Parashat Korah

By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari.

Shalom, this weeks Parasha is Korah`. We know he was Moshe’s first cousin and very wise and wealthy. He stood up against Moshe and Aharon and said :”why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?”(Bamidbar16:3). Basically saying that Moshe made himself the king over the nation and his brother the High Priest, and the command didn’t come from Hashem. Our sages explain what prompted him to even brew such foolishness. However, the bigger question is, how did he convince all those who followed him to their death? They were “leaders of the assembly, those summoned for meeting, men of renown”( 16:2) !!! It seems they were people of stature. How is possible to even see Moshe “…the skin of his face had become radiant ; and they feared to approach him”(Shemot 34:30) and even allow themselves to think in this manner ? Rav chaim Shmuelevitz(1892-1979) quotes the Midrash Rabba(18:1) explains the connection between our Parasha and the end of last Parasha which is the commandment of Sisit, Korah` jumped and asked if the garment itself is made of Techelet(turquoise wool) then will it need Sisit(fringes) as well ? To which Moshe of course replied yes and he started to make a mockery out of him. The Midrash goes on to bring many examples of his behavior which reeks of mockery and poking fun and it was through this that he was able to enlist those great people to join him. In reality the claims and questions he had were baseless and foolish but when people would hear word of mockery and belittling, the “shock factor” kicks in and they follow. In fact historically this method has been used by many instigators who follow the footsteps of Korah` . The Mesilat Yesharim(chapter 5) says that this behavior is very damaging and one could drown in it as one would in an ocean because it takes away the heart of a person and you can’t even reason with this person ….  This is something we should pay attention to and pray to be saved from it. Shabat Shalom.

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