 JUNE 18 • 2020 | 29

T

his portion describes, in 
great detail, the rebellion 
led by Korach against 
Moshe and his older brother 
Aharon. 
Everyone was aware of 
Moshe’
s greatness. Everyone 
knew that Moshe spent a grand 
total of 120 days face-to-face 
with God on Sinai. 
How is it possible that 
anyone could have 
rebelled against Moshe?
Some background: 
There is a Yiddish 
expression: Azoi reich 
vi Korach, as wealthy 
as Korach. Korach was 
the chancellor of the 
exchequer for Pharaoh 
in Egypt. While bal-
ancing the books, he 
discovered a massive 
fortune that Joseph had 
collected during the 
seven years of plenty and had 
put away in a rainy-day fund. 
Since no one else knew of 
the money, Korach absconded 
with the funds, amounting to 
what would be over $1 billion 
by today’
s standards. There is 
an adage in the Talmud that a 
wealthy person deserves honor 
because HaShem has found it 
honorable to make this person 
wealthy. Korach, now being fab-
ulously wealthy, felt he deserved 
honor, as well.
Korach was Moshe’
s first 
cousin. When positions were 
assigned, Korach was bypassed. 
Moshe was chosen as king. 
Aharon was the high priest. The 
next job of honor was leader of 
the clan of Kehos and that posi-
tion went to a younger cousin. 
Korach saw prophetically that 
one of his descendants would 
be the prophet Samuel. About 
Samuel it is written, “Samuel 
in his day was like Moshe and 
Aharon in their day.
” Armed 
with such knowledge, Korach 
felt he was a sure winner. It was 
easy to convince 250 Reubenites 

to join his coup. If successful, 
they would replace the Levites 
as servants in the temple, a 
re-establishment of the birth-
right to the firstborn of Jacob. 
Together they approached 
Moshe. Korach asked Moshe, 
“Does a garment made of 
techailis (blue wool) require 
tzittzits (fringes)?” Moshe 
said, “Yes.
” 
Korach laughed at him. 
“If one thread of blue 
exempts the garment, an 
entire blue garment should 
be exempt.
” 
(The commandment of 
tzitzits required one blue 
thread and three white 
threads. The blue dye was 
made from a chalozone 
—a sea mollusk native to 
the eastern Mediterranean. 
Once Jews moved away 
from that area more than 
2,000 years ago, we are not sure 
what a chalozone is. Currently, 
tzitzits are all white.) 
What did Korach want? The 
High Priesthood. This would 
offer the individual the ultimate 
God experience. Korach wanted 
that. His claim of the garments 
was that superficial, makif, god-
liness, was sufficient to bring 
Moshiach. Moshe’
s reply was 
that the superficial needed to 
be internalized. Korach wanted 
to bypass the normal order of 
creation and bring Moshiach 
supernaturally. Moshe respond-
ed that it would not work. 
Moshiach could only come 
when the natural itself becomes 
uplifted to the supernatural.
All we need to bring 
Moshiach is one more act of 
goodness and kindness and one 
more person to want Moshiach 
to come. 

Rabbi Herschel Finman is co-director 

(with wife, Chana) of Jewish Ferndale 

and host of “The Jewish Hour” radio 

show on WLQV 1500 AM — Sundays 

11 a.m.-noon.

Parshat 

Korach: 

Numbers 

16:1-18:32; 

I Samuel 

11:14-12:22.

Rabbi 
Herschel 
Finman

Spirit
torah portion

A Rebellious Man

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