Dvar Torah Parashat Korach

Dedicated in Honor of Mark Hadre

By his Brother, Isaac

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Parashat Korach

Korach’s Ego

Parashat Korach begins with Korach, a member of the tribe of Levi, confronting Moshe and Aharon with Datan, Aviram, On ben Pelet, and 250 followers.

“And they gathered together against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, ‘You take too much for yourselves! We are all holy, and Hashem is with all of us, so why do you exalt yourselves over this congregation of Hashem?’”

Korach was one of the greatest men of that generation, but his jealousy brought down him, his entire family, and all his followers. Korach understood that Hashem had picked Moshe as the leader of B’nei Yisrael. Then he watched as Moshe appointed his brother Aharon as the kohen gadol. But Korach was greatly disturbed when Moshe appointed his younger cousin Elizafan ben Uziel to oversee the Kehat family. He became very jealous and directed his anger at Moshe as if Moshe had deliberately skipped over him. On the contrary, the Torah teaches us that Hashem told Moshe whom to appoint; it wasn’t Moshe’s personal decision.

It says in Pirkei Avot, “Rabbi Elazar Hakappar said: kin’ah—jealousy, ta’ava—lust, and kavod— [a sense of one’s own due] honor remove a man from this world (4:21).” When we see people acting incorrectly, it is often because their personal kavod has been compromised. People can engage in long-lasting vendettas against those they think have infringed on their honor. As we get older, the feeling that we deserve recognition grows more assertive, and we must be careful not to let it get the better of us.

In this passage, the Torah repeatedly refers to “Korach and his followers,” though the machloket—divisiveness was between Korach and Moshe. We learn from this that Korach and his followers did not act out of righteousness to “seek the truth.” They sought to put Moshe down merely to raise their status and receive the kavod of which they felt they’d been deprived.

Timing is Everything

As we discussed, Rashi comments that Korach’s motivation for fighting with Moshe was based on the appointment of Elizafan ben Uziel as the Head of the Family of Kehat. Following Divine Command, Moshe Rabbenu gave this honorable job to Elizafan, who descended from the youngest of the sons of Kehat. Of Kehat’s four sons, Amram was the oldest brother. Therefore, Korach was willing to live with the fact that both sons of Amram (Aharon and Moshe) had leadership roles. But, he felt that the next significant selection in the family should go to himself, who was the son of Yitzhar – Kehat’s second son. He was so consumed with jealousy from being passed over for the younger brother’s son that he started a revolution against Moshe.

But, Rabbi Frand notes, that the difficulty with Rashi’s scenario is that the appointment of Elizafan ben Uziel took place in Parashat Bamidbar on Rosh Chodesh Iyar! That event took place long ago. If Korach was so upset by this incident, where was he for the last five parshiot—which transpired over far longer than five weeks? When a person is overwhelmed with jealousy, he does not bide his time waiting for an opportune moment. Jealousy is a heated emotion, one that makes a person crazy.

The answer is that Korach was a pikeach—a shrewd individual. He was smart, knowing that timing is everything and when to make his move. In Parashat Bamidbar, Moshe was riding high. He was the Master of all Israel. He performed great miracles in the desert. He took care of all the people’s needs. His approval ratings were off the charts! It was certainly no time to mount a challenge to his leadership!

Ramban explains the reason why Parashat Korach follows the chapter on the spies. The people were depressed because of the aftermath of the spies’ debacle. Morale was at an all-time low. They faced 40 more years of wandering in the desert. It was at precisely this moment that Korach decided to make his move against Moshe. This was Korach’s ingenuity. If he were foolish, he would have opened his mouth to complain as soon as he was upset about something. Instant gratification is the sign of a fool, an immature baby, and a person with no intelligence. The older we get, the more we realize that we often need to put things off.

Korach nursed his grudge against Moshe until the proper time. Perhaps this was not the sign of a person with a sterling character; however, it was the sign of intelligence and self-control. We need to give Korach some credit. He had the wisdom to understand that, in life, timing is everything.

The Power of Machloket

Though Moshe tried to dissuade the rebellion, they remained stubborn and strong. This machloket brought these people to their own demise. The passuk says that the entire congregation, men women, infant and child died a terrible death.

Rashi explains how destructive machloket is. The Beit Din—Jewish Courts don’t punish a child until they are bar/bat mitzvah. The heavenly courts do not punish a person until they are twenty years old! How could the nursing infants have been punished? What possibly could have been the sin of these of these infants?

Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier says first, we must understand how Hashem runs the world. Hashem created immutable laws of nature such as water freezing when it gets cold, heat rising and gravity. These laws of nature do not discriminate and are neither cruel nor kind. If a baby is left unattended at a changing table and falls, it is likely he will get hurt. Though the results of gravity may be tragic, a person would not rush to blame gravity. Gravity cannot judge, discern, or decide. It is just a piece of reality.

Everything in the physical world is reflected in the spiritual world. Just like there are physical laws that govern the world, so too there are spiritual laws. These as well are specific and exact and have real consequences. One of these laws are din—justice. Din is unadulterated accountability. If something comes about through an action of yours, you are responsible, whether you intended or not. Din is just. A person is rewarded for doing right and punished for doing wrong.

Before Hashem created the world, He considered whether the world should have been created with the attribute of din. However, if the whole world ran on din, no man could survive.

Therefore, Hashem created the world using the trait of rachamim—mercy to mitigate the din. Our world is run with both rachamim and din. A person is judged where they are coming from and what they are going through. These midot are balanced like a seesaw. There are some special days like Yom Kippur which introduces more mercy to the world.

