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Translated by Balbino Cotarelo Núñez
To read this post in English, click here
Growing up, Korach appeared twice a year. At summer camp, Korach was a biblical archvillain. Campers and staff read this parsha and learned certain lessons about holiness, envy, and power. In one memorable year, a group of counselors held a secret meeting to try to create a more democratic leadership structure at camp. They were disciplined and explicitly compared to Korach, whose attempt to seize power from Moshe takes center stage in this week’s parsha .
However, I was also reminded of Korach in another context that could not have been more different. Every year as I go to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, the shofar is introduced with the seven-time recitation of Psalm 47 :
לַמְנַצֵּ֬חַ ׀ לִבְנֵי־קֹ֬רַח מִזְמֽוֹר׃ כּל־הָ֭עַמִּים תִּקְעוּ־כָ֑ף הָרִ֥יעוּ לֵ֝א-לֹהִ֗ים בְּק֣וֹל רִנָּֽה׃
For the leader, from the sons of Korach, a psalm. All you peoples, clap your hands, raise your joyful voice to God.
When I read this psalm, I always wonder, what is Korach, or at least his sons, doing at the height of the Rosh Hashanah prayers?!
Based on a verse from the Parashat Pinchas , our rabbis and commentators forged a much more subtle epilogue to the story of Korach. In a few weeks, we will read about the second census that takes place in Sefer Bemidbar . In recapitulating Korach’s rebellion, the Torah tells us :
וּבְנֵ֣י אֱלִיאָ֔ב נְמוּאֵ֖ל וְדָתָ֣ן וַאֲבִירָ֑ם הֽוּא־דָתָ֨ן וַאֲבִירָ֜ם (קרואי) [קְרִיאֵ֣י] הָעֵדָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִצּ֜וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֤ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ בַּעֲדַת־קֹ֔רַח בְּהַצֹּתָ֖ם עַל־ה׳׃ וַתִּפְתַּ֨ח הָאָ֜רֶץ אֶת־פִּ֗יהָ וַתִּבְלַ֥ע אֹתָ֛ם וְאֶת־קֹ֖רַח בְּמ֣וֹת הָעֵדָ֑ה בַּאֲכֹ֣ל הָאֵ֗שׁ אֵ֣ת חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים וּמָאתַ֙יִם֙ אִ֔ישׁ וַיִּהְי֖וּ לְנֵֽס׃ וּבְנֵי־קֹ֖רַח לֹא־מֵֽתוּ׃
Eliab’s sons were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram, chosen in the assembly, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron as part of Korach’s group when they rebelled against God.
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korach—when the group died, when the fire consumed two hundred and fifty men—and they became an example. The sons of Korach, however, did not die.
Rashi (citing Sanhedrin 110a ) explains :
I am the King of the World. הֵם הָיוּ בָעֵצָה תְּחִלָּה, וּבִשְׁעַת הַמַּחֲלֹקֶת הִרְהֲרוּ תְשׁוּבָה בְלִבָּם, לְפִיכָךְ נִתְבַּצֵּר לָהֶם מָקוֹם גָּבוֹהַ בַּגֵיהִנּוֹם וְיָשְׁבוּ שָׁם:
“BUT THE SONS OF KORAH DIED NOT” — They were originally in on the plot, but when the rebellion began they had thoughts of repentance in their hearts; therefore a high place surrounded them in Gehinnom and there they remained.
In a similar vein, Bava Batra 74a describes the travels of Rabbah bar bar Hana, who is shown various important sites from biblical times. He passed by two cracks in the ground from which smoke is coming out and where the voices of the sons of Korach are heard. What are they saying? According to the Talmud, they were chanting and repeating the words, מֹשֶׁה וְתוֹרָתוֹ אֱמֶת – “Moshe and his Torah are true.”
These rabbinical texts suggest something both profound and unimaginable: Korach’s own sons changed their minds. While they were initially part of the plot against Moshe and Aaron, they later changed their minds and thus their lives were spared. Our rabbis’ plot is not entirely favorable. They are trapped in limbo, in a “high place in Gehinnom ,” where they chant about the truth. Still, they contemplated the possibility and even began a process of teshuvah , which is why they were saved.
Eleven psalms are attributed to the sons of Korach, the most prominent of which is the one we recite on Rosh Hashanah. These psalms speak of God’s kingship but also of the themes of forgiveness and trust in God in difficult times. It is perfectly logical therefore that we invoke the sons of Korach during Yamim Noraim , a time when we try to reflect and change our own feelings. The moment we hear the sound of the shofar , we are trying to have our own moment like that of the sons of Korach, where the shofar sounds like an alarm and we finally return to teshuvah .
Beyond Rosh Hashanah, the sons of Korach teach us that the work of cheshbon hanefesh , our own spiritual making, is perennial. We must always seek the truth, evaluate and re-evaluate every situation, and ask ourselves, as the sons of Korach did, if perhaps there is another way to do things. Such exploration requires a certain spiritual courage, because it may confront us with a large group like Korach’s assembly, with elements of our upbringing that we assumed as children, or with our long-held beliefs and traditions. Amazingly, the greatest legacy of the sons of Korach is not their argument with Moshe, but that his sons learned from their own experience. The sons of Korach teach us the power of repentance and that in the long run, such soul-searching is central to the survival of our people as well.
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