Korach's Ego (a cautionary tale)

(א) וַיִּקַּ֣ח קֹ֔רַח בֶּן־יִצְהָ֥ר בֶּן־קְהָ֖ת בֶּן־לֵוִ֑י וְדָתָ֨ן וַאֲבִירָ֜ם בְּנֵ֧י אֱלִיאָ֛ב וְא֥וֹן בֶּן־פֶּ֖לֶת בְּנֵ֥י רְאוּבֵֽן׃ (ב) וַיָּקֻ֙מוּ֙ לִפְנֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַאֲנָשִׁ֥ים מִבְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים וּמָאתָ֑יִם נְשִׂיאֵ֥י עֵדָ֛ה קְרִאֵ֥י מוֹעֵ֖ד אַנְשֵׁי־שֵֽׁם׃ (ג) וַיִּֽקָּהֲל֞וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֲלֵהֶם֮ רַב־לָכֶם֒ כִּ֤י כׇל־הָֽעֵדָה֙ כֻּלָּ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים וּבְתוֹכָ֖ם יְהֹוָ֑ה וּמַדּ֥וּעַ תִּֽתְנַשְּׂא֖וּ עַל־קְהַ֥ל יְהֹוָֽה׃ (ד) וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיִּפֹּ֖ל עַל־פָּנָֽיו׃

Numbers 16:1-4

(1) Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself,*betook himself Lit. “took”; nuance of Heb. uncertain. along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben*descendants of Reuben According to Num. 26.5, 8–9, Eliab was son of Pallu, son of Reuben. — (2) to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute. (3) They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and יהוה is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above יהוה’s congregation?” (4) When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.*he fell on his face Perhaps in the sense of “his face fell.”

1. What did Korach take?
2. What compelled Korach and others?
3. What is the implication of "all the community is holy?"
4. Was the dispute personal or political or populist?
5. Was Korach's argument false? Does it matter?

משנה אבות ד׳:כ״א

(כא) רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר הַקַּפָּר אוֹמֵר, הַקִּנְאָה וְהַתַּאֲוָה וְהַכָּבוֹד, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאָדָם מִן הָעוֹלָם:

Pirkei Avot 4:21

(21) Rabbi Elazar Ha-kappar said: envy, lust and [the desire for] honor put a man out of the world.

משלי כ״ט:כ״ג

(כג) גַּאֲוַ֣ת אָ֭דָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶ֑נּוּ וּשְׁפַל־ר֝֗וּחַ יִתְמֹ֥ךְ כָּבֽוֹד׃

Proverbs 29:23

(23) A man’s pride will humiliate him,
But a humble man will obtain honor.

תהילים ק״ו:ט״ז-י״ז

(טז) וַיְקַנְא֣וּ לְ֭מֹשֶׁה בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה לְ֝אַהֲרֹ֗ן קְד֣וֹשׁ יְהֹוָֽה׃ (יז) תִּפְתַּח־אֶ֭רֶץ וַתִּבְלַ֣ע דָּתָ֑ן וַ֝תְּכַ֗ס עַל־עֲדַ֥ת אֲבִירָֽם׃

Psalms 106:16-17

(16) There was envy of Moses in the camp,
and of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD. (17) The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,
closed over the party of Abiram.

ישעיהו י״א:י״ג

(יג) וְסָ֙רָה֙ קִנְאַ֣ת אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְצֹרְרֵ֥י יְהוּדָ֖ה יִכָּרֵ֑תוּ אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙ לֹא־יְקַנֵּ֣א אֶת־יְהוּדָ֔ה וִיהוּדָ֖ה לֹא־יָצֹ֥ר אֶת־אֶפְרָֽיִם׃

Isaiah 11:13

(13) Then Ephraim’s envy shall cease
And Judah’s harassment shall end;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

