This
week's Parasha features a central episode in the forty-year wilderness journey,
the rebellion of Korach (Korah), Da’tan (Dathan), Aviram
(Abiram), On, and 250 other leaders, "… princes of the congregation, the
elect men of the assembly, men of renown" who “… assembled themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron…" (Num.16:2, 3). The above
quotes, as well as the language employed by the rest of the discourse between
the malcontents and Moshe, contain words and expressions which we have already
encountered elsewhere. The usage of the very same words (or ones emanating from
the same roots), albeit in different contexts, as well as the protagonists'
method of echoing each other's expressions, intensify the story line and add
color to the characters and the issues at hand.
The
"princes," with whom we commence the study, are called here
"nesi'im" ("nasi" - singular, of the root n.s.a, meaning to
"lift up"), just as were the leaders in Parashat Nasso (Num. 4:21ff).
In the latter we noted that "nasso," "lifting, carrying, raising,"
also means "to bear" and in 5:31 (of the same Parasha) it was used as
the "bearing of sin" (in reference to "being guilty").
However, the verb "bearing" may also indicate the bearing of
another's sin in a sense of forgiveness, as is seen in Parashat Ki Tissa (whose
title also means "lifting," being connected, in that case, to the
census of the People). In the said Parasha (in Ex. 32:32), Moshe pleaded with
YHVH on behalf of the people, in the wake of the Golden Calf episode, saying,
"If you will forgive…"(or literally "bear"), in Hebrew:
"eem tissa." In Bamidbar (Numbers) 11:11,12 (Parashat
B'ha'alotcha) Moshe complains about "bearing" and
"carrying" the people of Yisrael. “…You lay the burden (massa
Korach and
company are also described here as "elect men of the assembly" (ref. 16:2),
or "k'ru'ey mo'ed." In Parashat Emor (Lev. 23:2-4), we
recognized that the root k.r.a is to “call" and that "mikra"
means "a called (out) assembly, a congregation, or a convocation."
Thus, these leaders were not only "lifted up," but were also honored
by being "called out" (translated here "elect"). However,
their "calling" does not stop there. They are also the "called
out" of the "mo'ed," which is translated "assembly,"
but if we refer again to Va’yikra (Leviticus) 23 we see that "mo’ed” stems from the root
y.a'a.d (yod, ayin, dalet) and means "appoint, design, or designate."
Thus YHVH's special appointments, His feasts, are called "mo'adim,"
plural, and "mo'ed,” singular. When
we reviewed those concepts, we noticed that the people who are appointed and
designated are collectively called "edah," of the very same root.
Thus, the "nesi'im" (the “elevated ones”) are the "princes of
the congregation," which is the "edah," or the "appointed
assembly." How ironic that these
"lifted up" individuals of the "appointed assembly," who
have been "called," or "singled out," by
"appointment" for special "YHVH-designated" occasions, and
who are also men of renown ("shem", i.e. "name"), are the
very ones now "gathered… against Moshe and A'haron" (16:3)! These men
did not understand that it was not for vainglory that they had been raised up.
Although described as "men of name" (translated "renown"),
it was not their own names that were to be lifted, but the name of the One who had
called and appointed them for His name's sake. Let us take note, though,
that in spite of their flagrant behavior their "company" (16: 5,
11,16, 21) is still termed here "eda" which is, as mentioned,
"an appointed assembly."
These
"nesi'im," in their blinded fury and haughtiness decry YHVH's leaders
of choice and dare challenge them saying: "Why do you lift
yourselves up [“tit'nas'u”] above the congregation of YHVH?" (16:3b italics
added). Prior to that, they maintain: "This is too much
["rav"] for you, since all the congregation are holy, every one of
them, and YHVH is among them" (16:3a literal translation, italics added).
Moshe's initial response to these words is to fall on his face, after which he
says: "In the morning YHVH will show who are His, and him who is
holy, and will cause him to come near to Him; even him whom He has chosen, He
will cause to come near to Him. Do this, take fire-pans, Korah and all his
company, and put fire in them, and put incense in them before YHVH tomorrow.
And it shall be the man whom YHVH chooses, he shall be holy. This is too
much ["rav", again] for you, sons of Levi!” (16:5-7
literal translation, italics added). "This is too much for you" -
"rav la'chem" - is the expression employed by the rebels. Moshe was
not unaware of their every word, and answered them ‘tit for tat.’ As he continues,
he says, "Is it a small ("m'at" - opposite of
"rav") thing to you that the Elohim of Israel has separated you from
the congregation of Israel
The sad
story continues… Again, notice the wording, "And Moses sent to call Dathan
and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. And they said, 'we will not come up.
