Perashat Korah 5776

Perashat Korah 5776

Perashat Korah opens with the episode of the rebellion of Korah and his co-conspirators, in their attempt to overthrow Moshe and Aharon, G-d’s designated leader of the people and their High Priest. The Torah characterized Korah’s action as, “Vayikah Korah” - “And Korah took...”  (Bamidbar 16:1) What exactly did he take?

The commentators noted the juxtaposition of Korah’s rebellion with the end of Perashat Shelah and the command to place sissit, fringes, on the corners of a four-cornered garment:  “Speak to the Children of Israel and bid them that they make fringes in the corners of their garments... and that they put upon the fringe of each corner a thread of blue, and the sissit shall be for you, and you shall see it and remember all of the commandments of Hashem, and do them... So that you remember and observe all My commandments, and you shall be holy to your G-d.”  (Bamidbar, 15:39-40)

Korah’s agenda of delegitimization was not only aimed against the leadership, but also against the validity of the Torah itself. Our sages explain that Korah, therefore, took a lesson from the missva of sissit, as mentioned in the previous perasha - section of the Torah, in order to prove his point.
The conventional explanation of Korah’s action is based on a statement in the Talmud Yerushalmi:  “Rav said: Korah was a heretic. What did he do? He made Talitoth entirely of Tekheleth (blue dye) and he came to Moshe and inquired of him: Should they be subject to Sissit? Moshe said to him: they are indeed subject to Sissit as it says: “Fringes you shall make for yourself.” (Debarim 22:12) At that time Korah said: Neither is the Torah from the Heavens nor is Moshe true, nor is Aharon the High Priest” (Sanhedrin 10:1 50a).

Korah’s argument presupposes that it is the reason behind the Law - and not the Law itself - that is ultimately binding. Therefore, according to Korah’s logic, it stands to reason, that if the Tekheleth - blue die, on the fringes is intended to remind one about Heavens, and in turn, of the missvot, then sissit should be rendered unnecessary if the entire garment is colored with Tekheleth. 

Rabbi Yehuda Henkin offers a different interpretation.  He says that Korah and his followers indeed took a lesson from the missva of sissit that had just been mentioned in the Torah.  They utilized that missva in order to undermine Moshe’s authority.  Their complaint against Moshe and Aharon, as stated in the Torah was that, “The entire congregation, all of them are holy... why, then, do you set yourselves up over the congregation of Hashem?” (16: 3).

Rabbi Henkin says that their argument went as follows:  Since it says concerning the sissit, that, “... you shall see it and remember all of the commandments of Hashem, and do them...,” consequently, every person can attain holiness on his own by observing all the missvot. All that is needed, is a reminder, such as sissit! And since all of the congregation are thus potentially holy, what need do they have for Moshe’s authority?

It was a strong argument, solidly based on Hashem’s own words. Where, then, asks Rabbi Henkin, was Korah wrong? He erred in that he emphasized the commandment of sissit, but he failed to note what preceded it. This was the episode of the Mekosheh Essim, the man who was caught chopping wood in the desert on Shabbat. “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘The man shall be put to death...’ ”(15: 35). It is the second of only two places is in the Torah where capital punishment was actually implemented, and perashat Sissit comes immediately afterwards.

The message is twofold. On the one hand, punishment in general, and capital punishment in particular, are insufficient to create a holy society. Thus the punishment for violating the Shabbat is followed by perashat Sissit, to teach us that we require education and constant review of the Torah and the missvot and not just reminders!

But by the same token, the warning of punishment precedes the command of sissit, of the fringes. This comes to teach us that education alone is insufficient; every society has its share of corrupt individuals and ‘bad apples’ which can only be contained by the proper authority with the power to enact punishment and keep the peace, aka, the ‘Rule of Law.’  This type of authority and leadership is one of the essential components of nationhood. Korah did not see that; he attempted to cut the ground out from under Moshe’s feet, as it were - and as a result the earth swallowed him and his followers instead. Let us learn a lesson from Korah and his followers, and appreciate the true meaning behind the missva of sissit.