Dedicated in loving memory of Nadav Elchanan Knoller הי"ד, ז"ל, my next-door neighbor and friend, who fell this week in Gaza.
וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח בֶּן יִצְהָר בֶּן קְהָת בֶּן לֵוִי וְדָתָן וַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב וְאוֹן בֶּן פֶּלֶת בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן (במדבר טז, א).
It is impossible to read the parshiyot in sefer Bamidbar and not feel a chill run down the spine. Until about a year ago, the subject matter was in the realm of theory. In light of recent events, however, it has transformed into an almost blow-by-blow reflection of the reality we are currently experiencing on a daily basis.
Studying the dynamics and mechanics of these parshiyot is crucial to uncovering the truth behind the façade of the period in which we are living, so that we can develop strategies and solutions to achieve resolution.
At the heart of parshat Korach lies a power struggle over the leadership of Am Yisrael. Parshat Korach is a template for the process of assuming leadership - what is effective, what is acceptable, what is inevitable and … what is not.
Everyone knows the basic story of Korach. He was a very wealthy man. There are various opinions on how he became rich.
The first (שמות רבה ה, יח) says that the first day Pharaoh enlisted Am Yisrael in his "national building project", he offered them astronomical sums for whatever bricks they could produce. Everyone wanting to make a fast buck, exerted a Herculean effort to make as many bricks as possible. Korach, who was very smart, made only one brick. The following day, Pharaoh enslaved Am Yisrael and demanded they produce the same number of bricks as they had the previous day when offered money. If they could not meet the quota, Pharaoh cemented their children into the building instead of the bricks. Since Korach only had to make one brick a day, he had time to make extra bricks, which he sold at a pretty penny to anyone who could not meet their quota. He thus accumulated a vast fortune (capitalizing off the misfortune of his fellow Jews).
The second opinion (Pesachim 119a) says that in Egypt, Yosef buried three treasures. One was discovered by Korach, the second by Antoninus and the third will be discovered in the future when Mashiach comes. It doesn't say that Korach discovered the treasure by accident. He knew of the treasure and actively went hunting for it.
A third opinion (במדבר רבה יח, טו) says that Korach was in charge of Pharaoh's treasuries and he stole money from Pharaoh. The Maggid of Dubno (משלי יעקב, פרשת קרח) says that by doing so, he in fact stole from Am Yisrael, because when all the riches of Egypt floated up after קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף, Am Yisrael collected them and these riches were diminished because Korach had stolen part of them.
Albeit not in a savory way, we see that Korach was very astute in monetary affairs and managed to accumulate a vast fortune.
Korach was part of the family of Kehat, the bearers of the Aron HaBrit. This task was not entrusted to anyone who was not of a very high spiritual level. It was an extremely hazardous task and Korach, who at this point was over 50, had already completed a successful "tour of duty" in the Mishkan and emerged intact. This gives us some insight into his spiritual level. Chazal also tell us that Korach had powers of Ruach HaKodesh and the reason he decided to go up against Moshe was because he saw that Shmuel HaNavi would be descended from his bloodline. He thought it was due to his merit, but it ended up being in the merit of his sons who did tshuva and did not perish with their father.
We already got a hint that Korach was smart (with the bricks). We also see from Chazal that he was (almost) as knowledgeable as Moshe when it came to halacha. From the טְעָנוֹת he put forth, with the techelet, etc. we see that he was fully adroit with halacha. He was also a master strategist. He could plan multiple steps ahead, like in a chess game, anticipating Moshe's responses and preparing counter responses to them.
Korach saw himself as a candidate to lead Am Yisrael. He believed he possessed all the qualifications necessary (rich, smart, a masterful strategist, a highly elevated spiritual level, Ruach HaKodesh, Shmuel HaNavi descended from him, etc.). He believed that he was on a par, or better than Moshe and Aharon, to lead Am Yisrael.
And he might have been, except for a few "minor" issues.
If Korach felt that he was equivalent, or better than Moshe and Aharon to lead Am Yisrael, why did he not tender his candidacy back in Egypt, when Am Yisrael were still enslaved? Why did he wait for this specific point in time to launch an election campaign?
