Korach had a high position in the Egyptian government and was actually in charge of Pharaoh’s treasure houses. Korach then used that appointment to enrich himself from Pharaoh’s jewels.
In contrast, the Talmud tells a story about rabbis who refused to take money from the treasure house of the Roman emperor.
On one occasion the gentile monarchy issued a decree that the Jewish people may not observe Shabbat, and that they may not circumcise their sons, and that they must not obey the laws of niddah.... The Sages said: Who will go and nullify these decrees?
Let Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai go to Rome, as he is accustomed to experiencing miracles. And who shall go after him, i.e., with him? Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Yosei. When Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Elazar’s father, heard this suggestion, he said to the Sages: But if Abba Ḥalafta, my father, were alive, would you be able to say to him: Give your son to be killed? If so, how can you ask me to send my son to Rome, where he is likely to be killed? Rabbi Shimon said to the Sages: If Yoḥai, my father, were alive, would you be able to say to him: Give your son to be killed? Nevertheless, I am prepared to risk my life and go to Rome, and if so, Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Yosei should accompany me. Upon hearing this, Rabbi Yosei said to the Sages: If so, I will go in place of my son. I do not want him to go with Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, as this is what I fear: My son Elazar is young and quick to answer, and I am concerned lest Rabbi Shimon, who is hot-tempered, will become angry with him and punish him. Rabbi Shimon accepted upon himself that he would not punish Rabbi Elazar…The Gemara continues the story: As they were journeying, a demon named ben Temalyon emerged to greet them. He said to them: Do you wish that I will join you and come with you in order to help nullify this decree? When he saw that a demon was coming to help save the Jewish people, Rabbi Shimon cried and said: What, even for a maidservant of my father’s home, Hagar the Egyptian, who was Abraham’s handmaid, an angel was made available to appear to her three times to help her. Each of the three mentions of “and the angel of the Lord said unto her” (Genesis 16:9–11) in the story of Hagar is understood as a reference to a different angel. But I apparently do not deserve assistance from an angel even one time, but only help from a demon. In any case, let the miracle come and save the Jewish people, even if only through a demon. The demon ben Temalyon went before them and ascended into the emperor’s daughter and possessed her. When Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai arrived there, the emperor’s palace, he said: Ben Temalyon, emerge! Ben Temalyon, emerge! And once Rabbi Shimon called to him, ben Temalyon emerged and left the emperor’s daughter, and she was cured. When the emperor saw that Rabbi Shimon had cured his daughter, he said to them: Ask from me any reward that you want to ask. And he took them up to his treasury to take whatever they wanted. They found that letter there that contained the decrees against the Jewish people, and they took it and tore it up, and thereby nullified the decrees. The Gemara adds: And this is the background for that which Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Yosei said (Yoma 57a): I saw the Curtain of the Sanctuary in the city of Rome, and on the Curtain were several drops of blood from the bull and the goat of Yom Kippur. When the emperor took them into his treasury Rabbi Elazar saw the Temple vessels that the Romans had captured when they conquered Jerusalem, including the Curtain (Meilah, 17a-b). (For a full discussion of all the Temple artifacts that the rabbis saw in Rome and its modern day implications, see Steven Fine, https://repository.yu.edu/bitstream/
Korach
Background:
Parashat Korach tells the story of a mass uprising against Moshe and Aharon’s leadership in the midbar. This uprising seems to have been orchestrated by a man named Korach, even though it included 2 distinct groups of people (Korach and his men, and the sons of Reuven) with two distinct complaints (Aharon kept the kehunah to himself, and Moshe was still the political leader even after the mission of the spies failed.) Moshe is incensed by their accusations against him, and orchestrates two dramatic scenes as punishment. Korach’s men are consumed by fire, and the sons of Reuven are swallowed up by the ground.
This whole story opens in our parsha with the words “וַיִּקַּ֣ח קֹ֔רַח”, or “Korach took.” The Torah doesn’t tell us WHAT Korach took - the rest of the pasuk just lists the names of the people who joined him. So this raises a major question - what did Korach take? Why didn’t the Torah instead say “Korach approached” or “Korach organized” or any other formulation?
The mefarshim offer a number of different answers:
Rashi: He took himself to 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.
Seforno: The pasuk is phrased oddly. The word “vayikach” is intended to refer to the fact that Korach, Datan and Aviram, and On ben Pelet took 250 men and approached Moshe.
Bechor Shor: The word “vayikach” doesn’t come from the word “lakach,” or “to take.” It actually comes from the word “rachok,” or “distance.” Therefore the pasuk means that by starting this fight Korach distanced himself from this world, and the next world.
Questions:
- According to each of these three opinions, what was the main action required of Korach in order to be able to facilitate this uprising? Was it a physical action or a spiritual action?
- What do each of these explanations imply about what a person has to do in order to be able to lead an uprising against the leaders of their community?
- What do you think are some other possible explanations of what the “vayikach” could mean?
Download a printable version here
In Parshas Korach, Korach inspires a challenge to Moshe’s leadership. Although it’s not clear what portion of Klal Yisroel supports Korach -- polling was done via hieroglyphics, missing out on the younger Jews more likely to respond to messenger pigeon -- Hashem at one point instructs Moshe and Aharon to separate from the camp so that Hashem can destroy the people. Moshe and Aharon respond rhetorically, “One person sins, and Hashem will get angry with the whole people?” Feels like we’ve heard this before… Anywho, the commentaries have different takes on this. One approach is that while it’s reasonable for a mortal ruler to exact collective punishment because she cannot separate the rebellious from the non-rebellious, Hashem can separate and so should exact targeted punishment. Other explanations focus on the fact that actions taken by one person in a group affect everyone - one medrash compares the situation to someone drilling a hole on a boat, which will cause the boat and all others on it to sink. The verse is also connected to a verse in Shir Hashirim that says if a person takes a nut from a stack of nuts, the whole stack comes crumbling down.
For the tots, we’ll connect this second approach to the principle of kol yisroel arevim zeh bazeh, or All Jews are Responsible for One Another. Good deeds and good feelings are contagious and we are responsible for helping each other succeed. We’ll play a few games to practice helping each other succeed, including a blindfolded Don’t Fall in the Lava, where the kids will help a blindfolded kid to cross a lava field. Hopefully the parking lot will stay in one piece and we will avoid any accidental Korach lessons.
Yoni Friedman.
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