Num. 16:1 - 18:32
PrĂ©cis: Korach foments a rebellion, claiming that Moses and Aaron have taken too much power for themselves. Datan and Abiram also attack Moses’ leadership, claiming that Moses has brought them from a land of milk and honey (Egypt!) only to let them die in the wilderness. A test of fire offerings is arranged, and Korach and his followers are destroyed as the earth opens and swallows them. The People continue to complain, God threatens to destroy them once again, but Moses and Aaron intercede. A plague takes the lives of 14,000 people. A final test, that of staffs, is performed, and when Aaron’s staff miraculously blossoms on the following morning, it is clear that his status as High Priest is secure.
Num. 16:1-3 “Now Korach…with Datan and Abiram…took themselves up against Moses and against Aaron and said, ‘You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that all in the congregation are holy….’”
Rabbi Sacks, as reported in Covenant and Conversation (6/22/23) argues that Korach was a prime example of what we now call a populist. First, play on people’s fears, and make it seem that you are on their side. Next, assemble allies (as he does with Reubenites, who were predisposed to be at odds with the elevated status of the Levites, (since Rueben was the first born, and therefore should have had a leadership position). Third, choose a moment when the person you seek to dislodge is vulnerable (here, Moses and Aaron immediately following the story of the spies, and the doomed generation who will die in the wilderness).
I can't help feeling that there is an important lesson in this story for all of us today.