Is it a small thing that you have brought us up
out of a land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but
must you also seize dominion over us?'" (16:12, 13 italics added). In
their defiance, Da’tan and Aviram are determined to not "come up"
("na'aleh"), while this is followed by their accusation, "is it
a small thing…" – ham'at" - echoing Moshe's words in verse 9,
"is it a small thing to you that the Elohim of
Israel…?" Their excuse for "not going up"
(“lo na’alea”) is that it was Moshe who "brought them up"
("he'e'li'tanu", again of the root for “going up") from "a
land flowing with milk and honey," and has not brought them into
"a land flowing with milk and honey" as he had promised (v. 13, 14; see
Ex. 3:8). In this way, these two are
responsible for twisting YHVH's promises and substituting truth for a lie by portraying
the land of their slavery and bondage as a dreamland of the past, while their
supposed grim present holds no promises for the future. They choose to make
their point by not only repeating and twisting Moshe’s own words, but also by
employing the verb for “going/bringing up” (root a.l.h) in a way that imbues
their statement with thick sarcasm. They maintain that the purpose for having
been "brought up" to the desert was in order to "cause them to
die," and so that Moshe could "dominate them with dominion"
– tis’ta'rer hista'rer." "Sar" is the root of
"dominion," while it also constitutes another word for "prince,"
from whence the term "Prince of Peace" ("Sar Shalom") is
derived, as well as the names Sarah and Yisrael. They seal their harangue by accusing Moshe of
not having given them "inheritance in fields and vineyards," adding,
"Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up
["lo na'aleh", again]" (16:14, italics added). Their ultimate
end - of "descending/going down alive into Sheol" (v. 30) -
highlights with an eerie light their repeated refusal to “go up."
Moshe's next
comment, "I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one
of them" (16: 15) is reminiscent of Shmu'el's soliloquy in Shmu’el Alef
(1st Samuel) 12:3: "Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have
I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed?" The accusations hurled against Moshe are in
stark contrast to his description in last week's Parashat B'ha'alotcha. Miriam
and Aha'ron's slander against their brother was met there by the words:
"Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the men on the face of the
earth" (Num. 12:3). In light of this statement, the present malicious
words against him seem even more unjust and deplorable.
Now Moshe is
angry - "(va)yichar le-Moshe"! (16:15). In last week’s
Parashat B’ha’a’lotcha we encountered the same term for anger, which was
appended to the nose (ref. 11:1), and thus it was the “burning of/in the nose.”
Moshe's anger here is followed by the injunction to the band of rebels to
“light up” incense on their fire pans and to let YHVH judge them and the
situation. YHVH commands Moshe and Aha'ron to separate themselves from this
"eda" (congregation, assembly), so that the latter may be "consumed"
or "devoured" as by fire. Finally, after Korach, Da’tan
and Aviram, and their entire company is swallowed up, "a fire came
forth from YHVH and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who offered
incense" (16:35, literal translation, italics added).
In 16:9 we
read that the Elohim of Yisrael had separated Korach and his band in order to
"bring you near Himself to do the service of the tabernacle." "Separated"
there was "hivdil," being of the root b.d.l (bet, dalet,
lamed), "to divide, separate, set apart, exclude, and single out." Later on, before punishment is meted out to
this group, YHVH tells Moshe and Aha'ron to "separate" themselves from
“this congregation" (v. 21). There too the root b.d.l is used
("hibadlu"). Thus, when those who have been called and separated out
by YHVH, according to His order and method of selection, oppose His ways they become
separated and set apart from the rest of the community, but this time for
reproof of the severest kind. Further,
YHVH says to the congregation (of Yisrael): "Turn away from the tents of
these wicked men" (v. 26). "Turn away" is "suru,"
of the root "sur" (samech, vav, resh), whereas in verse 15 Moshe asks
YHVH to “not turn" to these men's offerings, using the root panoh
(with "panim – face” being its derivative). We have dealt with
"p.n.h" a number of times, and found that it indicates a
"turning toward," in contrast to "sur" which is a "turning
away from." A "sorer"
(again, of the root “sur”) is a stubborn rebel (e.g. Deut. 21:18,20) – an apt
description of these 250 and some individuals.
Interestingly,
the bronze fire pans used by the sinners were to be salvaged from the fire, and
were to be reshaped and made into plates for covering the altar, thus rendering
these objects sanctified. This was to be a visible sign and a warning to and for
the Children of Yisrael, so that in the future no one who was not of the seed
of Aha'ron would attempt again to “come near” and offer incense before YHVH, “so that he may not be as Korah and as his company” (16: 40).
