Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat KorachRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Korach · קרח · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:06Parashat Korach. This week's parasha has 95 pesukim,0:09and the theme of the parasha is, like its name,0:11the rebellion of Korach against Moshe Rabbeinu.0:15Also, we begin this parasha as the first of the next three0:19parashiyot where you have the letter kuf in the name of the parasha.0:22All of the parashiyot from now until the next three weeks0:26have the letter kuf, and they're composed of three letters.0:29And one more point is that the kuf begins in the beginning of the word,0:34and next week it goes to the middle, and finally goes to the end.0:37Korach, the kuf is in the beginning.0:38In Chukat, the kuf is in the middle,0:41and finally Balak, the kuf is all the way at the end of the word.0:45We move on now to the parasha, the topics of the parasha.0:49We divide the parasha into three parts.0:51The first and main part of the parasha speaks of Korach's0:54rebellion. The second part of the parasha tells us about the aftermath of the rebellion of Korach,0:59and finally the Torah tells us in the final part of the parasha1:03the responsibilities of Shevet Levi in the Mishkan and their compensation.1:08Nine mitzvot in this week's parasha,1:10five mitzvot aseh, four1:13mitzvot lo ta'aseh, and they number 388 until 396 in Sefer1:19HaChinuch. Let's get to the parasha in depth,1:21and we'll begin with the first part of the1:22parasha, which is the story of the parasha, the rebellion of Korach.1:26Before we come to explain the rebellion of Korach,1:29let's begin with who was Korach himself.1:32Korach was not a pushover, was not just a regular Jew.1:36He was a very, very special Jew.1:37He was a big tzaddik.1:39How do we know he was a big tzaddik?1:40Because he used to be one of the carriers of the1:43Aron. The Aron was carried by four Leviim.1:45One of those Leviim was none other than Korach himself.1:49And obviously, to be one of the four to carry the1:53Aron, you had to be somebody very special.1:54Besides that, Korach was the wealthiest Jew in the Jewish people at that time.2:00Chazal tell us that when Yosef collected the wealth of all of the world2:06and he put it in Egypt,2:08a third of it was uncovered by Korach.2:11So here you have Korach, who has a third of the wealth of the world.2:16Besides that, Korach was also an older person.2:19He was not a young man.2:20He was 130 years older, according to some opinions,2:25which means he was older than even Moshe Rabbeinu himself.2:29So here you have Korach, very, very special man.2:32He was a tzaddik.2:34He was the wealthiest,2:36and he was one of the oldest members of the Jewish people.2:40And not only that, the Zohar says that Hashem wanted to make Korach himself the Levi Gadol,2:45just like we have Aharon as the Kohen Gadol.2:48Korach was to become the greatest of the Leviim, the leader of the Leviim.2:53That was the goal that Hashem wanted for Korach.2:55But obviously Korach did not know about that,2:57and therefore Korach started a rebellion.2:59What was his rebellion? What did he do?3:01The Chazal tell us that Korach went and made a gang.3:04He collected people with him to join him in the fight against Moshe.3:07And who were these people?3:09There were, first of all, 250 of the leaders of the Sanhedrin,3:14the heads of the Sanhedrin.3:16These were the greatest of the Sanhedrin, 250 members of them.3:19You may ask, what do you mean? We only have 72 members of Sanhedrin.3:22We're talking about over here all the different types of judges,3:25all different types of courts. As you see in Parashat Yitro,3:27there were many, many courts.3:28So he had 250 members.3:31Besides that, he also took with him the Nesiim, the tribe leaders,3:34like the mefarshim point out. That's the ones that we saw in Parashat3:40Naso. They're the ones who brought the korbanot3:42when they inaugurated the Mishkan.3:44He took with him the Nesiim as well,3:46and of course Datan3:48v'Aviram. Datan v'Aviram, although we know them today as3:52resha'im, we have to keep in mind that Datan3:53v'Aviram had a very, very important social status.3:57We always find whenever Datan v'Aviram did something,4:00it caused a lot of ruckus.4:01People listened to their words. Their words were important.4:03Why?4:04Because Datan v'Aviram used to be very wealthy in Mitzrayim.4:07They had a lot of influence and power,4:09and they also were shotrim, so a lot of Jews respected them,4:13and that didn't change in the desert,4:15until obviously this week's4:16parasha, when they didn't, you know, we see what happened to the end.4:19Plus, he also had with him On ben Pelet.4:21Basically, Korach took of the best,4:23the most influential people amongst the Jewish people,4:26and he got them. To wear garments that were colored4:31techelet. Techelet is like this bluish color.4:34And he came to Moshe,4:36and he came and asked Moshe, he said,4:38Moshe, you