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KORACH
The figure of Korach as it emanates from this week’s Torah reading is a most enigmatic one. The rabbis chose to characterize his rebellion against Moshe not so much in terms of evil as in terms of ultimate folly. Rashi quotes the famous statement that “Korach was such a wise and clever person; what on earth possessed him to engage in such a foolish venture?” Rashi states that since Korach saw that the great prophet Shmuel would be one of his future descendants, he wrongfully assumed that he, Korach, was the rightful leader of Israel now in the desert. Such flights of fancy and folly are common in human behavior. People often feel that they are somehow mistreated by life events or by others and therefore take these frustrations out on others.
Korach’s disappointment at not being chosen for one of the high offices of the priesthood or the Levites turns into a personal vendetta against his own relative and mentor, Moshe. My long experience in the rabbinate has provided me many opportunities to see manifestations of such behavior. People’s personal frustrations are somehow deflected towards leaders or institutions that are absolutely blameless but who are nevertheless handy targets to relieve someone’s inner rage and conflict.
Moshe states it clearly: “I am not guilty of ever harming you; Aharon is certainly innocent regarding any of your complaints against him. Your complaint is against God, against life’s problems and disappointments! Deal with yourself and don’t vent your rage on others.” And this inability to do so is truly the source of Korach’s great folly.
The entire great Lithuanian Mussar movement founded by Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant was based on one overriding psychological principle – self-introspection. We always look outside of ourselves to deal with slights, real or imagined, and disappointments. Many times, if not most, the slight and disappointment is really from within our own actions, personalities, and deeds. Korach’s problem is not Moshe or Aharon. Korach’s problem is Korach.
There are commentaries that associate Korach’s name with the Hebrew noun depicting baldness, emptiness. They comment, almost ruefully, that a hairpiece can certainly cover one’s baldness and appear to the outside that the person is not bald. But the truth is that the person remains bald. Korach is bald, empty of self-introspection, looking for self advancement and self importance from others because it apparently does not exist sufficiently within him.
When one needs validation and importance exclusively from outside sources then it inevitably leads to frustration, disputes and folly.
Korach therefore serves as an example of the self-destruction that people can cause to their own selves. Moshe appeals to Korach and his cohorts, who also suffer from the same inner emptiness of worth and spirit, to save themselves and their families by looking within themselves first. I think that is what is meant by his statement that “you are complaining against God, not against my brother and me.” The Godly soul that is within us must be regularly inspected and burnished by one’s self. Then the outer world and its inevitable problems can be dealt with intelligently, wisely and, hopefully, in a successful manner.
Shabat shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein.
