Fresh off the fiasco of the spies, this week’s Parshah details another tragic incident, the rebellion of Korach. Several disparate elements of Am Yisrael combined to either rebel against the leadership of Moshe, the priesthood [Kehuna] of Aharon, or both. While there were elements of righteousness amongst the rabble rousers [Korach and some of his followers did seem to have a genuine wish to be closer to Hashem], the fate of this rebellion was set, and ultimately, all instigators perished, many of them swallowed miraculously by the mouth of the earth. The only survivors were Korach’s children, who did Teshuvah and affirmed the leadership of Moshe, as stated in the Gemara [Sanhedrin 110A]:
“...With regard to the verse: “And the sons of Korah did not die" (Numbers 26:11), it is taught in a baraita that in the name of our teacher, the Sages said: A place was fortified for them in Gehennom and they sat upon it and recited songs of praise. Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: One time I was walking on the path, and a certain Arab said to me: Come and I will show you those from the assembly of Korah who were swallowed. I went and I saw two fissures in the ground from which smoke was emerging. That Arab took a woolen fleece and dampened it with water and placed it on the tip of his spear and passed it over the fissures there. The fleece was singed, indicating the level of heat there. He said to me: Listen; what do you hear? And I heard that this is what they were saying: Moses and his Torah are truth, and we were liars…"
Descended from these children of Korach would be Shumuel, the son of the righteous Channah, whose story is detailed in the Navi known by that name. Mystically, Shmuel would be considered the equal to the combined spiritual merit of both Moshe and Aharon, as the Possuk states “...“Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His Name" (Psalms 99:6)...". From the fact that Moshe and Aharon are listed together, while Shmuel is listed independently, Midrashic tradition states that Shmuel’s greatness was on par with Moshe’s and Aharon’s.
This point is driven home in the Gemara, Ta’anit 5B, where the Gemara recounts how Shmuel was praying for the survival of the reign of his first protege, King Shaul. The Gemara states:
“...Rabbi Yitzḥak said to Rav Naḥman that Rabbi Yoḥanan said as follows: Old age sprang upon Samuel, which caused him to appear older than his actual age, as it is written: “I regret that I made Saul king" (I Samuel 15:11). Samuel said before God: Master of the Universe, You have considered me the equivalent of Moses and Aaron, as it is written: “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His Name" (Psalms 99:6). Just as with regard to Moses and Aaron, their handiwork was not annulled in their lifetimes, so too, let my handiwork not be annulled in my lifetime. I anointed Saul; please do not annul his reign…".
Rashi, based on the above idea, states that this point was actually the catalyst for Korach’s rebellion. Korach was prophetically able to sense the greatness of his future progeny; in Rashi’s words [Bamidbar 16’ 7’]:
“...But Korah who certainly was a clever man, what reason had he to commit this folly? His mind’s eye misled him. He saw by prophetic vision a line of great men descending from him, amongst them the prophet Samuel who was equal in importance to Moses and Aaron together, and he said to himself, “On his account I shall escape the punishment"... He said, “Is it possible that all this dignity is to arise from me and I shall remain silent (be myself of no importance)?..."
However, while the above was true, Korach’s downfall was caused by virtue of the fact that he did not perceive his children’s ultimate destiny, whereby they would repent and repair their legacy, not because of his own delusions of grandeur.
The great Rabbi Eliyahu Baruch Finkel, of blessed memory, points out the irony of the desires of Korach and his followers. The Possuk states that Aharon, when he discovered that his younger brother Moshe had been chosen by Hashem to be leader of the Jews, felt total and complete joy in his heart, without a spark of jealousy. Rashi writes [Shemot 4’ 14’], that it is for this reason that Aharon was chosen for the priesthood. Thus, the Torah teaches that the avenue through which Kavod [honor] is earned is not through its self-serving pursuit, but rather through the sincere dedication of connecting with Hashem via the proper channels and methods. With that perspective, we understand that Korach’s intentions were doomed from the start, for his attempts to achieve higher office were rooted in his own self-aggrandizement rather than lofty ideals. As stated in the Gemara [Eiruvin 13], “One who runs from Kavod will be pursued by it; One who pursues Kavod will have it flee from him". Korach, by running after Kavod, was literally swallowed up by its pursuit.
Dedicated in memory of all those who have perished and sacrificed for Am Yisrael.