know, we have all these people that are wearing four-cornered garments,4:41but they don't have the fringes,4:42they don't have the tzitzit at the end of the garments.4:43What do you say?4:44Are they obligated to put tzitzit with the4:48techelet, with the color of blue on the fringes,4:51or no, we can just wear white tzitzit,4:52we don't need techelet? Because keep in mind,4:55the whole garment itself is made out of blue wool.4:57It's made out of4:59techelet. And Moshe tells5:00him, No, of course you have to put the5:03techelet. That's the halacha. That's what it says in the Torah.5:05So Korach says, I don't understand you.5:07If one string of techelet could exempt a whole5:13beged, which is of regular wool,5:15so you're telling me when the whole5:17beged, when the whole cloth is made out of wool,5:20of blue wool, that means of5:21techelet, it's not going to exempt for that one string?5:23And he made a joke out of it, and everybody started laughing.5:26Now, by the way, this was done in front of all the Jewish people,5:28in order to cause hysteria amongst the Jewish people.5:32Next, he asked Moshe, I have a question for you.5:34It says in the Torah you have to put a mezuzah,5:35which is a small parchment of5:39klaf. And you put it on the doorpost,5:41which has two paragraphs from the Torah.5:43What if I have a room that's full of Sifrei Torah,5:46which is obviously many, many5:49parts, it's many, many paragraphs from the Torah.5:50It's a room full of books,5:52but it doesn't have a mezuzah.5:54Is that fine, or do you need to put a5:55mezuzah? Moshe, of course,5:58answered, You have to put a mezuzah.5:59And again, Korach made the same joke.6:02If I have a room that's empty6:04and a small little apartment, exempts a room,6:06then how come if I have a full room,6:09I have a full room of books,6:10how come a small apartment doesn't exempt it?6:11And again, he made a joke out of the whole thing.6:14So Moshe, right away, said,6:16Okay, you know what?6:17You seem to have a problem.6:18What's the problem?6:19He says, You, Moshe, are making everything up.6:21That's my point.6:22You're making everything up.6:23This doesn't make sense.6:24God will not command such a thing.6:26Just like you made up the6:28mitzvot, you also made up the positions.6:30You gave the leadership to whoever you...6:32You took the leadership.6:34You became the king over the Jewish people,6:35and you put Aharon as a Kohen Gadol.6:37You're just distributing it to your own family members,6:40and this is not commanded by God.6:42And therefore, what Korach was doing,6:44he was kofer that Moshe Rabbeinu6:47was the true prophet of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.6:50And Moshe Rabbeinu says, Okay,6:52then we'll test it out tomorrow.6:53We'll have a contest tomorrow,6:55and we'll see what that contest was soon.6:57Before we get to the contest,7:00Korach, Chazal tell us, went the whole night7:02to every single tribe,7:04to every single7:05shevet, and he was inciting them against Moshe Rabbeinu7:08to get them on his side,7:09to show them that really Moshe made up everything.7:12It was not commanded by Hashem.7:15Question is,7:15why did Korach choose to7:16rebel against Moshe Rabbeinu right now?7:18How come he came at this point?7:19So this we have three explanations7:21by three great Rishonim:7:23Rashi, the Ramban, and Ibn7:25Ezra. We'll combine them all together.7:27And really, we have to go back to... Parashat Naso.7:31When the Torah tells us that7:34Shevet Levi was given different jobs,7:38and different members of Shevet Levi7:39were given the responsibility7:42to become the7:43leaders or to oversee the jobs that Shevet Levi did,7:46one of those people was7:50Elitzafan ben Uziel, who was from the family of7:51Kehat. Now, Kehat had four children.7:53Kehat's four children were7:55Amram, which is the father of Moshe Rabbeinu,7:57Yitzhar. By the way, I'm saying them in order.8:00Amram was the oldest, Yitzhar was the second oldest, Hebron, and then8:03Uziel. Amram was the father of Moshe and Aharon and Miriam. Yitzhar was the father of8:09Korach, and Uziel was the youngest of8:12Kehat's family. And who gets the responsibility,8:16who gets the leadership over the tribe of Levi? None other than8:20Elitzafan and Uziel, the youngest of the children of8:24Kehat, not Yitzhar, the father of Korach. And of8:28course, Korach was older than Elitzafan, and therefore this upset him very, very much.8:32And Korach wanted to rebel right away against Moshe, but he couldn't because8:35the time was not ripe. The Ramban says that therefore Moshe Rabbeinu,8:40when he announced that the Jewish people will spend forty years in the desert,8:44Korach felt this is an opportune time right now to go ahead8:48and to rebel against Moshe Rabbeinu because8:51Moshe lost his popularity. People are upset at Moshe for not8:56defending them, or at least not knowing how much Moshe defended them8:59when it came to the decree of spending forty years in the desert. So therefore9:04now