The Role Of Slander
Must Be Diminished
RABBI ELIEZER COHEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
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n this week's Torah portion,
Korach, we have Moses mak-
ing a particularly uncharac-
teristic comment. Moses, "the
humblest of all men" (Numbers
12:3), who in every other instance
of transgression by the people,
begs God for forgiveness and mer-
cy, cries out to God beseeching
that He not accept their sacrifice
(Numbers 16:15).
Moses, the great defender of
his people and the personification
of selfless service, seems to lose
control and with venom and con-
tempt attempts to induce God to
punish without mercy. To un-
derstand how such a reaction is
possible it's necessary to analyze
the context of Moses' outburst.
The Torah tells of the rebellion
of Korach and 250 men (presum-
ably Levites) against Moses and
his alleged nepotism in choosing
his own brother, Aaron, as high
priest. Allied with Korach are two
brother, Doson and Avirom, the
sons of Eliav from the tribe of
Reuben. Their specific complaint
against Moses is not made clear,
but we do have their response to
call from Moses to discuss the mat-
ter. They refuse absolutely to
speak to Moses and instead accuse
him of taking the people into the
wilderness to kill them and taunt,
"Will you blind the people to your
refusal to take them to a good
land." At this point Moses explodes
in anger, calling upon God to
refuse their sacrifice and adding,
"Not one donkey have I taken from
them nor have I ill-treated them."
Moses feels compelled to defend
himself before God — apparent-
ly against accusations of personal
dishonesty and abuse of power.
Such seemingly unfounded ac-
cusations place Moses in a truly
untenable position. If the people
accept and believe the slander of
Doson and Avirom, Moses loses
his moral authority to lead the
people; and his beloved people
are thus doomed to destruction.
On the other hand, to defend
himself against the accusations
surely would diminish Moses'
standing in the eyes of the peo-
ple and further publicize the slan-
der. Even if proven false, once
accused of such personal im-
morality and lack of integrity —
could he reasonably expect to re-
coup the absolute respect of the
people necessary for him to lead?
Caught in such a bind, Moses
could but cry out for divine vin-
dication. If God, Himself, Who
knows the truth, would truly and
clearly punish the slanderers;
then, perhaps, Moses could again
gain the respect and confidence
of the people and the moral au-
thority to lead in God's name.
Therefore, Moses in absolute an-
guish must beseech the merciful
God to have no mercy and to ut-
terly and clearly destroy the slan-
derers, to clear Moses' name and
to manifest divine justice.
Doson and Avirom, by spread-
ing lies and perhaps half-truths
calculated to destroy Moses as an
effective leader, knew that success
was very likely. It is relatively easy
to destroy someone's good reputa-
tion and infinitely more difficult
(if not impossible) for the victim to
rebuild it. They knew that people
have an unexplicable and perverse
inclination to listen to and to ac-
cept gossip as true and to pass it
on. They knew that whatever
Moses did, his reputation and
leadership would be diminished
and compromised. Whether out of
sheer hatred or to advance some
agenda of their own — what did
they have to lose in spreading such
slander?
Shabbat Korach:
Numbers 16:1-18:32
I Samuel 11:14-12:22.
Ultimately Moses was vindi-
cated by divine decree — but
what about in our own day. For
some reason we seem to get such
pleasure in hearing and passing
accusations against others — and
"the 'juicier' the better". This is
not only true about other people
in general, but even more so
about those in positions of lead-
ership and authority. Perhaps we
resent the authority others have
over us and, therefore, wish to
deny anyone the moral authori-
ty necessary to lead and govern.
Surely our inclination to think ill,
to jump to conclusions, to assume
the worst, to listen to gossip, to
accept it and to pass it on to oth-
ers is a national (Jewish as well
as American) moral disease of
epidemic proportions. The media,
it seems, has become an industry
devoted to the destruction of rep-
utations. And we, within the Jew-
ish community, have a passion
for speaking ill and spreading sto-
ries about our clergy and others
in positions of leadership.
Not only is such behavior
against Jewish law and human
decency that demands respect for
others, but it is absolutely de-
structive to our own communal
well-being. O
Eliezer Cohen is rabbi of Young
Israel of Oak-Woods.