To be born into the priestly tribe of Levi,
spiritually speaking, is a little like being
born into royalty.
Korach was from a family so prominent
that the Torah records his birth.
Korakh led a revolt against Moses –
it was short-lived,
but it was the most serious challenge
ever mounted against Moses' leadership.
He assembled a distinguished group
of disgruntled Israelites, his allies
Dathan and Abiram, some leaders
from the tribe of Reuben as well as
from his own tribe of Levi,
the tribe from which the priests came.
Incidentally, Levi was also Moses' tribe.
This revolt was a little like one of the
President's advisors saying to their boss,
"Hey, how come you're in charge?"
We don't know anything about
Korach's previous relationship with Moses.
But this is a populist rebellion:
Korach accuses Moses of being an elitist,
claiming that Moses is
keeping God to himself.
In front of a large gathering of Israelites,
Korach chides Moses and Aaron
"You have gone too far!
All the community are holy
and God is in their midst.
Why do you raise yourself
above God's congregation?"
Moses is shaken by the accusation,
and even more shaken by the 250 Israelite
tribal chieftains backing up Korach.
At first he says nothing.
Rather, he falls on his face,
presumably in prayer. When he stands up,
furious, he challenges Korach
and his followers to meet him
the following day in front
of the Tent of Meeting,
and to bring ritual fire pans and incense.
Then God will judge who is holy
by accepting that man's offering.
The next day, everyone gathers
in front of the Tent of Meeting.
By this point, Moses is feeling fully confident.
He announces to the crowd
of Israelite spectators:
"If these men die a natural death
then it wasn't God
who sent me to be your leader."
He is barely finished speaking
when the earth opens its mouth
and swallows up all of Korach's people
along with their households
and all their possessions.
They totally vanished from the midst
of the Israelite camp.
Everyone is astounded.
The spectators are enraged, shouting
that Moses and Aaron have brought
death upon their community.
The brothers quickly enter
the Tent of Meeting, where they do a deal
with a very angry God not to destroy
everyone else in the community.
God sends a plague to punish 14,700
of Korach's remaining supporters,
and then calls it a day.
Interestingly, God punishes
Korach's followers, and not his family.
Korach's sons did not join him in the revolt,
and therefore, they were not punished.
As a matter of fact,
their descendants later wrote
eleven incredibly moving Psalms,
which are some of the
holiest Jewish prayers.
One of the greatest of all Jewish leaders,
Samuel the prophet,
was a direct descendant of Korach.
This is quite remarkable. It's as if Americans
one day would elect a direct descendant
of Benedict Arnold, or some other
infamous traitor to be President.
We still think of Korach
as a symbol of chutzpah, arrogance.
He came from a distinguished family,
and saw no reason why Moses and Aaron
should be leading Israel instead of him.
This sense of entitlement
was in sharp contrast to Moses's humility.
Rather than just throwing Korach
and the leaders of the revolt into prison,
Moses turned to God for the answers
and let Korach dig his own hole.
Producer: Sarah Lefton
Animation: Nick Fox-Gieg
Animation: Liesje Kraai
Editorial Director: Matthue Roth
Theme Music: Tim Cosgrove
Written and Narrated by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Sound Recording: Dugans