29 Jun PARSHAS KORACH: NATIONAL OR PERSONAL CRISIS
The pasuk [verse]
says, “And
Hashem said to
Moshe: ‘Bring
back the staff of
Aharon before the
Testimony as a safekeeping, as a
sign for rebellious ones; let their
complaints cease from Me that they
not die’” [Bamidbar 17:25] After
the rebellion of Korach, Hashem
performed a miracle with the staff
of Aharon, thereby proclaiming the
authority of Moshe Rabbeinu and
Aharon. This signified that the
leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu
should never again be challenged
and that Korach and all of his
compatriots were wrong. Moshe is
the Divinely chosen leader and
Aharon is the Divinely chosen
Kohen Gadol. The next pasuk
continues “Moshe did as Hashem
had commanded, so he did”.
Clearly there is a redundancy here.
First the pasuk says Moshe did
what Hashem commanded him,
then it says “that’s what he did”.
How many times does the Torah
need to tell us that he did it? Why
the emphasis? There is an
interesting Medrash on the pasuk
“And Korach gathered the entire
assembly against them (Moshe and
Aharon)” [Bamidbar 16:19].The
Medrash says that Moshe trembled
because of the controversy. He fell
to the ground, seemingly losing all
strength. Chaza”l explain that
Moshe reacted in this way because
this was already the fourth offense
of the Jewish people which had
caused Moshe to beg for
mercyfrom Hashem on their
behalf. The Medrash gives a
parable. A prince offended his
father, the King. The King’s
friend begged for mercy in
behalf of the son and the King
was appeased. This happened
a second and a third time.
When it happened the fourth
time, the friend of the King
became exasperated saying, “How
many times can I bother the
King?”. Moshe Rabbeinu felt the
same way. They sinned by the
Golden Calf and Moshe prayed for
them. They sinned complaining for
meat and Moshe prayed for them.
They sinned with the incident of the
Spies and Moshe prayed for them.
Concerning the argument with
Korach Moshe said, “How
many times can I bother
Hashem?”. Therefore, when
Moshe heard the argument of
Korach “he fell upon his face”.
Moshe Rabbeinu was the leader
and the teacher of the Jewish
people. The sins of the Golden
Calf, of the complainers, and of
the Spies were not challenges
to Moshe’s leadership, per say.
But, by Korach, we have a
direct frontal assault to the
leadership of Moshe. What
would be the reaction of any
normal leader? He would feel
stressed and depressed and
perhaps powerless “because
they are attacking me“. What
concerned Moshe Rabbeinu? It
did not bother him that he was
being attacked. What bothered
him is “What will be with Klal
Yisroel? How many times can I
go back to Hashem for Klal
Yisroel?” “What do you mean
‘Klal Yisroel’? What about
yourself, Moshe? It’s your
prestige that’s on the line!
Aren’t you worried about that?”
The Medrash says, “No!” Moshe
was not concerned about his image
or about his stature. He wasn’t
concerned about his position. There
was no personal crisis. There was
only the national crisis. Moshe fell
on his face strictly out of concern
for his people. This, then, is
perhaps what the pasuk is telling us.
When Hashem told Moshe to place
the staff so that the entire Jewish
people could see it and know that
he was chosen to be their leader,
Moshe’s reaction was not that of a
normal leader. The normal reaction
would have been “I’m right! You
see — I told you all along! I’m
right! You had no reason to
question me!” The Torah tells us,
therefore, that Hashem commanded
Moshe to put the staff there, and
that is the only reason that he put
the staff there. He did not put it
there as justification for his
position. That did not bother him in
the least. Moshe did not put the
staff there to rub it in their faces or
to prove his authority; he put it
there only because he was
commanded to put it there by
Hashem. This is the greatness of
Moshe Rabbeinu. This is why he is
the Rabbi of all of Israel. Because
he had the ability to elevate himself
above his own personal needs and
his only concern was the needs of
the Jewish people.