אורחות צדיקים י״ד:ו׳

(ו) הַקִּנְאָה בָּאָה מִגְּרִיעוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ. אִם הוּא מְקַנֵּא בְּיָפְיוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם, אוֹ בִּגְבוּרָתוֹ אוֹ בְּעָשְׁרוֹ – הֲרֵי אֵינוֹ חָפֵץ בְּמָה שֶׁגָּזַר עָלָיו הַבּוֹרֵא יִתְבָּרַךְ. וְזֶה דּוֹמֶה לְעֶבֶד שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ תְּלוּנוֹת עַל מַעֲשֵׂה אֲדוֹנָיו, וְאֵינוֹ מִתְרַצֶּה בְּעִנְיַן אֲדוֹנָיו – אֵין זֶה עֶבֶד נֶאֱמָן. וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן שֶׁאֵין לְהִתְרַעֵם עַל הַבּוֹרֵא יִתְבָּרַךְ, אֲשֶׁר כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו יְשָׁרִים וּנְכוֹחִים, שֶׁאֵין לְהַרְהֵר אַחֲרָיו.

Orchot Tzadikim 14:6

(6) Envy is the result of a feeling of inferiority. If one envies another's beauty, strength or wealth, then he is unhappy with what the Creator, blessed be He, has decreed for him. This is similar to a servant who complains concerning the deeds of his master, and is not pleased with his master's matters. Such a one is not a faithful servant. All the more so, ought he not to complain against the Creator, may He be Blessed, for all His deeds are righteous and proper, and one ought never to dispute them.

קדושת לוי, במדבר, קרח ב׳

(ב) או יבואר, ויקח קווח, כי יש צדיק שעובד רק לעשות תענוג להבורא ברוך הוא ואצל זה הצדיק אין חילוק אם הוא עושה תענוג להבורא ברוך הוא או צדיק אחר עושה תענוג להבורא ברוך הוא. אבל מי שרוצה לקבל שכר על עבודתו זה רוצה שהוא בעצמו יעשה תענוג להבורא. וזהו ויקח קורח, שרצה שהוא יקח ולא אחר. וזהו פירש''י שלקח מקח רע לעצמו שבשביל זה חלק על משה ורצה להיות כהן גדול ואם היה עובד רק לעשות תענוג להבורא ברוך הוא בוודאי לא היה חולק שיהיה הוא כהן גדול:

Kedushat Levi, Numbers, Korach 2

(2) Another way of understanding the opening words of our ‎portion. There are some tzaddikim who, in their effort to ‎serve their Creator, are concerned solely with providing their ‎Creator with a feeling of satisfaction and pleasure. It does not ‎matter to such a tzaddik if others worship G’d with a similar ‎purpose in mind or not. If someone, however, serves the Creator ‎with a view to being rewarded for this at some future time, it ‎matters to him that it was he, and not someone else who had ‎provided G’d with this pleasure. When the opening words in our ‎portion are ‎ויקח קרח‎, “Korach took (credit),” this means that he ‎was concerned with being the only one to receive credit for his ‎actions. This is what Rashi had in mind when he commented on ‎these words, saying: ‎שלקח מקח רע לעצמו‎, “he made a bad bargain ‎for himself;” his urge to be appointed as High Priest, i.e. serving ‎the Lord for ulterior motives, though commendable on the ‎surface, was the beginning of his undoing. [I have not ‎been able to find where Rashi is supposed to have made the ‎comment quoted by the author. Ed.]‎

The verse (Num. 16: 1) opens with the Hebrew words vayikah Korah, which in many other places would indeed be translated as “Now Korah took.” However, here we have a problem. Took is a transitive verb, so it must have both a subject and an object. A verb is a “doing” word, and so we look both for the entity that is “doing the doing” (the subject) and for the entity to which the “doing is done” (the object). Clearly, Korah is the subject, but there is no apparent object. There is no hint of what Korah took—there is no description here, nor is there later, that Korah took anything. Except himself. Rabbi Sami Barth

“For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind” (James 3:16).