Back in Egypt, before Moshe returned from his sojourn with Yitro, Aharon was the spiritual leader of Am Yisrael and then (and later, in the Midbar), he was much loved by Am Yisrael. Korach never challenged Aharon back then. When Moshe returned to Egypt and said "I am the גּוֹאֵל", why did Korach not respond, "What about me? I am also fit to be the גּוֹאֵל!" At this point, the primary issue that occupied Korach was accumulating wealth.
The reason is that back then, Korach knew he did not stand a chance. First of all, he was the son of Yitzhar. Yitzhar was not Kehat's firstborn, Amram was (בְּנֵי קְהָת עַמְרָם יִצְהָר חֶבְרוֹן וְעֻזִּיאֵל). He did not have a hereditary preference to the position, Aharon and Moshe, sons of Amram, did. Second of all Aharon was loved by Am Yisrael, Korach wasn't – he was busy making money off their misery. Thirdly, Moshe was performing all these signs and miracles, Korach wasn't.
So, what had changed since then? Why did he suddenly think he had a chance? The answer is, he perceived that Moshe was in a position of weakness. Two weeks ago, in Beha'alotcha we read that Moshe could no longer bear the complaints of Am Yisrael, which led to HKB"H giving some of Moshe's power to the seventy elders. A consequence of this was that Eldad and Meidad prophesied that Moshe would die and Yehoshua would lead Am Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael. This was followed by the episode of the meraglim, leaving Am Yisrael in a depression that they would have to remain in the Midbar for 40 years. It is at this point that Korach pops out of the woodwork.
Rashi says that the trigger was that Moshe appointed Elitzafan ben Uziel as nasi over the family of Kehat, passing over Korach, who seemingly had preference, being the son of Yitzhar, who was older than Uziel. Perhaps that was the final trigger that got the ball rolling, but the ball had been waiting to roll - long before that. Korach harbored a grudge against Moshe and Aharon because he believed he was their peer, but despite that, he had received no official acknowledgement or recognition.
If Korach was running for the presidency of the United States, then he was correct that he was suitable for the position. He had the stats. He was wealthy in his own right and therefore unbribable. He was extremely intelligent and a top strategist. He believed that he was a highly spiritual and moral individual. He possessed Ruach HaKodesh and mistakenly read the signs (polls) that he would survive a confrontation with Moshe and Aharon and that Shmuel would be his descendent.
So, what did Korach do? He launched a "democratic" election campaign - USA style. He engineered a smear campaign against his opponents. He spotlighted all the supposed "debacles" that his opponent had caused. He fabricated false accusations against his opponent and broadcast them in the media, accusations of corruption at the highest levels, accusations of sexual misconduct, accusations of monopolization, accusations of "lying", that Moshe was making everything up and not relating what HKB"H told him. Korach did not have shred of evidence to substantiate these false accusations. It was sufficient to have them "out there", to have them become buzzwords, to pump them incessantly. If you repeat a lie often enough, people will think it is true. The Soviets didn't invent this propaganda technique, Korach did.
And it all came to a climax in the final "debate", the showdown, for all to see.
We know Moshe and Aharon were the true leaders, chosen by HKB"H and not Korach, because it was finally proved by Divine intervention when Korach and his followers got swallowed up by the earth (we already knew it before, but this was the decisive proof, visible to all).
Let us examine the fundamental difference between Korach and Moshe. The main difference was that Korach pursued fame and fortune and Moshe ran from it. When HKB"H commanded Moshe to return to Egypt and redeem Am Yisrael, Moshe gave a thousand reasons why he was not qualified for the job. HKB"H had to forcibly "threaten" Moshe to get him to accept the role. While the rest of Am Yisrael were loading their 90 Libyan donkeys full of Egyptian loot, where was Moshe? Searching for Yosef's coffin. Moshe did not leave Egypt with 90 donkeys. When he says לֹא חֲמוֹר אֶחָד מֵהֶם נָשָׂאתִי, it is not only that he didn't dishonestly take one of Korach's donkeys, he didn't take a single donkey for himself either, donkeys that he was entitledto take, like the rest of Am Yisrael.
When electing a leader amongst the goyim, all the above is fair game. This is the way the goyim run their world. However, Am Yisrael are different.
