Weekly Sidra: Korach (Korah)
Torah Portion: Bamidbar/ Numbers 16:1-18:32
Haftorah: Shamuel Alef / I Samuel 11:14-12:22
“Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth — descendants of Reuben — to rise up against Moshe, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute. They combined against Moshe and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and HaShem is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above HaShem’s congregation?" [Bamidbar 16:1-3]
This week we read of the rebellion of Korach against Moshe. In Samuel 15:23 we read that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. The question may arise why is it viewed in such a negative light?
HaShem is all about order. He created the world in a certain order, He gave a certain order in marriage, and He gave us order in worship. The people that HaShem places above us be it Employers, Rabbis or Governments need to be respected.
We may not always agree with what is being done, but we must not grumble against our leaders. I am not suggesting that we cannot disagree with leadership, but we must do so in a respectable manner and not by causing a mutiny and dissention in the ranks.
We should try to pray for our leaders and those in authority over us. Kefa (Peter) states in I Peter 2:13, 14 Submit yourselves for HaShem’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
Paul echos this in Romans 13: 1, 2 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Therefore, we must learn from the mistake of Korach and make sure that we do not rebel against those that Hashem has placed in authority over us.