Only one day
goes by and the people begin to complain again, saying to Moshe and Aha’ron:
"You have brought death [“ha'mitem”] on the people of
YHVH" (v. 41, italics added), thus echoing the words of Da’tan and Aviram
to Moshe in 16:13 ("you have brought us up here… to cause us to die
- le'hamitenu"). In both cases the root is "ma'vet," that
is, “death” (m.v.t - mem, vav, tav). Once again the cloud covers the
Tent of Meeting and the glory of YHVH appears (ref. 16: 42), much like the
description in verse 19, where the same thing took place in front of Korach and
company. This time YHVH admonishes Moshe (and Aha'ron) to stand back, as He is
about to “consume” the congregation, using the very same verb which we
encountered above (in 16:21). Moshe and Aha'ron fall on their faces, as they
did previously (see V. 22), and what starts out as a plague is halted by Aha'ron's
action of kindling the incense on fire pans, with fire obtained from the
altar. He then runs through the camp,
holding on to the fire pans to "make an atonement… for wrath has gone out
from YHVH" (v. 46), brining the plague to an end (standing “between the
dead and the living,” v. 48). The "wrath" described here is
termed "ketzef", k.tz.f. (kof, tzadi, fey), which is also found
in verse 22, when Moshe and Aah'ron display their concern for the entire
congregation of Yisrael upon the mutiny of Korach and his band, saying:
"Shall one man sin and will You be angry [“tiktzof”] with all the
congregation?" (Italics added). Thus, the entire congregation of Yisrael,
far from learning the lesson displayed before them the previous day, re-enacted
the mutinous scenario.
Following the major affront dealt to the office of
the priesthood and the roles of the Levites, the rest of the Parasha is devoted
to reconfirming their uniqueness, by the blossoming of Aha'ron's rod, which is
the ultimate evidence, witness, and testimony of YHVH's choice. It was for this
reason that another title is being accorded here to the Tent of Meeting. Ohel
Ha’edut, that is, Tent of the Testimony/Witness replaces
its usual title of Ohel Mo’ed (17:7). A
female witness happens to be “eda,” being the same as the word for “band or
congregation” employed so often in our Parasha. This new term may be hinting at
the (poor) ‘testimony’ of the assembly “eda,” as compared to YHVH’s true
witness, represented by the Tent of the Testimony (Ohel Ha’edut).
Aha’ron’s
dead rod "had budded and had brought forth buds, and had bloomed blossoms,
and had yielded almonds" (17:8). This is a display in front of the entire
nation of the miracle of life, as it sprouts out of death, death that has been
so characteristic of these last episodes. As we have already noted (in Parashat
Trumah, Ex. 25:31-40 regarding the Menorah), almond is "sha'ked,"
which is of the root sh.k.d (shin. kof. dalet) meaning to “watch and to be
diligent." The famous passage in Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 1:11, 12, teaches us
of YHVH's watchful determination to perform His word. Here too, after a line of
incidents and insurrections, complaining and disciplinary measures, YHVH is
pointing to His irreversible will (marked by resurrection power) in carrying
out His word and accomplishing it, despite and in face of all opposition.
Another hint
as to the power of resurrection is found, of all places, in the most dreadful
description, right before the earth opened up and swallowed the rebels. Thus,
we read in the Hebrew text, “And if YHVH creation will create [translated ‘will
do a new thing’] and the earth will open up its mouth and will swallow… etc”
(16:30). How is it that an act of “creation” is appended to this most morbid
scene of death and annihilation? Since
“creation” always speaks of life, could this be alluding to a new creation,
springing forth from the “lowest parts of the earth” to which Yeshua descended,
in accordance with Ephesians 4:9? (See also 1Peter 3:19.)
Hebrew Tools for Everyday
Use
This week’s Parasha does not yield too many new words and/or expressions
that may be applied to everyday Modern Hebrew speech. The words that we will
attempt to incorporate to modern usage will be: milk, honey, much, small (quantitative),
and one form of the usage of the root a.l.a (which primarily means to ‘go up’).
Both “too much” and “small” are used in the Parasha as “rav” and “m’at”. We
will see how we may use the first of these, in a slightly different form, while
the second remains the same in sound but has a slightly different meaning in contemporary
usage. And as mentioned, we will also see how the root for “going up” – a.l.h –
can be used in a very surprising manner.
Milk – chalav
Honey – d’vash
How much does the milk
cost?
(Notice how ‘oleh’ – ‘goes
up’ – is used for “cost”!)
How much does the honey
cost? (literally, how much costs the honey?)
The honey costs much
Had’vash oleh harbeh
The milk costs little
He’chalav oleh m’at