Leaders in Am Yisrael are not democratically elected, they are chosen, by HKB"H. Not necessarily because of their qualifications, their seniority, their intelligence, their wealth, their physical strength, their popularity etc. but purely because of their middot. HKB"H chooses leaders who have the required middot in their resumé. Once they fit that bill, HKB"H, afterwards, gives them all the other stuff - strength, wealth, wisdom, etc.
Moshe was not smart initially. When he went up to Har Sinai to get the Torah, HKB"H kept repeating it over and over for forty days and forty nights and it just wouldn't sink in. Finally, HKB"H gave the Torah to Moshe as a gift, not because of his intelligence, but because of his מְסִירוּת נֶפֶשׁ, not eating nor drinking for 40 days and nights. When HKB"H selects someone to be a Kohen Gadol, he has to be "gadol" than his fellow Kohanim, in wealth, strength, appearance, etc. What if he is not wealthy? The other Kohanim give him money and make him wealthy. What if he is not strong? They send him to Gold's Gym to work out for 6 months and become strong so he can wave 22,000 Levi'im around in the air. Thirteen-year-old Betzalel did not have the artisanal skills to build the Mishkan, he had the required middot. Afterwards HKB"H gave him all the necessary skills as a gift. Skills are not prerequisites for leadership of Am Yisrael - middot are.
There are no candidates for Jewish leadership. If someone tenders themselves as a candidate of their own initiative, thinking they are worthy of the position, this is a sure-fire sign that they are not eligible for the role. Throughout history, HKB"H has chosen leaders in Am Yisrael, not by candidacy, but by the diametric opposite to candidacy, the person you would least likely expect to be chosen, the person who is reluctant to accept the role.
That was back then, 3335 years ago. Things were slightly different back then. We had HKB"H Himself to tell us who the leader was, we had the nevi'im to tell us who the leader was, when HKB"H was not communicating directly with Am Yisrael as He was in the generation of the Midbar.
Today, we don't have nevi'im to tell us. Today our leaders are chosen democratically, like the goyim. We copied them … and look where that has gotten us. We have deteriorated to the debased level of the goyim and forgotten that we are the Chosen People, meaning that the choosing is done by HKB"H, not us. We have adopted the modus operandi of the goyim, the audacity, the deceit, the falsehoods, the hate.
If anyone had the unfortunate opportunity to watch the debate last week between Biden and Trump (I didn't stay up to watch it, I saw a recording of it later in the day), this emphasizes the fundamental difference between Am Yisrael and the goyim. You come away thinking "This is the greatest superpower in the world and these are the best two candidates for leader of this nation?" The lies, the hate, the incompetence, the moral decrepitude. And it wasn't that one has dementia and the other doesn't (if he didn't, it would have been even worse). Both of them are morally demented.
It wouldn't bother me so much, except that here in Israel, we are using the USA as a role model and duplicating their debased values.
It has become patently obvious that democracy as a system of government is now defunct. We have all borne witness to the flaws that afflict this system, how easily it can be perverted and manipulated and turned into an empty shell of an idea. If anyone needs proof of this, take a look at all the democracies in the world – they are all in a shambles. The "Axis of Evil", all the non/anti-democracies (Russia, China, Iran, etc.), have succeeded in exposing the democracy of the West for what it really is – a covert form of fascism.
The fact that Israel prides itself on being the only democracy in the Middle East, is not a point of honor, it is a point of shame, because the buzzword "democracy" is simply a façade for fascism. We are only "democratic", when it suits our purpose. When democracy does not suit our purpose - when demographics change, when values change, when those who have become accustomed to power are no longer "democratically" elected - then democracy is no longer the "holy cow" it was purported to be and those who are democratically elected by majority vote can "legitimately" be removed by military coup, by judicial coup, by character assassination, anarchy, etc. – it is all fair game, all the rules of "democracy" go out the window. Just like Korach. Just like the Soviets. Just like the USA. Just like Israel.
Just like you have two unsuitable candidates running for leadership of the world's superpower, you have two unsuitable candidates battling here in Israel for leadership. And I am not necessarily referring to individuals, I am referring to "camps" – democrat and conservative.
So, what to do?
Unlike the goyim, where democrats and conservatives are diametrically opposed poles of the magnet, in Am Yisrael they are not – they are complementary.
