Numbers Cycle Four Korach 16:1-18:32

Korach

Korach, we wonder, is he friend or foe?

Korach took. This is how the parasha begins. For a quick review… a man named Korach decides that Moses isn’t the only one who can speak to God. He gathers a following, rebels then gets swallowed by the mouth of the earth. It’s a squeamish parasha, especially for us modern Jews. It’s hard not to think that Korach certainly has a point. Of course we can all talk to God. Why, if he is supporting a basic tenet of Judaism, is he given a one way ticket to darkness?

The Talmudic rabbis themselves go on for quite a while studying the relative sin of Korach. If his action is evil, they seem to be questioning, then how evil? In Sanhedrin 109b we learn that his name has the same root as ice or frost. I don’t know what this proves but then we learn that his followers have root words that infer other unwelcome settings. According to Rab (Sanhedrin 110b) On, the son of Peleth, was saved by his wife. What does it matter, she asks, whether Moses remains master or Korach becomes master? You are still a disciple. Then, she gets her husband so drunk he can’t rebel.

To continue, other Talmudic rabbis seem to think that Korach (and the men he took) are simply jealous of Moses, fearful that the prophet might sleep with their wives. There are sages who believe that Korach is swallowed by the mouth of the earth and there he and his men sing such beautiful songs to God that he is allowed to rise back up. Other sages believe that Korach is doomed for eternity. Psalm 42 is a song for Korach, blessing him. Today, in some modern settings, Korach is often viewed as the glorified rebel, the one who acts and speaks the truth at the expense of his very name as well as his spiritual and physical survival.

This is my opinion. For all of us so used to beginnings with the familiar and God spoke to Moses saying speak to the Israelites… this beginning of Korach (Korach took) hits us hard. Right at the start, therefore, the very semantics of Torah infer that Korach might be missing the boat. What does he take? Perhaps the people listed after his own name. Perhaps himself. Perhaps God. In any case, the verb take lacks the gentle resonant steps involved in the transmission through Moses to the people. It’s a sudden harsh action. It doesn’t even infer transmission but a forced reception. It’s almost like Korach is trying so hard to be spiritual he forgets the fact that it’s not about him or Moses anyway. As the kabbalists believe, man is simply a tool, a vessel…a construct within constructs… that enables the flow of Hashem to the Israelites. The egos, the names, the power struggles, the need for more, to be right, even to be holy…these are all masks of the human that give him the ability to be that vessel. But as soon as the masks step in and try to control the flow…the heart…this is when the very structure of love breaks apart into shards… pieces of kelipot…that bury us and cause pain…not only to man but to God.

Raba (Sanhedrin 110b) says it best in his analysis of Numbers line 16:30: But if God makes a new thing and the earth opens her mouth?

The new thing, according to Raba is this mouth of the earth that rises to the spot where they are standing. Why does it rise? To take care of this new problem...the threat to the God-man transmission structure so delicately and beautifully planned and enacted since creation. Even Pirkei Avot lists the mouth of the earth as one of the important aspects of creation.

So, in short, what Korach has to say is holy. The way he does it..structurally… is destructive. And because the way he does it is messed up the communication lines are stopped and blocked and his truth..a great truth indeed… is left un- heard except in crevices of buried (yes) hell from which he may or may not rise. Korach is friend… but only if/when he rises out of the structure of foe.

How to bring this lesson to the here and now? Understand that our great truths of heart and soul can be lost…and us with them…if we express them with aggression and a lack of compassion…in short if we become more important than the truth itself. The greater the truth (in heart or soul) the greater the gentleness needed in the transmission. Offer truth with grace and beauty. This is not a ball to be thrown. But a jewel to be passed with care. Forgive those who can’t do this but guard yourself. Remember Korach was swallowed by the mouth of the earth for a reason.

How to bring this to meditation? Once in a state of understanding…or daat…envision the flow of light in all its force moving through you. Then see yourself slowing this process, transforming the light itself to the width of human heart-openings. Let that vibration flow through your hands, mouth, eyes. Don’t even try to transmit until you know you can transform the substance. If you need to wait, wait. Better to transmit with the necessary gentleness then to give all with ragged and destructive force. Don’t take credit for your meditation, for your God-work. It’s not your doing. Know what flows through you. Know what you are.