Illustration Credit: Noa Kelner
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ עַל מֹשֶׁה וְעַל אַהֲרֹן
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם רַב לָכֶם
כִּי כׇל הָעֵדָה כֻּלָּם קְדֹשִׁים וּבְתוֹכָם ה׳
וּמַדּוּעַ תִּתְנַשְּׂאוּ עַל קְהַל ה׳:
They (Korah and his followers) gathered against Moshe and Aharon, saying to them, “You have too much! The entire community is all holy, and God is among them. Why do you lift yourselves up over the congregation of God?”
You might wonder: What was the problem with Korah’s claim? Isn’t it true that the people are holy and that God is with them? Yet the Torah makes it clear that Korah is the bad guy in the story. Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) explain why:
R. Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (Germany, 150 years ago)
They are a people sanctified to God, and with every fiber of their being, as individuals and as a people, they belong only to God, but they are not holy yet. Rather, their task is to rise up and to uplift themselves to their holy calling. They must not… pretend to be holy already just because they were called to become holy. Instead, their holy calling should be their goal they try to reach.
R. Hirsch explains that the people are holy only in the sense that they have been given a mission to become holy through the Torah. But that’s not the same thing as being holy automatically. Korah’s mistake was to think that the people are already holy without having to work at it!
- What kind of holiness does Benei Yisrael have? If it’s not something they already are, what is it?
- How are Benei Yisrael supposed to become holy? How can you make yourself more holy?
וְאִם תֹּאמַר שֶׁאַתֶּם גְּדוֹלִים מִן הָעֵדָה מִצַּד שֶׁבָּכֶם בָּחַר יהוה לְנַבְאוֹת אֶתְכֶם וּלְהַשְׁכִּין שְׁכִינָתוֹ עֲלֵיכֶם וְקָרוֹב יהוה אֲלֵיכֶם יוֹתֵר מִכָּל הָעֵדָה עַל זֶה אָמַר "וּבְתוֹכָם יהוה" וְאַחַר שֶׁאֵין לָכֶם יִתְרוֹן עַל הָעֵדָה מַדּוּעַ תִּתְנַשְּׂאוּ, וּבָזֶה נָפְלוּ בְּטָעוּת שֶׁטָּעוּ בְּעֵת מַתַּן תּוֹרָה שֶׁרָצוּ שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה בֵּינֵיהֶם חִלּוּף מַדְרֵגוֹת.
Korah said to Moshe and Aharon, “if you think you are greater than the people because God chose you to be prophets and to have God’s presence closer to you than to anyone else, that’s wrong because God is close to everyone! So you’re no better than anyone else and you should not lead.” But this was his mistake—he wanted there to be no difference between people.
Malbim thinks that Korah is right about everyone being holy, but he’s wrong to think there isn’t a difference between Moshe and Aharon and the rest of the people. God is close to everyone, and everyone is holy, but there are still differences between people, and it’s still good to have special leaders like Moshe and Aharon.
- If everyone is holy, and God is close to everyone, why is it still important to have special leaders?
- How can some people become even holier than they already are? How can this connect to R. Hirsch above?
- How does it feel to think you are holy and that God is close to you? How can that feeling help you appreciate people like Moshe and Aharon even more? Can you think of people in your life who can be models to you to become even holier and closer to God than you already are?
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