KORACH_NUMBERS XVI:1-XVIII:32
The greatest challenge to Moses’ leadership came with the rebellion of Korach and his followers. The argument was very precise: why did Moses and Aharon monopolize the most important positions of leadership? Korach thought he should have been considered to share command because he also belonged to the Leviyim family. He did not focus the argument on his person, but, using the principle of equity, argued that the whole people had been consecrated and, therefore, no person could exercise leadership over the rest of society.
Moses’ answer was that God would decide this matter. The phrase he used was: Boker Veyoda HaShem, “when dawn comes, and God will make known…”. The obvious question is why Moses decided to wait until the next day, when he could have subjected Korach and Aharon to an immediate test to dispel any doubts about leadership.
Different answers are given. First, Moses wanted to give Korach the opportunity to change his attitude. Perhaps his pillow’s advice would allow him to reflect on the possible consequences of challenging Moses’ leadership in the inhospitable environment of the desert, where people’s nervousness was a constant.
Boaz Spiegel quotes Ketav Sofer, who points out that Jewish women never participated in the rebellions. On the contrary, women played a very important role in Egypt, because they were the first to defy Pharaoh’s orders: they procreated without fear for the fate of their children, because they had absolute confidence in Divine Providence. Therefore, by postponing the test to the next day, Moses wanted to involve the wives of the dissidents, so that they could influence their husbands so that they desist from their rebellious attitudes. At the same time, Moses was giving a very important lesson to those who impart justice in society. Before any decision-making, the judge must carefully weigh the case, because any immediate ruling may be influenced by the emotions of the moment and will not allow for a correct evaluation of the event.
We conclude these lines by suggesting that the controversy that turns into disobedience and insubordination is often due to darkness, lack of knowledge and prejudice, to the substitution of the search for truth for personal ambitions. The light of dawn, Boker, is also a metaphor for clarity and transparency. The healthy controversy between intellectuals and scholars is not necessarily negative; on the contrary, according to the Mishnah, the confrontation of ideas is constructive, as long as it is LeShem Shamayim, that is, that it occurs with the purpose of shedding light on the facts, for clarification, when the argument is supported by logical reasoning.
Ad hominem arguments are inadmissible because they divert the attention that should be focused on the search for justice and equity. In the case of our biblical text, Korach was fighting for his personal rights, a fact that may have validity for the individual, but the results can be harmful to the collective.
Many cases can be cited in which personal interests are above the needs of society. They are the people who lose the historical opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the development of society and who become blind due to selfishness. That is why Boker is required, the light that always provides the new dawn.
MITSVAH: TORAH ORDINANCE IN THIS PARSHAH
CONTAINS 5 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 4 BANS
- Numbers 18:4 Caring for the Temple
- Numbers 18:3 Kohanim should not do the service of Levites and vice versa
- Numbers 18:4, 22 Whoever is not a Kohen cannot serve in the Temple
- Numbers 18:5 Do Not Cease to Care for the Temple
- Numbers 18:15 Redeem the firstborn child
- Numbers 18:17 Do not redeem the firstborn of the domesticated animal
- Numbers 18:23 The Service of the Levites in the Temple
- Numbers 18:24 Set aside the first tithe for the Levites
- Numbers 18:26, 28 The Levites must give the Kohen Terumah of the tithe they receive