Imagine a "utopian" vision in the USA of a shared government where the Democrats would be in charge of the health system, the welfare system, the culture, the environment, while the Conservatives would be in charge of the military, the foreign policy, the economy, religion vs. state, crime prevention, immigration. Each side of the coin doing what they are best at, but both working together as one coin. It could never happen in the USA, but it could happen in Am Yisrael.
Am Yisrael are genetically designed not to follow the democratic model, but the Twelve Tribe model. A symbiotic organism with twelve parts working together for the benefit of the larger organism, each doing what they do best.
Imagine a leadership system in Am Yisrael where one arm focuses on Torah study, one arm focuses on defense, one arm focuses on hi-tech and the economy, one arm focuses on agriculture, one arm focuses on human rights, one arm focuses on culture, one arm focuses on foreign affairs, one arm focuses on the justice system, one arm focuses on education, one arm focuses on health, one arm focuses on the environment … but instead of working against one another, working symbiotically together with one another.
None of us knows which tribe we are from, except the Kohanim and Levi'im. However, genetics has a power of its own and each of us gravitates to our "tribe" naturally, instinctively. When someone ends up pursuing a career in the army, it is a nudge by their tribal genetics, similarly for someone who chooses a career in hi-tech/commerce, studies Torah full time, becomes a farmer, a lawyer/judge, etc. This is the de facto delineation of the Twelve Tribes today.
Right now, we have all these arms, but working against one another and people in some arms who do not belong there. Instead of being polarized like the goyim, Am Yisrael is designed for unity in diversity. Each focusing on what they are genetically and spiritually best at, for the benefit of all – Klal Yisrael.
Am Yisrael have experienced this intrinsic type of leadership in the sporadic "unity governments" over the decades - one just recently - when some exterior threat forces us to work together. However, they inevitably degenerate into the reality of the goyim – placing personal (factional) interests above national interests. This was the debacle of Korach.
It is an absence of אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ, a misguided lust to forcibly take something that is not yours, to forcibly exert your purpose over others' purposes, an inability to be satisfied with your predetermined role in Am Yisrael and recognize/respect others' roles. This is what Moshe said to Korach רַב לָכֶם בְּנֵי לֵוִי, the same attribute as Eisav וַיֹּאמֶר עֵשָׂו יֶשׁ לִי רָב.
The process of Geulah is a stripping away of the façade, revealing the truth. Exposing all the man-made systems for what they are – fallible and transient. Eventually Am Yisrael will come to the realization and accept that there is only One true Leadership that is infallible. Then the twelve limbs will start realizing that they are part of the same body and start working together, relinquishing self in preference to the whole. It will happen, it is inevitable. Then the Geulah will arrive.
I would like to close by sharing with you some brief, fond memories of the צַדִּיק and גִּבּוֹר this shiur is dedicated to. Nadav Elchanan Knoller z"l, son of my best friend and next-door neighbor Eli Knoller, fell in action this week in Gaza. Being next-door neighbors, our kids grew up together and we watched Nadav grow into a remarkable adult. What struck me was that there were no "holy cows" with Nadav. He had an enquiring mind and examined every little thing to discover the truth of it by himself, not sufficing with second hand information. He always asked piercing questions that stripped away all the "shtuyot" and got directly to the core.
Nadav was incredibly industrious and full of initiatives. Having a bakery in the back of our house, my nose is highly attuned to smells that are irregular and unusual. One morning I was busy baking, when a strong smell of wood smoke wafted into the bakery and … it wasn't from anything that I was doing. I was worried that something connected to the bakery was burning chas vechalila. I rushed outside to find Nadav feeding logs into something that looked like a cross between a lunar lander and a nuclear reactor. The entire back yard was engulfed in smoke. When I asked him what he was doing he told me he had built a drum "smoker" to smoke his own food, smoked fish, meat etc. Whenever I heard the lawnmower going next door, or some construction project, erecting sheds, swimming pools, etc. I knew it was Nadav. He was a doer.
But the most striking thing about Nadav, is what the subject of this shiur was about. He was an אִישׁ מִדּוֹת par excellence, always looking to help, volunteer, always thinking of others before himself. A true leader.
He will be sorely missed. יְהִי זִכְרוֹ בָּרוּךְ.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
