Two Minute Torah Podcast

Korah 5771 by Nina S. Kretzmer

Shalom. My name is Nina Kretzmer, and I'm a rising sophomore at the Double Degree Program between Barnard College and List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Welcome to KOACH's Two-Minute Torah; a project of the College Department of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

This week's parashah, Korah, is the classic story of the heretic. One man gathers a group of rebels to protest Moshe Rabbenu and his role in the community of B'nei Yisrael. This group is seen as questioning God. In a battle over who is the holiest, fire pans blazing, Korah and his followers are swallowed up by the earth. But this battle is not all to the story of Korah. We learn again in Bamidbar chapter 26 that Korah and his followers incited a fight against Moshe and God and that the earth swallowed Korah and his followers. We learn something very significant in verse 11: the sons of Korah did not die. In the Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 111a, Rashi tells us that at first, the sons of Korah were part of the plot, but they had thoughts of teshuvah, or repentance, in their hearts and so they were granted a special high place in Gehinnom, the underworld. Ibn Ezra tells us in his commentary that the sons of Korah become the Temple singers, as is attested by 7 psalms in their name. First Chronicles (9:19) tells us that the sons of Korah become the guards of the gates to the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem, the holiest place for all Jews at the time. Apparently, the sons of Korah are not punished for their actions, but are turned into models of piety. This idea is confirmed in the parashah itself. When Korah and his band first fight with Moshe, Moshe tells them to bring their fire pans and to see who God will choose, for that man is the holy one. We later learn that the fire pans used in the final battle are still sanctified and that they become part of the altar of the Mishkan, or Tabernacle. The remnants of the pans should serve as a warning to B'nei Yisrael to not try and proclaim that you are holier than anyone else in your community. But why doesn't God just say to get rid of the pans that symbolize this unfortunate sin? Korah and his followers, including his sons, were intent on making an offering to God, which is still sacred. This was not avodah zarah, or idol worship. This was a struggle over accessibility to the divine. With this commandment, God affirms Korah's original statement in Bamidbar chapter 16 verse 3, "For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is in their midst." God signifies in God's Temple that all of God's People will be holy. This characteristic should unite B'nei Yisrael as a kehillah, as a community.

All of B'nei Yisrael, all of us today are holy. God does not forget this. The sons of Korah are living proof. Their models of piety remind us that no one should be denied access to the divine. To have access to God is to struggle with God. Let us not shy away from those struggles, but embrace them in our lives. Shabbat Shalom.