“Closing the Loop” Parashat Korach 5785
The episode of Korach’s revolt takes up sixty-five verses. The unfortunate truth is that it probably could have been over in only ten.
Let me explain. Korach begins his revolt with a tirade of accusations[1], telling Moshe [Bemidbar 16:3] “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, and G-d is in their midst. Why, then, do you raise yourselves above G-d’s congregation?” Moshe falls on his face, regains his composure, and then immediately braves Korach to take the “Incense Challenge”: Put incense in your fire pans and see if G-d accepts the offering or if He kills you like He did Nadav and Avihu. Challenge accepted. Two hundred and fifty people – who must be feeling really lucky – grab their firepans, load them with incense, and wait. Meanwhile, Moshe sends messengers to Dathan and Abiram, two of Korach’s chief co-conspirators, to begin negotiations, perhaps in Qatar, but they refuse to budge. They lash out at Moshe with even wilder accusations [Bemidbar 16:14]: “Even if you had brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey and given us possession of fields and vineyards, should you gouge out the eyes of those involved? We will not come!” Korach, seeing that the man on the street is beginning to waver, gathers the entire nation in front of the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, where they wait to see what will happen.
And then G-d comes and steals the show. He tells Moshe [Bemidbar 16:21] “Stand back from this community that I may annihilate them in an instant!” Moshe, understanding that the future of the Jewish people lies in the balance, placates G-d, focusing all the blame on Korach. G-d tells everyone to stand back and then Divine attribution hits in full force. The earth opens and swallows Korach and his co-conspirators, and at the same time, the two hundred and fifty men with the firepans are burnt to a crisp. Moshe commands Aaron’s son, Eleazar, to gather the remains of the firepans and to beat them into the altar [Bemidbar 17:3] “to let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel”. Apparently the warning is not heeded because the immediate response of the Jewish People is to accuse Moshe and Aaron of murder [Bemidbar 17:6]: “You two have brought death upon G-d’s people!” G-d’s rejoinder is deadly: He strikes the people with a plague in which fourteen-thousand and seven hundred more people die. Only Moshe’s quick reaction prevents that number from ballooning to something much larger.
G-d tries another path. He commands all of the tribal leaders (princes) to bring their staffs to the Tabernacle (Mishkan) and to leave them there overnight. The Tribe of Levi is represented by Aaron. G-d tells them that the staff of the person whom He has chosen to lead the Jewish People will bloom like a tree in the spring. In the morning, the tribal leaders return to retrieve their staffs and are hit in the face full force with a miracle [Bemidbar 17:23]: “[Aaron’s staff] had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds”. According to our Sages in the Midrash, Aaron’s staff was simultaneously covered with sprouts, blossoms, and almonds, a phenomenon that even real almond trees do not exhibit[2]. The tribal leaders are impressed [Bemidbar 17:24]: “Each identified (vayir’u) and recovered his staff”. The word “vayir’u” can mean not only “they saw”, but, also, “they understood”. Rabbi Asher Wasserteil[3], writing in “Birkat Asher”, explains that when the tribal leaders retrieved their staffs they said nothing. Their claims had been baseless and they were ashamed. The proof was indisputable: Moshe and Aaron had been Divinely chosen to lead the Jewish People.
And yet the people continue to dispute. They heave a heavy sigh and exclaim [Bemidbar 17:27-28] “Lo, we perish! We are lost, all of us lost! Everyone who so much as ventures near G-d’s Tabernacle must die. Alas, we are doomed to perish!” Oh no – here we go again. But instead of unleashing another plague, G-d remains silent. The story ends abruptly and the Torah segues to a series of laws pertaining to the duties of the Tribe of Levi in the Mishkan. Why is this outburst not treated like the previous one?
Rabbi Haim Yosef David Azulai[4], writing in “Nachal Kedumim”, puts a different twist on things. He suggests that when the tribal leaders saw the miracle of Aaron’s blooming staff, they feared for their lives. Their reasoning was that had G-d performed this miracle at the outset, all would have agreed that Korach was out of his league and the revolt would have ended there and then. Nobody would have died. The fact that G-d had performed this miracle only after Korach’s men had all been killed must mean that the killing was not yet over. Rabbi Azulai makes a very good point: Why doesn’t G-d start out with the miraculous staff trick and end the episode after ten verses? If the miracle was so convincing, if the evidence was so incontrovertible, why was there any need for all of the bloodshed? A clue lies in a comment made by Rabbi Isaac Samuel Reggio[5]. Rabbi Reggio notes that the Torah precedes the Israelites’ words “Lo, we perish” with the word “Va’yomeru” – “They said”. On the other hand, their earlier accusation that Moshe and Aaron “brought death upon G-d’s people!” is preceded by the word “Va’yilonu” – “They complained”[6]. They were not talking – they were shouting. They were not asking questions because they already had all the answers. They were so set in their ways that all the miracles in the world would be wasted upon them. But when they “tell” Moshe that they are literally scared to death of the Mishkan, so much so that they want to stay as far as way as possible from it, then G-d admits that they have a valid point and the time has come for a comprehensive Mishkan safety briefing. This briefing takes the form of the laws given immediately after the revolt [Bemidbar 18:5]: “The Levites shall keep the charge of the Sanctuary and the charge of the altar, so that there be no more wrath against the children of Israel.”
Control Theory differentiates between “open loop” and “closed loop”. An open-loop system operates without feedback, executing a process based on pre-set inputs without adjusting to the output. An example is a sprinkler timer that runs regardless of soil moisture. Whether it rains or it shines, the sprinkler will use the same amount of water. In contrast, a closed-loop system uses feedback to monitor and adjust its output, aiming for precision, like a sprinkler that has a moisture sensor and adjusts the watering time according to the moisture of the soil. The entire episode of Korach appears in “open loop”. There is no conversation, just a litany of accusations. Indeed, Moshe’s offer to sit down and air things out is summarily spurned. But after the plague in which nearly fifteen thousand people are killed, something changes. If the plague was caused by accusations that Moshe had “brought death upon G-d’s people!” how much more so after another fifteen-thousand had died. And yet the Jewish People remain silent. They begin to see. They begin to understand. They begin to close the loop. The time is now ripe for the coup de grâce – the miraculous staff trick. When Aaron’s staff blooms, the Jewish People, already primed to listen, finally heed the message.
The Mishna in Tractate Avot [5:17] defines Korach’s revolt as the archetype for a dispute “not for the sake of Heaven”. One of G-d’s attributes is peace, but that doesn’t mean that people must always agree. People often justifiably argue vociferously. But when the two sides remain in open loop, a peaceful resolution is impossible and G-d goes elsewhere.
Ari Sacher, Moreshet, 5785
Please daven for a Refu’a Shelema for Shlomo ben Esther, Sheindel Devorah bat Rina, Esther Sharon bat Chana Raizel, Esther bat Hila, and Meir ben Drora.
[1] According to the Ramban, Korach initiated his revolt after the Jewish People were sentenced to die in the desert after the sin of the spies. Korach wanted to leverage Moshe’s weakness for his own benefit.
[2] An almond tree sprouts buds in late February, it blossoms in March and April, and it doesn’t bear edible almonds until August. Further, where does it say that the staffs of the tribal leaders were from almond trees?
[3] Rabbi Wasserteil lived in Jerusalem in the previous century.
[4] Rabbi Haim Yosef David Azulai, known by his acronym “Hida,” lived in the 18th century in Israel and Italy.
[5] Rabbi Reggio lived in Italy in the 19th century.
[6] Other translations suggest “They railed against”, “They grumbled”, and “They flared up against”.
