…June – Shelach – Strong People Don’t Need Walls – Rabbi Shaul Robinson 21 June – Korach – Dying Twice: Korach’s mysterious end – Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum 28 June – Chukat-Balak – Dwelling Alone: Blessing or curse? – Rabbi Shaul Robinson 5 July – Pinchas – Who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh? – Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum 12 July…
…Korach rebellion: “I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them” (Ex. 15:16). In one of the world-changing moments in history, social criticism was born in Israel simultaneously with institutionalisation of power. No sooner were there kings in Israel than there were prophets mandated by God to criticise them when they…
…journeys through the wilderness. They were satisfied with this honour, unlike the family of Kehat, detailed at the end of last week’s parsha, one of whose number, Korach, eventually instigated a rebellion against Moshe and Aharon. Likewise, the long, repetitive account of the offerings of the princes of the twelve tribes indicates that each was considered important enough to merit…
…and made a Golden Calf. Even when he was present, there was a rebellion on the part of Korach and others against his leadership. The possibility of rift or schism if he died without a designated successor was immense. So he said to God “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this…
…more freedom and dignity to human choice than any other economic system. Second is the biblical respect for property rights, as against the idea prevalent in the ancient world that rulers were entitled to treat property of the tribe or nation as their own. By contrast, when Moses finds his leadership challenged by the Israelites during the Korach rebellion, he…
…were thirsty, he cleaved the rock. When Korach’s supporters denied his authority, the earth swallowed them up. So too with all the other signs. What then were our grounds for believing in him? The revelation at Sinai, in which we saw with our own eyes and heard with our own ears . . . Hilchot Yesodei haTorah 8:1 The primary…
…single answer. At times, Moses asserted his authority (during the Korach rebellion). At others, he expressed the wish that “all God’s people were prophets”. Judaism is a complex faith. There is no one Torah model of leadership. We are each called on to fill a number of leadership roles: as parents, teachers, friends, team-members and team-leaders. There is no doubt,…
…spies, lose heart and say they want to return to Egypt. Throughout, they are referred to as the edah (as in “How long will this wicked community grumble against Me?” Bamidbar 14:27). The people agitated by Korach in his rebellion against Moses and Aaron’s authority is likewise called an edah (“If one man sins, will You be angry with the…
…brother Jacob after a long estrangement, they kiss, embrace and go their separate ways. Levi, condemned by Jacob for his violence, counts Moses, Aaron and Miriam among his grandchildren. Even Pharaoh, the man who enslaved the Israelites, had a moral heroine for a daughter. The descendants of Korach sang psalms in the Temple of Solomon. This too is moral maturity,…
…to their selling him as a slave. According to Ibn Ezra, the resentment felt by the descendants of Reuben endured for several generations, and was the reason why Datan and Aviram, both Reubenites, became key figures in the Korach rebellion.[7] Jacob did what he did as an expression of love. His feeling for Rachel was overwhelming, as it was for…