanctity, but rather they receive their sanctity from Shabbat. That is why we begin Shabbat early on the sixth day and extend Shabbat into the first day of the week. We are injecting the sanctity of Shabbat into the six work days by affecting the first and the last of those six days.
In the same way, Moshe was holy and was giving that holiness to the people. He was giving the Torah and they were receiving it. Moshe is the sun, he is Shabbat, he is the giver. Qorach and the people are the moon, they are the six work days, they are the receivers.
On the fourth day, HaShem created the two great luminaries, later it calls them a greater and a lesser luminaries. This is because the sun and the moon were equal, later the moon was diminished.
Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh: This represents a fusion of opposites. Shabbat is associated with the weekly cycle of the sun, whereas Rosh Chodesh is associated with the lunar cycle. The two reflect the difference between a mashpia (giver) and a mekabel (receiver). This very differentiation, however, also implies that a connection is established between them; the mashpia and the mekabel are united.
The concepts of mashpia and mekabel are reflected in Parshat Qorach. Qorach appreciated the positive quality of the recipients. Thus, he asked Moshe:
Bamidbar (Numbers) 16:3 “Why do you raise yourself above the
congregation of G-d?”
This was a mistake. Although the recipients have great positive qualities, these qualities are revealed when they submit themselves to the guidance of the mashpia.
Everything that HaShem created is a pair: Heaven and earth, sun and moon, Adam and Chava, man and woman, this world and the next world, givers and receivers, Rebbe and talmid, Shabbat and the six work days. However, HaShem is One and He is unique, He is NOT a pair.
Everything in this world works as either a giver or a receiver. These pairs define everything in this world. A man gives and a woman receives. Though on occasion they assume opposite roles, never the less, they are primarily in these roles.
Thus the sun is the giver and the moon is the receiver.
The world operates with givers and receivers now, but, that was not how it was in the beginning, nor is it how we will function in the end. When Mashiach comes, there will be a drastic change when everyone will become a giver.
Kiddush Lavanah – Fill the lacking of the moon that there be no diminishing of the moon and that its light be equal to the sun as it was in the beginning. One day we will all be able to give, even as the moon will be able to give its own light.
Because Abel was the giver of his generation and Cain was the receiver. Abel was to be the disseminator of the Torah he received from his father, Adam, who in turn received it from HaShem. They each started out a receiver and then turned around to become the giver.
Abel was the rebbe of that generation. Cain murdered Abel because he claimed that they had already entered the Messianic age and that he, and everyone else, was not a rebbe, a giver.
Cain responded, “Am I my brother’s guardian (HaShomer)”?
Yaaqov guarded (shomer) the words of the prophecy of Yosef. He was waiting for it to occur according to Rashi.
Cain no longer wanted to guard the words of Abel.
Qorach was a gilgul of Cain. Moshe was a gilgul of Abel. Thus we see that the confrontation between Moshe and Qorach was supposed to be the tikkun (correction) of the confrontation between Cain and Abel. Yet, we see that Qorach repeated the sin of Cain. Qorach said that they were all holy, he wanted to be a giver because he thought that they had entered the Messianic age. Qorach had the same message as Cain, and Moshe had the same message as Abel.
* * *
Parshat Qorach contains nine mitzvot, five mitzvot of action and four of prohibition.
* * *
This study was written by Hillel ben David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be submitted to:
Greg Killian
7104 Inlay St SE
Lacey, WA 98513
Internet address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 584-9352
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