Other things can influence the balance of judgment and mercy as well. Chazzal says that the amount of extremeness or compassion you use to judge others will be used to judge you. Extremes in attitudes or behaviors will bring extremes in the system of judgment.

Machloket has the power to bring out extremes in a person or a group of people. In a hostile group, there is no room for understanding and tolerance. Because Korach’s rebellion judged harshly, the trait of din in the world flared up and judgment was at its strictest.

Though the rebellion was 250 men. The machloket brough 250 men and their wives and children into the equation. This revolution consumed everyone affiliated. It is so easy to get pulled into machloket. The Chofetz Chaim compares machloket to fire. It consumes everything in its path. Before we know it, we are stuck so deep that it is hard to see our way out of it. Just like fire, we should be cautious to run away from machloket before we are burned.

After the sinners were punished, the Torah gives us amazing advice that will always apply. Rabbi Frand explains that at other instances that Moshe was dealing with a machloket, “[He] would take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, at some distance from the camp (Shemot 33:7).” He walked away from the machloket without saying a word! This is a difficult lesson to practice, but it is the most effective way of avoiding machloket. Be quiet, do not say anything, and walk away! This, along with prayer like Moshe showed us, is guaranteed to nip machloket in the bud.

Machloket and Money

The root of the word machloket—divisiveness is chet, lamed, kuf, or chelek—portion. When people are arguing, they are separated and divided. The root of the word shalom—peace, is shin, lamed, mem, or shalem—full. When everyone is together, there is peace and unity.

The maan fell for 40 years in the desert, except for one day. On the day of Korach’s rebellion, the maan didn't fall, whereas on the day of the sin of the golden calf, which was presumably a greater sin, the maan fell because there was unity among the Jewish people. This shows us that machloket effects our parnassah—wealth.

Rav Shaul Kardi Shlita, the Rav of the Keser Torah community in Mexico, told Rabbi Biderman that ten years ago, he asked Reb Matisyahu Solomon, the mashgiach of Lakewood Yeshiva, "What is the secret of the success of the Lakewood yeshiva? There are thousands of students, the budget is millions of dollars, and yet there is an abundance. The siyata dishmaya—help from G-d is beyond natural."

Reb Solomon replied, "I have been here for twenty years. There are four roshei yeshivot—heads of the school. From time to time, we gather for a meeting, and we discuss matters that are of great importance. There are times when there are disagreements among the roshei yeshiva, but there is never a machloket." In other words, we are allowed to think differently, but we never end our meetings in dispute.

Saved by His Wife

The Midrash tells us that when the mob led by Korach stopped by On ben Pelet’s home to say to him that it was time to come, his wife scared them away and saved her husband’s life.

She knew that machloket was something to be avoided, and she said to her husband, “What good would come out of this dispute, and what benefit would it bring to you? If you win, then Korach wins — and you are in the same position as before. And if they lose, Moshe stays, and you will be punished, so it’s even worse!” In other words, whether or not Korach succeeds in gaining some high office for himself, you will remain an ordinary man. So why take the gamble of joining a rebellion against Moshe?

King Solomon called her a brilliant woman, yet it seems this should be common sense. The problem is that we lose our logic when we get caught up in divisiveness. This can lead to destructive consequences, but when avoided, can even save a life.

The Survivors

Steve Rosenthal was one of the 37 survivors after the collapse of the Champlain Towers where he lived for twenty years. He describes how most of his neighbors were tragically killed, but he was saved from being crushed by a mere ten feet.

After this traumatic event, Steve moved to a nearby hotel. Out of the blue he gets a call from the police. “We found something of yours in the rubble,” they said. Confused, Steve asked what it was. “Your tefillin,” the police answered, and they promptly sent him a picture of his tefillin bag with his name on it.

From that moment forward, Steve Rosenthal knew that it was Hashem who had saved him that day. Every day he started coming to shul and wearing tefillin and keeping Shabbat. So too, Bnei Yisroel clearly saw Hashem after Korach and his followers were destroyed. Let us not wait until Hashem shows us He is in control.

May we all learn from this parasha to keep our feeling of kavod in check so we can stay far away from machloket. Also, when we have a difference of opinion with others — whether in our families or our professions — may we try to step back, look out for each other, and help spread simcha and be the kind, caring nation we are known to be.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Amram Sananes as written by Jack Rahmey

Discussion Point:

Do we have any disagreements with others or hurt feelings that we’re holding on to?

This book is a compilation of Divre Torah from the weekly parasha classes from Rabbi Sananes’ teachings over the last 10 years along with my own experiences in those classes which has stimulated my Torah growth. I’ve included many pertinent stories and life lessons to grow from at your Shabbat table. There’s also questions and discussion points at the end of each Parasha to stimulate a Torah conversation at your Shabbat table for the whole family to participate in. Also, included is a holidays section at the end of the book to use for all of our special holidays and Yomiim Toviim.



Now available in all Jewish bookstores and Amazon!

I and Rabbi Sananes look forward to hearing your feedback.

Sincerely, Jack E. Rahmey and Rabbi Amram Sananes

jrahmey@rahmeyfinancial.com (917-226-6276) and AmramSanases@me.com

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Le’ilui Nishmat…

Eliyahu Ben Rachel

Rabbi Shimon Chay Ben Yaasher

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Sarah Bat Chanah

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Avraham Ben Mazal

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Rahamim Ben Mazal

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Ovadia Ben Esther

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Moshe Ben Mazal

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Shalom Ben Zahra

Rachel Bat Sarah

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Anyone interested in dedicating this Divre Torah Le'ilui Nishmat or Refuah Shelemah or In Honor of someone, can email me at

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