5 Tammuz
Who do we follow, man or God?
The story of Korach, the cousin of Moshe Rabeinu, shows us the conflicts that can arise in our families when we don’t communicate well or clarify our issues, but instead, we attack one another.
Concerning Korach’s behaviour, our sages go from completely disagreeing with what he did to justifying his right to the High Priest position. This happens among leaders. Today we elect our leaders not based on their qualifications but on their charisma. Usually, the leader who wins is the one who lies the most about how much he can offer us. The opposition party doesn’t like it when the people are happy. They stir things up so that the people desire change. This is happening in the US where the extreme left has taken over the Democratic party which started out as a party for the people. The great majority of my people, the Jews have always been Democrats and here in Canada, Liberals, which preaches that everything is ok – that’s populism. They don’t want to know about Conservatives because it reminds them of the European parties who supported Hitler and we know about persecution. That idea is a lie; we have been brainwashed.
Why wasn’t Korach elected to be the High Priest? He had all the qualities and might have even been a better leader than Moshe. Korach wanted to be a leader; he had a big mouth and according to our sages, he became very wealthy as the intermediary n Egypt handling the slaves. In Israel, there is a saying, “You are as rich as Korach”.
What happened to Korach? In spite of his wealth and position, he was expelled from Egypt with the rest because he was an Israelite. He didn’t want to leave but was thrown out with the rest.
Who was Korach? He was a descendant of Levi who had three sons, Gershom, Kohat, and Merari. Kohat had four children, Amram, Izhar, Chevron and Uzziel. From Amram, the oldest, came two sons, Moshe, the leader and Aaron, the High Priest which may seem like nepotism.
Who should have been the leader of the Kohatities? Korach was the eldest son of the second brother after Amram, Izhar. It should have been Korach, but instead, the Creator chose Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel, Kohat’s youngest son. The role of the firstborn receiving the double inheritance was already understood at that time, so why was Korach overlooked? He wasn’t chosen for anything.
Now we see the second group, the Reubenites headed by Datan and Abiram who also rebel against Moshe. Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob and should have received the double inheritance, but it was given to the tribe of Joseph, to his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Note that the leader who was chosen to follow after Moshe was Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim. It seemed unfair.
Finally, 250 men of “renown” who were also upset, joined this upper-class rebellion against Moshe. It doesn’t say which tribes they were from, but they must have also been unhappy with their positions. This was an upper-class rebellion which was supposedly against Moshe and Aaron. The key here is that the rebellion was not against man, it was against the Creator. Today the leaders in our beloved Israel are so divided that they can’t even form a government. Each sells themselves out for power. The problem is the same now as it was then; they are turned against the Creator. The ultra-Orthodox are suffocating the rest of the people with their religiosity resulting in the secular people rejecting the Creator.
In the Western world today, we almost worship democracy (from the Greek – dêmos δῆμος, traditionally interpreted as “people” and krátos κράτος which means “force” or “power”, and thus means literally “people power”). Government by the people in which the majority rules sounds so beautiful, but the majority doesn’t care about morality, the welfare of the people or what is right and wrong. They favour everything that is popular and will bring more votes. They accuse anybody who doesn’t agree with them and become their enemy. They utilize the tactics of destroying their enemies by tearing down their image and their character.
What was Korach trying to do with Moshe and Aaron? He was a populist who placed himself in the position of being above everyone else and even spoke for the rest of Israel declaring something that is a truth, “Isn’t all Israel holy?” The way for a person to dethrone the true leader was to denounce him publicly, accuse him falsely of taking power, and stealing from the people. The truth is that Moshe never wanted to be the leader, it was the Creator who foisted this position upon him as well as bringing Aaron to be his spokesperson. We don’t know who chose Joshua; all we know was he was there. Their position was to serve the people not to be served. Their accuser, Korach and the others, on the other hand, wanted to be served. That is called demagoguery.
Today politicians and religious leaders are the same; they both make promises they cannot fulfill, interested only in power and in lining their own pockets, like Korach. The saddest thing is that Korach and the other men of renown were the ones who rebelled but where were the rest of the people? Who did they follow? It is obvious that the great majority of them followed these big, mouthed people. Today we see that the majority follows those who promise more whether or not they can fulfill it. Politicians promise paradise here and religious leaders promise paradise in the afterlife. Have any of them delivered? When any leader does the right thing, they are attacked because it is not convenient for those politicians that the population feels good. They have to create unhappy people so that they can offer them paradise.
What was the real transgression of Korach and the other leaders?
They were rebelling against the order set up by the Creator. They were saying things that were not right. Who is the only one who knows the kavanah, the intention of the heart of man? The Creator knew Korach’s heart. Israel would have disappeared immediately if he had been the leader. These men would have set themselves up as gods; the people would no longer need the Creator as Savior; these appointed men would be the saviours.
Judaism has developed the idea that we need a saviour and instead of looking up at the Creator, we are looking for a man to save us. That is idolatry.
In the haftarah portion in 1 Samuel 12:3, Samuel cried out the same words as Moshe. “Whose donkey have I taken?” They were replacing the leadership of God with the leadership of a king, a man because we want to be like the other nations.
Many people think that democracy is a panacea, but I wish that we had governments, led by Godly people who fear or revere the Creator and follow the Torah in their hearts to lead their nations. Today we have leaders without Torah, the blind leading the blind. They are allowing a minority without morals to impose their values upon the rest of society. They are going against every moral value given to us in the Torah. If it says, do not murder, we murder more; if it says, do not steal, we steal more; do not covet, we covet more than ever.
Korach’s problem was simple – he said no to God and yes to man. We need to return to the times when we follow the Creator and not man. It is so difficult now; if we say anything contrary to the values of the day, we are looked at as if we are from another planet, fanatics, or that we don’t understand love as if love alone would solve every problem. Love is not about being soft and wishy-washy where everything will be ok. Love means loyalty, being tough, and doing things right.
I am totally against religiosity. We need a true relationship with the Creator. We must not allow others to lead our lives according to their latest whims. We need to make an effort to research the truth and to stand up for it. We have the responsibility to think for ourselves instead of allowing others to do our thinking as if we are mere peons. The greatest gift that the Creator gave us is the ability to think. We have the responsibility to help each other and to serve others, not for what we can get from them but for what we can give. When others are doing better so are we. That is the true chaverim, solidarity, making this world a better place.
It is not that Korach didn’t have the right to claim a place for himself; the issue was that he didn’t accept the authority of the Creator like the rebels of today. The world is kicking out the Creator from their midst and making Him a laughingstock. Their laugh won’t last too long. Don’t spit up in the air because it will fall on your face. Our great rabbi, prophet, and teacher Yeshua said that there is no worse blind than the one who doesn’t want to see or worse deaf than the one who doesn’t want to hear. That is why those who stand for truth are becoming fewer in number. People don’t want to hear the truth; they only want good news that tickles the ear. The most important thing is to do what is right.
May the LORD bless us forever.
Shabbat Shalom
From Ranebi’s message on July 6, 2019