34 | JUNE 22 • 2023 

T

he story of Korach 
has much to teach us 
about one of the most 
disturbing phenomena of our 
time: the rise of populism in 
contemporary 
politics. Korach 
was a populist, 
one of the first 
in recorded 
history — and 
populism has 
re-emerged in 
the West, as it 
did in the 1930s, 
posing great danger to the 
future of freedom.
Populism is the politics 
of anger. It makes its 
appearance when there is 
widespread discontent with 
political leaders, when people 
feel that heads of institutions 
are working in their own 
interest rather than that of 
the general public, when 
there is a widespread loss of 
trust and a breakdown of the 

sense of the common good.
People come to feel 
that the distribution of 
rewards is unfair: a few gain 
disproportionately and the 
many stay static or lose. 
There is also a feeling that 
the country they once knew 
has been taken away from 
them, whether because of the 
undermining of traditional 
values or because of large 
scale immigration.
Discontent takes the form 
of the rejection of current 
political and cultural elites. 
Populist politicians claim that 
they, and they alone, are the 
true voice of the people. The 
others, the existing leaders, 
are sharing out the rewards 
among themselves, indifferent 
to the suffering of the masses. 
Populists stir up resentment 
against the establishment. 
They are deliberately divisive 
and confrontational. They 
promise strong leadership 

that will give the people back 
what has been taken from 
them.
In 2017, support for 
populist parties throughout 
Europe was running at 
around 35, the highest level 
since the late 1930s. Parties 
of the far right gained power 
in Poland and Hungary, and 
made a strong showing in 
Austria, France and Holland. 
In Southern Europe, in 
countries like Spain and 
Greece, populism tends to be 
of the left. 
Regardless of what form it 
takes, when populism is on 
the rise, tyranny is around 
the corner. Human rights are 
dispensed with. The public 
grants the strong leader 
exceptional powers: so it was 
in the 1930s with Franco, 
Hitler and Mussolini. People 
are willing to sacrifice their 
freedom for the promised 
utopia, and to tolerate great 

evils against whichever 
scapegoat the leader chooses 
to blame for the nation’s 
problems.

THE KORACH REBELLION
The Korach rebellion was 
a populist movement, and 
Korach himself an archetypal 
populist leader. Listen 
carefully to what he said 
about Moses and Aaron: “You 
have gone too far! The whole 
community is holy, every 
one of them, and the Lord is 
among them. Why then 
do you exalt yourselves 
above the assembly of 
the Lord?” (Num. 16:3).
These are classic populist 
claims. First, implies Korach, 
the establishment (Moses 
and Aaron) is corrupt. Moses 
has been guilty of nepotism 
in appointing his own 
brother as High Priest. He 
has kept the leadership roles 
within his immediate family 

Rabbi Lord 
Jonathan 
Sacks

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

The First Populist

