Success is a great deodorant, says an old adage, and that magnifies the challenge to stand up to a bully. Korach’s “Eda,” the congregation drawn to him, was his badge of honor. He came to represent 250 of the nation’s elite, the princes of his generation. They gave him the sheen of success. Surely, anyone would think, people like these can’t all be wrong. This is among the reasons that his neighbors from the tribe of Reuven were also drawn into the vortex of rebellion.
How could he be so successful in recruiting? I would suggest that it is all about timing, both in the sense of knowing when to commence and in his skillful use of humor.
There is no time-stamp in the story of Korach. It gives us no specific dating. We know in general that placement of a Parasha does not always tell us about when it chronologically occurred. The rebellion might be placed here for thematic reasons. But the Ramban resists deviations from chronological order unless they are absolutely unavoidable, and there is good evidence to say that Korach rose up immediately after the episode of the spies.
The book of Bamidbar has 10 Parashiot. Beginning next week, the last five definitely take place during year 40 in the wilderness, beginning with the death of Miriam. We know that there were 38 years of relative silence in the Torah, which ends when Miriam dies. That would mean that the first five take place before those 38 years.
In addition, there is an easy way to identify the rebels with the first generation in the wilderness and not the later generation. Complaints from the first generation in the wilderness were always about missing Egypt while the second generation grumbled about the fact that they have not yet reached the land of Israel. Next week, the Jews will seek water but they will also say that they want figs, vines and pomegranates, fruits of the land of Israel and not of Egypt. The rebels with Korach had the temerity to call Egypt a land flowing with milk and honey. This is a group that belongs in the first generation.
The rebellion took place, therefore, in the wake of the spies because Moshe Rabenu’s leadership had been put in doubt. Korach seized on this moment. The source of his resentment was either against Aharon as Kohen Gadol or because he was passed over in promotion in favor of the children of one of his uncles. Either way, these events took place at least weeks before. Korach bided his time until Moshe seemed vulnerable, at least in the eyes of the congregation.
The timing of the rebellion is one source of his appeal. The other has to do with another type of timing -- the comedic. The Midrash about Korach’s attack on Moshe and Aharon is well known. We know that a Talit needs four strings of blue, Korach says. But what about a Talit that is all blue? Does it still need blue strings? Further, what about a room full of Sifrei Torah -- does it still need a Mezuza? This Midrash is taken very seriously by the commentators in terms of its symbolism and the precise choice of examples. Both Tzitzit and Mezzuza are reminders about the Mitzvot. Korach claims, however, that if we are holy -- we are a room full of Sifrei Torah or a garment that is all blue -- we are already mindful of Hashem and do not need such reminders.
Moreover, the four blue strings and the Mezuza are singular symbols. They do their job by sticking out, as does leadership. If a generation is elevated enough, Korach is saying, surely they can dispense with the need for something that sticks out. We don’t need leadership at all.
All of this is relevant in understanding the Midrash, which does a great job of amplifying what the text already says. It brings home what Korach means when he says “we are all holy -- why should you be elevated over us?” These examples point specifically at Moshe and Aharon, as R’ Yitzhak Twersky points out. The reference to Torah scrolls is aimed at Moshe while the blue Tzitzit string refers to Aharon as the Kohen Gadol, who wears a headpiece called a Tzitz and whose garments contain blue.
But there is another aspect to the Midrash. The way the examples are used in Korach’s challenge is also comedic. It is an “argument” that points to the humor of absurdity. This is one of the great strategies in any battle against those who are elevated. Comedy upends order, so if one is fighting against an existing order or arrangement, it is a perfect weapon. Moshe and Aharon have their places because of divine decree. It is often possible to gain insight into such decrees; the “giving” of the Torah means that it can be intelligible. But that insight is only available through serious study. Comedy has many uses, but serious scholarship is not one of them. It defeats thought not by refuting it but by choking off the process altogether. The effort of sustained attention has now met its saboteur.
Learning, the Gemora says, should begin with a matter of humor. This opens up one’s thought processes. But ultimately it is one of the great antagonists to religious engagement. Korach has chosen a timely moment and he has deployed a weapon that depends on perfect timing. Both mark him, however, as a man of merely the moment, but not of eternity.
Shabbat Shalom!
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