was the ripe time to go ahead and fight against Moshe.9:07The Ibn Ezra points out also that who did he gather with him? Many of the members of9:11Korach's gang were from Shevet Reuven because they camped right next to each other.9:16Why specifically Reuven? Because Reuven was also9:20firstborn, and he had the rights really to have many privileges, but was9:24lost and was given to Shevet Levi. So therefore Reuven was also had9:28inside of him—he was very upset—How come I don't get any leadership positions?9:33And Korach used him also to gang up against9:36Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu, although we said that he tells them9:40that, let's make a contest, but really Moshe Rabbeinu9:44took a different approach first. First he tried to make shalom. He tried to make peace,9:47and he tried to calm down the situation. He even sent people to9:51Datan and Aviram, and they refused to listen to him. Finally Moshe Rabbeinu said, Okay, we'll make a9:55contest. You want to know who God chose? Let's make a contest. Let's see who God chooses.9:59All the 250 people are claiming that they should become the Kohen Gadol,10:03you'll all bring ketoret. That's one of the jobs of the Kohen Gadol. By the way, keep in mind that10:07ketoret killed Nadav and Avihu when it was brought by somebody who was not supposed to bring it.10:11So you sure you want to go ahead with this? We'll do it. Korach, you and 250 people10:15plus Aharon, 250-two people altogether, we will bring—10:20A ketoret, you will all bring a ketoret, and10:23one of you will come out surviving, and whoever is not supposed to be10:27the Kohen Gadol, all the other 251 people will end up10:31dying from the ketoret. Afterwards, Moshe prays to10:35HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and he says, Hashem, they are kofer not just in me; they are10:39kofer really in the whole Torah, and therefore I pray that not only should You not listen to10:43their prayer, do not accept the part of the korban that's10:47offered daily on their behalf. Do not accept their part, and they10:51should die in an unnatural death. Create something,10:55Hashem. Make a creation to kill them in a way that everybody should see10:59that You are the one who distributed11:03the leadership positions, and You're the one who commanded all the mitzvot in the Torah.11:07What happened the next day? Well, the next day, when the people brought the ketoret,11:12and Korach, of course, came with his gang against Moshe Rabbeinu, the Torah tells us11:15that the earth opened up, and11:19I guess something like an earthquake, and the earth swallowed Korach, Datan, Aviram,11:23and all their belongings, everything. Even if the belongings was somewhere else,11:27it was swallowed into the hole, and the 250 people that brought the ketoret,11:31they died a separate death. They were burnt. They were burnt from the11:35ketoret, just like Nadav and Avihu, where the fire went inside of them and killed them on the inside.11:39Meanwhile, Korach got swallowed by his. He was burnt on the inside and he11:45was swallowed also in the ground. The only people who survived this whole thing were Korach's children, because on the way down11:49they realized their mistake and they started calling out, Moshe emet v'Torato emet.11:53Moshe is truthful and his Torah,11:57all the mitzvot, all the commandments that he commanded us are truthful, which means they're all came from God.12:02And with that, we move on now to the second part12:05of the parashah, the aftermath of Korach's rebellion. We already saw what happened to those12:09who rebelled against Moshe. Now Hashem tells Moshe, I want you to take12:13the pans that were brought by the 250 contestants12:17in order to bring as a ketoret. I want you to take these pans and use it as12:21a cover for the mizbeach, for the altar, so that everybody should see,12:25when they come to visit the Mishkan, they should see what happened12:29to those who rebelled against the Kohen Gadol, and this way they should be careful12:33to keep their distance and not to make another rebellion. Meanwhile, the Jewish people,12:37you'd think by now should have been impressed and amazed and wowed, and should12:41realize Moshe was a true leader. However, that's not so. The Jewish people12:46complain, and they come to Moshe claiming that it was Moshe that12:49prayed to God that caused these people to die, because Moshe was close to God, therefore12:53he prayed that he should kill these people. And all of a sudden, a plague breaks out,12:58and Jewish people were dying left and right. And13:01Moshe sees this. He sees the angel of death. He sees Malach HaMavet killing out the Jewish people,13:06and he goes over to Aharon immediately and he tells him, I have a secret to tell you.13:09When I was in Shamayim, the angels all gave me gifts.13:14The Malach HaMavet gave me a gift, and he told me whenever there's a13:17plague, you bring the ketoret and it could stop the plague. And that's exactly what Aharon