KORACH_NUMBERS XVI:1-XVIII:32
The greatest challenge to Moshe’s leadership came with the rebellion of Korach and his followers. The argument was precise: Why did Moshe and Aharon monopolize the most important leadership positions? Korach thought he should have been considered for sharing command because he also belonged to the Levi family. He did not focus the argument on his person but, using the principle of equity argued that all the people had been consecrated and, therefore, no person could exercise leadership over the rest of society.
Moshe answered that God would decide this matter. The phrase he used was: Boker Veyoda HaShem, “Dawn will come, and God will make known…”. The obvious question is why Moshe decided to wait until the next day when he could have put Korach and Aharon to an immediate test to dispel any doubts about leadership.
Different answers emerge. First, Moshe wanted to allow Korach to change his attitude. Perhaps his pillow’s advice would allow him to reflect on the possible consequences of challenging Moshe’s leadership in the inhospitable environment of the desert, where the tenseness of the people was a constant.
Boaz Spiegel quotes the 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 until the next day, Moshe wanted to involve the wives of the dissidents so that they could positively influence their husbands to desist from their rebellious attitude. At the same time, Moshe gave a very important lesson to those who dispense justice in society. Before any decision, the judge must carefully weigh the case because the moment’s emotions can influence any immediate ruling and do not permit a correct evaluation of the event.
We conclude these lines by suggesting that the controversy that transforms into disobedience and insubordination is often due to obscurity, lack of knowledge, and prejudice, to the substitution of personal ambitions for the search for truth. 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 Mishna, the confrontation of ideas is constructive, as long as it is LeShem Shamayim, that is, it occurs to shed light on the facts, for clarification, when the argument is supported by logical reasoning.
Ad hominem arguments are inadmissible because they divert attention from seeking justice and equity. In the case of our biblical text, Korach was fighting for his rights, a fact that may have individual validity but whose result can be detrimental to the collective.
Many cases can be cited in which personal interests take precedence over the needs of society. They are the people who miss the historic 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 the new dawn always provides.
MITZVA: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA
CONTAINS 5 POSITIVE MITZVOT AND 4 PROHIBITIONS
- Numbers 18:4 Caring for the Temple.
- Numbers 18:3 Kohanim must not do the service of Levites and vice versa.
- Numbers 18:4, 22 Whoever is not Kohen cannot serve in the Temple.
- Numbers 18:5 Do not cease to care for the Temple.
- Numbers 18:15 Redeem the firstborn male child.
- Numbers 18:17 Do not redeem the firstborn from domesticated animals.
- 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 Levites should give the Kohen a donation of the tithe they receive.
