Parshat Korach
Friday, June 20, 2014
Parshat Korach
(Numbers 16)
According to the Triennial Torah Cycle
Year 1
1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;
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2 and they rose up in face of Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty men; they were princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown;
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3 and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them: 'Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?'
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4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
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Our current Parshah (Torah portion) for this week is called Korach and is named after the central character of the narrative, namely, Korach ben Izhar. The story of Korach is well-known as it represents a major event in the context of the children of Israel’s wilderness experience. Korach raised up against Moses in defiance and rebelliousness with two other men: Dathan and Abiram. These three men instigated a rebellion against Moses which included 250 men from amongst the children of Israel who were very prominent within the community.
The p’nimiyut Torah (inner teaching) of this story is quite revealing of the human condition of narcissism and the challenges associated with elevating one’s consciousness in the pursuit of spiritual development. The name Korach קֹרַח means: bald-headed, frigid, ice, smooth. Korach is a symbol of coldness or the lack of love and the unwillingness to be led by a sense of altruism. Korach therefore is the callousness and brazenness of a personality who perceives only the desire to receive for himself alone. Korach means bare-headed as he refuses to submit to the Torah and Moses’ spiritual leadership over Israel. He is a symbol of rebellion against the whole system of spiritual hierarchy because he feels his own self-importance supersedes all else.
Korach is also an Edomite name and Edom is descended from Esau. The country of Edom was founded by Jacob's brother Esau. He picked up the nickname "Edom" when he sold half of his massive inheritance for a simple bowl of red bean stew. The term Edom means the external or outer man, the physical nature of the human organism. Korach represents the ego of the physical organism of Edom.
Historically, Edom was located in the region to the southeast of Israel. Mount Seir was a notable landmark in this region.
Edom (Physicality) and Israel (Spirituality), the people who descended from Jacob, never got along with each other. Skirmishes between the people happened often. Edom never got over its hatred of Israel. "Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem, who said, "Raze it, raze it, to its very foundation!"" (Psalm 137:7). In other words, Edom was cheering the Babylonians on. When Israel fell because of their sins, Edom rejoiced at its fall and took the opportunity to raid the country. They even helped the Babylonians collect the stragglers left from the war (Obadiah 10-15).
There are several prophecies against Edom (Isaiah 35; 63:1-6; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Amos 1:11; Obadiah; Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35). However, the one that tells us what happened to Edom is found in Ezekiel 35.
The universal Law of Cause and Effect played out against Edom. Edom rejoiced at the emptying of Israel and five years later, Nebuchadnezzar swept through again, destroying several nations and emptying their lands -- including Edom. Here is what was promised Edom:
"Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out My hand against you, And make you most desolate; I shall lay your cities waste, And you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, therefore, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. Thus I will make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it the one who leaves and the one who returns. And I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain by the sword shall fall. I will make you perpetually desolate, and your cities shall be uninhabited; then you shall know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel 35:3-9).
God promised that travelers would no longer pass that way; the country would be so littered with the slain that people would avoid the stench. But most importantly, God states that the country would never be rebuilt. Just as Edom had perpetual hatred for Israel, their country would remain perpetually empty.
That has remained basically true. Various countries have controlled the territory that was once Edom, but Edom as a nation disappeared. When the edict was made allowing people to return to their homelands, Israel and many other countries rebuilt, but Edom never did. During the time of the Greeks and Romans, the region was known as Idumea, which is the Greek transliteration of Edom. The territory is currently controlled by Jordan.
The lesson of this narrative is that Edom who represents the physical man is always at enmity with Israel who represents the Spirit of man. The physical is driven by the ego of “me and mine” whereas the spiritual self is the sense of self-awareness or the “I” of our existence. The two are in a consistent feud with one another and whereas the intent of human development is the submission to the path which is most befitting of the purpose of the Soul the physical body and the ego must be transformed from a state of rebelliousness to a means of servitude to the higher purpose. At some point in human development the egoistic sense of self will be laid waste and become desolate as the human soul will reach its highest state of elevation and the purpose of existence will be reflected as the only reality our awareness will be capable of perceiving (Jer. 31).
The Co-conspirators
Korach’s two other conspirators are both compliments to the negative traits embodied by his rebelliousness and cold-heartedness. Dathan דָתָן is a Hebrew term which indicates a cistern, fountain, or a mandate and decree. Dathan represents the restricted consciousness from which springs forth the centralized idea of external religious law as the means to an end. The consciousness of Dathan can only see the external rites and decrees of external religious forms as being the only objective truth and denies the essence of the internal truths which the outer forms of religion are intended to express. Dathan could not perceive of the reason why Moses and Aaron should be chosen over and above itself, meaning it cannot fathom why the inner teachings of spirituality should be the emphasis of development over and against the practices of stringent religious observance (i.e. legalism). Consequently the consciousness of Dathan is one that rebels against those who see the inner essence of the Torah as opposed to its mere outer forms.
The other conspirator with Korach is Abiram אֲבִירָם which means a place of high elevation, pride and haughtiness. This name in the context that it is used represents pride and arrogance in the perception that it is greater than all others and subsequently all honor and accolades should be given to him alone.
Thus we see that Korach which is the egoistic desire to receive for oneself is reinforced by Dathan which represents the outer legalistic religious form as opposed to the inner spiritual teachings and Abiram who has pride in himself and is arrogant in his own delusion of self-grandeur.
These attributes rise up against Moses (abstract mind of Hod) and Aaron (directive power Netzach) who are the necessary liberators of human consciousness from the restricted level of mochin d’katnut to the expanded level of mochin d’gadlut.
Another masterpiece. Concise, precise, and full of wondrous knowledge. Even better than the last one. A big Lejaim/Lechaym.