Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Korach - Draftees in the Army of Hashem

The Chumash describes how Korach attempts to depose our teacher Moshe from being leader of the nation of Israel. He is joined by 250 distinguished personalities, all claiming that Moshe has set himself up as a dictator and seized rights that should have been left to all of the people. They explain that the entire community is holy and that Hashem is among them and specifically contest the exclusive right of the Cohanim to offer incense in the Temple. It’s in fact a rebellion and has the support of the general population.

The rebellion is put down directly by G-d. Pits in the earth open and swallow up the ringleaders with their families, houses, and possessions. Fire from heaven descends and burns up those that improperly made incense offerings. The entire community grumbles against Moshe and Aaron saying that they have killed Hashem’s people. When they assemble themselves into a mob, the Almighty strikes them with a plague.

The plague ends when incense is properly offered by Moshe and Aharon. HaKadosh Baruch Hu then tells Moshe to have the leaders of each tribe put their staffs into the sanctuary, with Aharon representing the tribe of Levy. The staff of the man chosen to be High Priest will sprout almonds. When this is done, Aharon’s staff flowers and fruits before their eyes. The people act like babies but accept the decision.

The haftorah for parshas Korach also deals with a rebellion but it’s a subtle one. In it the prophet Samuel yields to the nation’s request and appoints a king. He strongly rebukes them saying that their evil is very great, than calls upon G-d to send thunder and rain. The people are very frightened, acknowledge their wrong, and ask Shmuel to pray on their behalf. Shmuel does so and assures the people that they will not be harmed.

He adds though that they must not stray after emptiness which has no benefit and cannot help them. Rather they should serve Hashem with all their heart. Also he, himself, must be careful not to sin against heaven by failing to daven for them or to instruct them in the good and straight path. This is because Hashem is determined to make them into His nation.

To understand the problem of the request for a king, one must start earlier in the book of the prophet. This story starts when Shmuel is getting old. He has been Israel’s judge for many years and now is training his sons to replace him. The Tanakh censures the sons for being motivated by financial gain and accepting bribes. The Gemara says that one who reads this literally is mistaken, rather they did not dedicate their lives to this service as did their father. In any case the elders of Israel noted their shortcomings and requested that a king be placed upon them to judge them “like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5).

The request is bad in the eyes Shmuel because they said “to judge us like all the nations”. The commentaries explain that they were saying that judgement need not be according to the Torah rather it should be according to the opinion of the king and the customs of the people. Shmuel is upset and inquires of Hashem. The reply is that the people have not rejected Shmuel rather they have rejected Hashem. Never the less he must grant their request.

Shmuel anoints Saul as king and even though he’s a tsadik, he fails. G-d then has Shmuel anoint David as king because of the beauty of his soul. David has lived up to his noble characteristics of being principled, righteous, persevering, and obedient. David will be a king of the people but he will be a king of Torah first. He will have travails, will be well compensated for them, and the righteous will crown themselves by saying they are like him.  

The point is that every nation is free to make their own standards. If the standards are good it will be reckoned as a righteous nation, and if not, not. Israel is different in that its standards must be Torah standards. If we appoint a leader to make our own standards, whether he is a false tsadik or a real tsadik, it’s an act of rebellion. The calling is a high one with much to be gained, but even so, we are still draftees in the army of Hashem.





לע"נ האמא מלכה  בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני    ניתן באתר   http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il



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