Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Korah and his followers reject Moshe and Aharon’s authority. Here’s Moshe’s reaction:
וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיִּפֹּ֖ל עַל־פָּנָֽיו׃
Moshe heard this and fell on his face.
Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) wonder: What was the meaning of Moshe falling on his face?
According to Rashi, it shows Moshe’s despair:
מִפְּנֵי הַמַּחֲלֹקֶת, שֶׁכְּבָר זֶה בְיָדָם סִרְחוֹן רְבִיעִי.
חָטְאוּ בָעֵגֶל, "וַיְחַל מֹשֶׁה" (שמות לב:יא),
בַּמִּתְאוֹנְנִים, "וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל מֹשֶׁה" (במדבר יא:ב),
בַּמְּרַגְּלִים, "וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל ה' וְשָׁמְעוּ מִצְרַיִם" (במדבר יד:יג),
בְּמַחֲלָקְתּוֹ שֶׁל קֹרַח נִתְרַשְּׁלוּ יָדָיו.
It was because of the arguing. This was already Benei Yisrael’s fourth offense.
At the sin of the golden calf, Moshe prayed.
At the complaining episode, Moshe prayed.
With the spies, Moshe prayed.
But the arguing caused by Korah took all his strength away, and he couldn’t be a defender anymore.
- Why would Moshe become so weak now? Was it the cumulative effect of so many sins building up? Or was there something particularly discouraging about the Korah situation?
"וְיִפֹּל עַל פָּנָיו" - לִתְפִלָּה.
“And fell on his face”–for prayer.
- When you read the whole story of Korah, does it seem more likely that Moshe’s initial reaction was him falling because he lost all his strength, or was he praying? What’s your evidence?
- Look up these other places where the Torah describes someone falling on their face:
- Avraham in Bereishit 17:17
- All of Benei Yisrael in Vayikra 9:24
- Moshe and Aharon in Bemidbar 14:5 (last week’s parashah, with the sin of the spies)
Do these examples affect your understanding of what is going on here, in Korah?
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