Korach
Num 16:1 – 18:32  

Rabbi Baht Weiss

There is nothing more dangerous to a society or an organization than a rebellion.  In this week’s parsha, a man named Korach (along with two hundred and fifty men) rose up against Moses and Aaron and said to them: 

“You have gone too far! For all the community is holy, all of them, and the LORD is in their midst. Why do you raise yourself up above the LORD’s congregation?” 

-Numbers 16:3 

Korach and his allies accuse Moses and Aaron of “having gone too far.”  They question his authority and leadership style, asking why he raises himself higher than the rest of the community.  Korach isn’t exactly a nobody.  Korach himself is a Levite, part of the priestly class, but doesn’t have the God given role of prophet and leader in which Moses was appointed. Korach is tired of being a follower.  He wants to be the leader.  Like Coach Shelly in Ted Lasso, he was tired of being in the shadows.   

Moses is modest in his response. He falls on his face and asks God how to handle the situation.  After God gives him a pep talk, Moses replies to Korach and his crowd throwing his words back at him saying “you have gone too far.”  

Sometimes we don’t agree with leadership.  How do we know when it is time to stand up from perceived inequality or if by doing so we are overstepping our role?  What are the appropriate limits? When do we go “too far?” 

In her essay in the Women’s Torah Commentary, Rabbi Rachel Cowan sees the battle in the story of Korach as a battle that each of us must face within ourselves—a battle between our inner Moses and our inner Korach, which is a battle between humility and arrogance.    

Rabbi Cowan explains that Korach was punished because the rebels try to take power from Moses daring to risk their lives to promote their own self-interest. They claim we are all holy yet there seems to be little regard for society as a whole.  

Rabbi Cowan cautions us that in each of our own personal battles, we must discern which voice is guiding us.  

 The old adage really rings true—we must choose our battles.  Are we fighting for a reason, so that something is truly better or fairer or are we battling for our own self interests?  

Moses, in contrast to Korach didn’t ask for the job of leader. He was appointed a leader and grew into his position.  Korach on the other hand was hungry for leadership.  He was presumptuous and arrogant in his pursuit for power, and he got burned.  Life has a way of humbling us when we grow too proud or too ambitious. We can each think of times when our greed, our need for excess, our need for recognition, and our need for power hurt us more than helped us.    

However, if we passively accepted everything in life without working to change what was broken or unjust, we would be helpless or weak.    

Our challenge then is to fill the role that was ordained for us, not for somebody else.   We must question if our motivation is for the benefit of the greater community like Moses or if it is for our ego-like Korach. 

Korach was swallowed up by the earth for threatening Moses’ leadership. All those that followed him literally got burned. There can be no question as to who the true leader is—Moses.  

Speaking out is important but often dangerous.  If we are motivated by our inner-Moses—we are doing it for the sake of society.  However, if we are motivated by our inner-Korach, we may want to rethink our actions.