Torah Commentary - Korah

The Torah Portion, Korah, continues the theme of questioning and distrust of God's word by the children of Israel and their leaders. In previous Portions, rebellion and lack of faith have been met with divine punishment. God has commanded that the adult generation of complaining, disbelieving Israelites will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land of Canaan after their 40 years of wandering. Instead, Canaan will be the eventual home of their children. In addition, as a reminder of their holy commitment to follow God's commandments, the children of Israel are commanded to wear tzitzit.

However, there is still turmoil among the children of Israel. The Portion, Korah, opens with Korah (Moses' and Aaron's first cousin) assembling 250 prominent members of the community to challenge the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
"And they assembled against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, 'You have much! Because all of the congregation, all of them, are holy, and YHWH is among them. And why do you raise yourselves up over YHWH's community?' " (Numbers 16:3)*

Moses orders Korah and his 250 followers to join Aaron in burning incense in front of the Mishkan. God then orders the community to separate from the 250 in order to be spared as the earth opens up and swallows Korah, his followers, and their households.

Has the Israelites' faith in God's power been strengthened by seeing the fate of Korah and company? No! They turn on Moses and Aaron saying, "...You killed YHWH's people!" (Numbers 17:6)*
God sends a plague against the Israelites which Moses and Aaron halt through offerings of atonement.

God orders Moses to organize a further demonstration that Aaron is God's choice as High Priest. Each of the tribal chieftains, including Aaron, brings his staff to the Mishkan. God tells Moses and Aaron, " And it will be that the man I shall choose: his staff will bloom. And I'll decrease from me the complaints of the children of Israel that they're making against you." (Numbers 17: 20)*
An almond blossom blooms from Aaron's staff. Aaron's staff is kept on display by the Mishkan to remind the Israelites that God has chosen Aaron and the Levites as Priests.

The Israelites fear that they will die by coming close to the Mishkan. God tells Aaron the rules for who may safely approach the holiest sections of the Mishkan.

God further tells Aaron that the Levites won't have a portion of land in Canaan because their covetted task is to tend to the sacred rituals of the Mishkan. The Levites' needs will be met through offerings brought by the children of Israel.

Korah presents us with an opinionated, power-hungry leader who gathers an elite group of followers and purports to speak for the entire community. This ambitious leader confronts those in the highest positions of power and declares that the present leadership is not properly acknowledging the status of "the people;" that promises to "the people" have gone unfulfilled; and that "the people" are being dangerously led astray.

Sounds alot like an election year! Torah commentator Richard Elliott Friedman points out that "This is a battle for leadership, which is to say it is a political battle, which is to say it is a battle for power; and it dramatizes the danger of the power-seeking politician who is a skillful speaker." (page 482)*

While political manipulation and confrontation may succeed for a while on the human level, God is not a President, a CEO, or a legislator to be voted out of office.
The realm of the Eternal is so all encompassing, divinely generative, and infinitely powerful that while we can (and do) stumble and err, God is , by definition, "too big to fail" (to borrow a media phrase).

If it seems to us that sacred promises are not being kept, that our needs are not being met, that we are desperately struggling on our journey, it is our behavior, not Gods', that bears scrutiny and demands change.
We are certainly not too big to fail, but neither are we too small to learn, to improve, to have faith, to follow God's commandments, and to act as God's partners in the Covenant.

*From: Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliott Friedman