Korach: Don't be ungrateful!

Rav Johnny's original thoughts on the weekly parsha

When we read Parshat Korach we notice something strange about the behaviour of Moshe: Moshe does not seem to try and talk Korach down from his rebellion (Bemidbar 16:5). Moshe gets angry (Ibid. 16:15). Having tried, though not succeeded, in talking Datan & Aviram down from their joint rebellion with Korach, he tells God not to accept Datan & Aviram’s offering (ibid.). And soon after, Moshe instructs God to kill Korach and his followers in an unusual manner (ibid. 16:29-30).

And what is strange about this? It is the fact that when Bnei Yisrael previously committed heinous sins (such as when they built the Golden Calf), Moshe defended the people, and he begged God not to destroy the people (see Shemot 32:11). In fact, there are those who suggest that Moshe was prepared to die rather than let God destroy the people (see Brachot 32a).

Given all this, why does Moshe stand his ground and prosecute Korach, Datan & Aviram rather than defend them?

Until recently, I’d understood Korach, Datan & Aviram’s rebellion as being nothing more than a public verbal explosion stemming from feelings of bitterness and resentment having been (seemingly) overlooked and (apparently) snubbed. Yet, even if this were true, Moshe’s reaction seems to be disproportionate and lacking mercy. Given this, perhaps we need to re-evaluate what, precisely, was the spiritual transgression that Korach, Datan & Aviram committed?

The Ramban, in his commentary to Bemidbar 16:29, addresses this question directly, stating that:

‘Many of the people had said to Moshe many times, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt?” [and yet Moshe did not ask for them to be especially punished]. However, these people deserved punishment more than all other [previous sinners]. This is because they said, ‘but you must also make yourself a prince over us?!’ (Bemidbar 16:3). Thus they committed two evils: they demeaned the honour of the master Moshe, and they effectively denied all the deeds of God which [Moshe] had performed for them in Egypt, in the wilderness, and at the Revelation on Mount Sinai where it is said ‘and they will believe in you [Moshe] forever’ (Shemot 19:9). Instead, they claimed that Moshe was not worthy to rule over them, and that nothing but evil had befallen them while he was the leader. Therefore, it is said, ‘Moshe was very angry’ (Bemidbar 16:15).’

What this tells us (and as the Sforno further explains in his commentary to Bemidbar 16:15) is that not only did Korach, Datan & Aviram criticize Moshe, but they initiated a smear campaign to discredit him as the leader of the Jewish people. Specifically, they claimed that Moshe had made the life of the Jewish people worse rather than better. They suggested that it was Moshe, not God, who had made the appointments which had upset them. And beyond this, they asserted that at least some of Moshe’s decisions were made for his own personal gain and glory.

Rather than limiting themselves to a specific complaint, Korach, Datan & Aviram negated all the good that Moshe had done, and as a result, they demonstrated that they were ingrates.

You may recall that the reason why Moshe did not perform the first three makkot (plagues) was because Moshe was unprepared to strike the water which, when he was a baby, kept him afloat and saved his life (see Rashi on Shemot 7:19), and he was also unprepared to strike the sand which he later used to bury the Egyptian whom he struck and killed (see Rashi on Shemot 8:12).

From here we learn that Moshe was someone who not only had Hakarat HaTov (appreciation) for people, but even for inanimate objects. Accordingly, when Korach, Datan and Aviram expressed a remarkable lack of Hakarat HaTov (appreciation), and when they behaved in such a Kafui Tova (ungrateful) manner, Moshe was unable to find any merit in their defence. Instead, it was clear to him that such negative middot (character traits) were toxic and destructive and they needed to be removed from within the Jewish people.

Reflecting on this lesson, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg explains (in his ‘Tochachot Mussar’) that, ‘far too often, tension and arguments arise in a home because there is a lack of Hakarat HaTov and because we only see the bad that another has done’.

Accordingly, if we wish to maintain Shalom Bayit in our home, and if we wish to maintain Shalom in our communities and in the world at large, we should not be ingrates and we should not follow the way of Korach, Datan & Aviram.

Instead, we should acknowledge and express appreciation for all the good that others have done for us.

Shabbat Shalom!

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