Overview of the
Torah Reading To be read on Shabbat Korach - 28 Sivan 5780 /June 20 Korach is the 5th Reading out of 10 in Numbers and it contains 5325 letters, in 1409 words, in 95 verses Overview: Korach (Numbers 16:1-18:32) opens with the dramatic account of the rebellion of Korach, Datan, and Aviram and their 250 followers against the leadership of Moses and priesthood of Aaron. Moses challenges them to make an offering of incense. Aaron, too, would do so, and whosever offering was accepted would clearly be G-d's choice for the priesthood. The earth swallows Korach, Datan, and Aviram, their families and possessions, and a fire descends from heaven consuming the other men who burned incense, all except Aaron. The following day the Jews complain about the deaths of so many men, whereupon G-d sends a plague, resulting in 14,700 more deaths. Moses tells Aaron to stop the plague by offering incense and then running into the middle of the assembled masses. Then, to again strengthen Aaron's position as High-Priest, each tribal leader was told to write his name on a staff. These staffs were placed in the Sanctuary. The next day, Aaron's staff was found with almond blossoms and nuts growing on it. It was left as a memorial next to the Holy Ark. Then comes a description of the priestly and Levite duties in the Sanctuary, including preventing Israelites from approaching places forbidden to them within the Sanctuary area. G-d then tells which produce and animals are included in the priests' and Levites' portions which Israelites must bring them. Also the Levites are commanded regarding the portions that they must bring to the priests.
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This week's portion is called "Korach". Korach was a Levite and a first-cousin to Aaron and himself a leader, as well as being a genius and perceptive person to the extreme. The rebellion he led followed what was really another rebellion, that of the spies, described in last week's reading, Shlach. The spies were sent from the desert to Israel to check HOW to conquer the land. Instead they reported that it would be impossible. Deep down, Chassidus explains that the spies were afraid to come into the land where fulfilling the physical commandments would become primary. They wished to remain in the desert and continue with a purely spiritual life: eating the manna, bread that fell from heaven, being protected by the Clouds of Glory, drinking from the Well of Miriam that traveled with them and occupying themselves with learning Torah all day. They were mistaken. Performing the physical commandments given to us by the Torah, transforming the world from a physical to a spiritual place is the main purpose of life, After living through this cataclysm, Korach rose and said, "As long as we thought the goal was Torah study, who can compare themselves to Moses, the receiver of the Torah. But now we are supposed to be in training to focus on active involvement in the world through fulfilling the commandments; in this we are all obligated equally and perform exactly the same actions, so why should they, Moses and Aaron, be above us?" It may sound admirably altruistic and democratic, but the truth is that Korach’s motivation was that he himself wanted to be the High Priest in place of Aharon. He challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron in order to attain his goal. In the end, a hole opened up and swallowed him and the other 250 Jewish leaders he had influenced. The name of a Torah portion is always significant; since it is not always the first word, it is not arbitrary. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asks why a portion of the Torah be called after a person who set such a bad example? What is more, we say, "The name of evildoers should rot" (Proverbs 10:7) whereas naming a Torah portion after such a person immortalizes his name, the opposite of the intention of the verse! We have to assume there must be some benefit to naming the portion specifically after Korach, but what is it? While most of the portion is about the disastrous results of the rebellion, we are nevertheless touched by how tenacious and strong-willed Korach was to accomplish his goal and not give up on his dream. His desire to be the high priest is in itself something positive. Similarly, each of our souls is brought into this physical world - an environment where divinity is hidden and where making mistakes is easily possible, almost the norm – for one purpose. So we can overcome the difficulties we face and use our intelligence and free choice to best serve the Almighty. Each of us is expected to struggle towards the highest level of spiritual service we can attain. The lesson from the parasha, apart from the obvious of not making the mistakes Korach did, is to know ourselves and use the abilities G-d granted us for the greatest good possible. We should want to be a high priest, against all odds. But what about Korach’s mistakes? The name "Korach", in Hebrew, is made up of three letters: kuf, reish and chet. The Lubavitcher Rebbe shared an amazing insight: each of these three is similar to the letter hei, the (second and) fourth letter of G-d's Ineffable Name (Havayah), yet the minor differences are powerfully significant. The letter hei is made up of two lines and a yud. The horizontal line and the vertical line on the right represent thought and speech, while the left short vertical yud shaped line represents action. In Korach's name, the first letter, kuf, has a long left leg that descends below the line; this hints at unwanted and unwarranted additional action, i.e. obsessive behavior, contradicting the prohibition not to add to G-d's commands. The letter reish has no left leg at all; where there was supposed to be proper action, i.e., reconciliation and friendship, there was nothing. In the final letter, chet, the space between the left line and the right lines has been obliterated; this hints at an impulsive movement into action from thought and speech, without first considering Jewish law to ascertain if the action is appropriate or thinking through the consequences. Each of these three deficiencies in his behavior contributed to Korach's dispute and his downfall. It a real world, learning from our own mistakes is how we grow. A higher level is, wherever possible, taking lessons from the mistakes of others as well as our own. Korach is teaching us to reach for our highest potential but also not losing sight of what is happening inside and outside of ourselves. Shabbat Shalom, Shaul ________________________________________ FROM THE SAGES OF KABBALAH ON KabbalaOnline.org Specifically, for an overview
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