This past Shabbat we studied Parashat Korach, the Torah portion known as Korach, the eponymous Israelite who features prominently in the parshah’s opening narrative.
Korach is notorious in Jewish tradition, standing in for every impertinent demagogue to follow. The parshah begins with Korach “betaking himself… to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute. They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the LORD’s congregation?’”
His denunciation of Moses has come to be seen as the paradigmatic makhloket she’eino l’shem shamayim—a conflict which is not for the sake of heaven; in other words, a destructive conflict, as opposed to one which can breed life and peace.
But it begs the question: why? What about Korach’s charge is so off base? He seems to simply be suggesting that Moses and Aaron need to recognize the inherent holiness of all Israel rather than focus so intently on their roles as prophet and high priest, respectively. What about this charge is so problematic.
Our Torah study unearthed a number of substantive responses to this question, including the teaching that Israel is called on to become holy through their actions rather than presuming that they are already holy. Or the notion that criticism of leadership can be far easier and convenient—and conducive to demagoguery—than actual leadership, akin to the oft-cited quote from Theodore Roosevelt that “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming…”
But where we landed was that there is both value in Korach’s voice as well as challenges associated with it. Rabbi Shefa Gold reflects that Korach forces the hand of Truth. “Korach represents a stage of development that is crucial to finding our voice,” continuing, “Without Korach, we grumble along, swallowing our bitter questions and doubt, and gradually lose our vision and power.” Korach, she says, “is the power in us that has not yet matured, which has not yet been tempered by humility.” “As a young rebel,” she reflects “my truth sometimes lacked kindness. My passion for justice sometimes shattered peace. Yet what a blessing it was for the power of Korach to rise in me and teach me that my pointed challenges and questions were holy. Over a lifetime of mistakes and repentance, wisdom gradually emerges to call together kindness and truth and to kindle the love between justice and peace.”
May we all recognize the voice of truth pulsing within us and may we learn to channel it in ways that are powerful and holy.
