Talk about a fall from power!
But isn't Korach's demise just a little too much "overkill"? Granted, his rebellion against cousins Moshe and Ahron - and against Hashem! - was divisive, distressing and demeaning. But did it really merit the earth opening up and swallowing the perpetrators?
After all, arguments are part and parcel of Jewish life. We hear it in the Bet Medrash and in the street; we debate one another constantly on virtually every topic. So why did Korach deserve to die for making machloket?
Secondly, why not settle the whole issue by a Bat Kol confirming Moshe as Hashem's choice to be leader? Miracles were commonplace in the desert, so a voice from heaven would not be all that shocking. It would have indicated Divine opinion and that would be that.
But Korach had to be dealt with in an outrageous, public, shocking fashion. This is because Korach was going beyond the norms of debate and dissent. In essence, Korach was trying to debase and dismantle the entire system of discipline and order G-d had set up. He was trying to replace a Divinely-ordained procedure with his own form of government. And though he dressed it up as democracy, it was nothing more than institutionalized anarchy.
Korach wished to instigate a wholesale challenge to G-d's authority, to create chaos. By attacking Moshe in a mocking, humiliating fashion, he would show the people that they needn't have respect for our leaders. The next step: do away with law entirely, create a cult of popularity and institute the rule of the mob. Had Korach succeeded, he would have brought down the whole edifice; that is why he had to brought down, literally, in dramatic fashion.
This is reminiscent, l'havdil, of the irreverent way in which American leaders and institutions were treated in the 1960s, with a total lack of respect for the office, if not the person. While the cause may have been just, America has never completely recovered its prestige and honor.
Recently, Natan Sharansky was attacked at a US campus when a heckler threw a pie in his face. He chose, wisely, to file suit against the hoodlum, for the real target was Jewish pride and the honor of our nation.
Watch your step, Korachs of the world; it's a long way down!
But isn't Korach's demise just a little too much "overkill"? Granted, his rebellion against cousins Moshe and Ahron - and against Hashem! - was divisive, distressing and demeaning. But did it really merit the earth opening up and swallowing the perpetrators?
After all, arguments are part and parcel of Jewish life. We hear it in the Bet Medrash and in the street; we debate one another constantly on virtually every topic. So why did Korach deserve to die for making machloket?
Secondly, why not settle the whole issue by a Bat Kol confirming Moshe as Hashem's choice to be leader? Miracles were commonplace in the desert, so a voice from heaven would not be all that shocking. It would have indicated Divine opinion and that would be that.
But Korach had to be dealt with in an outrageous, public, shocking fashion. This is because Korach was going beyond the norms of debate and dissent. In essence, Korach was trying to debase and dismantle the entire system of discipline and order G-d had set up. He was trying to replace a Divinely-ordained procedure with his own form of government. And though he dressed it up as democracy, it was nothing more than institutionalized anarchy.
Korach wished to instigate a wholesale challenge to G-d's authority, to create chaos. By attacking Moshe in a mocking, humiliating fashion, he would show the people that they needn't have respect for our leaders. The next step: do away with law entirely, create a cult of popularity and institute the rule of the mob. Had Korach succeeded, he would have brought down the whole edifice; that is why he had to brought down, literally, in dramatic fashion.
This is reminiscent, l'havdil, of the irreverent way in which American leaders and institutions were treated in the 1960s, with a total lack of respect for the office, if not the person. While the cause may have been just, America has never completely recovered its prestige and honor.
Recently, Natan Sharansky was attacked at a US campus when a heckler threw a pie in his face. He chose, wisely, to file suit against the hoodlum, for the real target was Jewish pride and the honor of our nation.
Watch your step, Korachs of the world; it's a long way down!