did.13:22He went and he offered the ketoret, and Chazal tell us that he was able to13:26grab Malach HaMavet and prevent him from executing anybody else, and with that the13:30plague finishes and stops. And then Hashem tells Moshe,13:33I want you to go show the Jewish people that I chose Aharon. How do you do so?13:37Take one stick from all the tribes. One stick13:41from each tribe, you'll have a total of twelve sticks, and take13:46the one stick from the tribe of Levi and let that stick be Aharon's stick.13:50Take them and place them in the Mishkan, and over13:53there you'll see whichever one sprouts, whichever one produces any fruits,13:58then you'll know that that's the person or that's the tribe that I've14:02chosen to be the leaders and to carry the responsibilities14:05of leaders amongst the Jewish people. And of course, the stick of Shevet Levi,14:10which was Aharon's stick, grows first and fastest. It grows almonds,14:13and everybody sees now that Aharon was truly chosen by14:17HaKadosh Baruch Hu. When we move on now to the last part of the14:21parashah, the responsibilities of Shevet Levi in the Mishkan and their compensation.14:25After this whole incident, the Jewish people were scared. They come to Moshe with a real claim. They say,14:29You know, listen, we can't get close to the Mishkan, because we see whoever gets14:33even close gets wiped out, gets killed. So we're scared to enter the Mishkan.14:37To that Moshe was told that Shevet Levi has the14:42responsibility of guarding Mishkan, of making sure that people who are not supposed to be there14:45should not trespass. And therefore the Kohanim, as well as the Leviim from Shevet Levi,14:49have to stand guard around the Mishkan, and the same thing happened in the times of14:53Beit HaMikdash. Twenty-four people are to guard the Mishkan at all times:14:57three Kohanim from the inside and twenty-one Leviim15:01from the outside. This is to be done at night as well,15:05even when there was no people walking around. As a compensation,15:09Hashem says to the Kohanim, I'll give them the15:13twenty-four matanot kehunah. Matanot kehunah are special gifts that are given to the Kohen, some that we're familiar with,15:17like terumah, or the five sela'im, the five15:21silver shekalim that we give to the Kohen from a pidyon haben.15:25Also the firstborn of animals, the bechor from kosher animals, is15:29given to the Kohen. Also the eating of the korbanot in the Mishkan15:33or in the Beit HaMikdash, when a person would bring an offering, some parts of the meat,15:37like the shelamim, would be given. Also would be given to the15:43Kohen. All of that is part of the15:4524 matanot kehunah, 24 gifts that were given to the Kohanim,15:49and the compensation for the Leviim's work. And what is that? For guarding and singing.15:54Leviim also had the job of singing in the Beit HaMikdash. They get the15:57maasrot. What is the maasrot?16:00The way it used to be done was when you had a field and you had produce. So let's say16:04you'd collect a hundred kilos or a hundred pounds of produce, so you'd have to give16:10ma'aser. Ma'aser means16:11ten percent. That ten percent is given, the first ten percent is given to who?16:14To the16:16Leviim. That's one of the gifts to the16:18Leviim. From that ten percent that the Levi receives, he takes off ten percent of that and he gives it over16:23to the Kohen, and that's called terumat16:28ma'aser, and that will be given over to the16:33Kohanim. Now this is, in short, obviously the details are much more, and this is how the Torah concludes16:39by telling us that the Leviim's compensation is they receive the ma'aser rishon, and the16:45Kohanim's compensation is terumat16:47ma'aser. And with this we finish the parashah and we move on now to the lesson of the parashah.16:51We mentioned the Zohar earlier, which the Chidushei Harim brings. He says that the Zohar says that16:57Aharon was the Kohen Gadol, and Hashem also wanted to make Korach the Levi Gadol. But how come17:04Korach lost it?17:05And the answer is, דחק את השעה. He pushed it. He jumped the gun. He went ahead and tried to grab it17:13before its time.17:14Everything has a time, and therefore if you jump and you try to grab something that belongs17:19to you before the time, then you end up losing.17:22The only person that can ruin something that's coming for you is you yourself.17:26Hashem has something for everybody, and He has also the time when to give it to a person.17:31If you try to grab it before its time, then you are responsible for losing it.17:36Nobody will take it away from you.17:38And perhaps that's the remez of the parashah.17:41The parashah has 95 pesukim, the gematria of yafeh, as Rashi points out in the beginning.17:47Parashah זו נדרשה יפה בירת תנחומא, and maybe that's going on the pasuk17:54that Kohelet tells us, Shlomo HaMelech tells us, את הכל עשה יפה בעתו. HaKadosh Baruch Hu made everything beautiful when?17:59בעתו, when you take it in the right time.18:28Shabbat shalom.