Korach 5761 Summary
This week's sedra deals with the rebellion of Korach, Datan, Aviram and 250 others. On the surface, this seems to be a straightforward case of a rebellion that failed and resulted in the culprits being swallowed up by the earth. A closer look, however, reveals that there were at least two simultaneous rebellions.

The sedra begins with a general introduction to Korach, Datan, Aviram and the 250 men of renown. Also included in the list is a man called On ben Pelet. We don't hear of him again and the midrash says this is because his wife made sure to keep her husband out of trouble.

It soon becomes clear that Korach's complaint is a spiritual one: "All the congregation is holy, so why do you lord it over them". As the story unfolds, it seems that Korach resents Aharon's elevation to the Priesthood, and in particular, that the offerings were only to be brought by Aharon's family, the Priesthood. The 250 men of renown may have been disgruntled firstborn who resented the loss of their status, transferred to the Levites, following the sin of the Golden Calf.

Moses reacted quite calmly to this complaint, suggesting that Korach and the 250 men should come to the Mishkan (Tabernacle) with their firepans and some incense. It would then be revealed if Hashem accepted their offering.

Datan and Aviram's complaint went to the heart of Moses' leadership. Moses tried to speak to them, but they refused, preferring to issue a one-sided statement, protesting that Moses had' brought them out of a land flowing with milk and honey' (Egypt), and not brought them into the promised destination - Israel. In other words, this was a protest against the very essence of Moses' leadership.

To this argument, Moses reacted with great fury. He protested to Hashem that he had not harmed them in any way. In the subtext we can read that it wasn't his fault that the people hadn't arrived in Israel, neither had he even wanted to be leader! But Datan and Aviram's complaint had come at a very bad time. The Israelites had been condemned to wander in the desert for 40 years, and were understandably depressed, and possibly open to the idea of a revolt against the leadership. Only Divine intervention could contain such a revolt.

Moses and Aaron saw the 250 men preparing their firepans at the Mishkan, then Moses went off to what was described as the 'Mishkan Korach, Datan and Aviram'. A crowd had gathered round their tent. Moses urged the crowd to move away from the rebels' tent, if they wished to avoid being swallowed by the ground. Then the ground opened up a swallowed Datan, Aviram and their families. At the same time, the 250 men were consumed by a fire from Heaven. We learn from Parshat Pinchas that Korach was also swallowed up by the ground, but his sons were spared.

The people then complained to Moses that he was responsible for the death of the 250 men. Two things then happened. The people were punished with fire, which was only stopped by Aaron running amongst them with his firepan. Then heads of each tribe were told to leave an almond rod in the Mishkan overnight. The following day, Aaron's rod has blossom and almonds on it, proving that he was the one chosen by Hashem.

The rest of the sedra details the tithes given to the Levites.

The Haftarah is set in the days of Samuel the prophet. He is an old man, and the people informed him that they don't want his sons to succeed him, and want to have a king instead. Samuel tried to convince the people that the king would actually make life more difficult for them, but they were insistent, and so Saul was anointed as the first king of Israel. In a long speech, Samuel asked the people to testify that he had not taken anything of theirs for himself. This was remniscent of Moses' outburst to Hashem at the time of Datan and Aviram's rebellion, and forms a direct connection to the sedra. But another connection is that it seems from the Book of Chronicles that Samuel was a direct descendant of Korach.

Points to Ponder

1. The sedra opens with the words: 'Vayikach Korach' - and Korach took....and Datan and Aviram.... What in fact did Korach take?
   
2. Why did the earth swallow Korach, when it seems that he was involved in the rebellion of the 250 men, and was offering incense with them?
   
3. Why was Datan and Aviram's headquarters known as Mishkan Korach Datan and Aviram? For one thing, they belonged to different tribes (Datan and Aviram were from the tribe of Reuven). For another, we seem to be talking of two separate rebellions.
   

Answer.
One has various groups of malcontents in any society. They are usually fairly harmless, until a clever, manipulative person comes along and advises or coordinates them. Korach was that man. He had a grievance. Datan and Aviram had a grievance. Their real grievance was that the tribe of Reuven had been robbed of the leadership. They had always felt like that, but now, Korach advised them, was the time to press their case, but use the argument of the failure to reach the Land of Israel. And the 250, as we saw earlier, resented their downgraded status.

Now we have a single answer to all 3 questions:

1. Korach took Datan, Aviram and the 250, and pushed them into open rebellion.
   
2. Korach was indeed involved with Datan and Aviram, and so shared their fate. The Talmud says that he was first burned with the incense, and was then swallowed by the earth.
   
3. Datan and Aviram's headquarters was known as Mishkan Korach Datan and Aviram, because Korach was in fact, deeply involved behind the scenes.
   

Shabbat Shalom