The (Surprising) Moral Courage of the B'nai Korach
I've just returned this week from some vacation time, as I spent the first half of July at summer camp in the Colorado Rockies. In addition to experiencing the great joys of being in an immersive Jewish environment with enthusiastic young people and spending significant time in nature, it was also lovely to have a breather from American political news! Emerging back into the world this week, I am struck by how easy it is to become accustomed to the cruelty, violence, and authoritarianism that are taking hold in our society right now... and just how difficult-but-important it is to be able to maintain some critical distance in order to see the full picture clearly, exercise moral courage, and push back.
Perhaps this is why one particular line jumped out at me as I skimmed this week's Torah portion.
A large percentage of the ink of Parashat Pinchas is spilled over a census of the Israelites: the genealogies of leaders and the numbers of men ages 20+ in each tribe who are able to bear arms. In the midst of this long list of many names and numbers, the text detours into a brief recap of the Korach revolt.
This recap largely echoes the story of Korach found in Parashat Korach, which Jewish communities around the world read just three weeks ago (see Numbers 16 for the whole story). As you may recall, in the wilderness, a Levite by the name of Korach -- together with his sidekicks Datan and Aviram -- rose up to challenge the leadership of Moses and Aaron. In punishment, God caused the earth to open its mouth and swallow them up, and then a fire consumed 250 of Korach's followers.
Only, in the earlier telling of the story, it certainly sounded as though Korach's entire household was aligned with him in rebelling and would therefore have been punished. There, the text says: "and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korach's people and all their possessions" (Num. 16:32). In this week's parasha, however, in contrast, our text explicitly states a surprising conclusion: "The sons of Korach did not die" - "וּבְנֵי־קֹ֖רַח לֹא־מֵֽתוּ" (Numbers 26:11).
These four small Hebrew words - "u'venei korach lo meitu" - throw the rabbis for a loop! How could it be that Korach's children were not punished along with their father?! In an attempt to reconcile this seeming contradiction, the midrashic tradition explains that the sons of Korach must have been on their father's side at the outset, but at some point changed their minds and pulled away from his evil influence. We read in Targum Jonathan, for example: "But the sons of Korach were not in the counsel of their father, but rather they followed the doctrine of Moshe the prophet, and therefore they did not die by the plague, nor were they smitten by fire, nor engulfed in the yawning of the earth."
Imagine the incredible fortitude it must have taken for the children of Korach to have bucked their wicked father's influence! Korach was slick, deceitful, and persuasive, claiming that his true aims were egalitarian ones while all the while working towards self-promotion and to claim power for himself. And yet, it seems that in the end, his own children could see through him enough not to remain under his spell.
Our tradition notices and celebrates the moral courage of Korach's sons in breaking free from their father's ranks. One place we see this is in a rabbinic interpretation about the first line of the book of Psalms, which reads: "Happy is the person who does not walk in the council of the wicked" (Psalms 1:1). The midrash on this verse explains about the phrase "happy is the person:" "This is the sons of Korach, who did not walk in the council of their father." Korach's children are lauded here for stepping out from under their father's shadow and developing their own moral sense.
In addition, in the Book of Psalms, we find eleven psalms (numbers 42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, and 88) that are introduced with phrases such as "Lam'natzeach livnei korach mizmor," an attribution to the Sons of Korach, the sub-group of Levites descended from him. In time, the "B'nai Korach" gain the reputation of being great musicians and Psalm-writers, and they go on to play an important role in Jewish liturgy to this day. These eleven psalms contain many famous jewels of lines, and also deal heavily with themes such as a redemption and teshuvah.
Perhaps the b'nai Korach seem like unlikely heroes... after all, their sole action in our Torah portion is not dying, and even that feels a bit like an after-thought. All the same, I find it inspiring to think about the example they set. I have to imagine that Korach's sons had grown up with a narcissistic father who regularly disparaged Moses and Aaron with his warped version of the truth. Somehow, though, when the moment demanded it, they were able to find sufficient grounding and strength to determine what was right for themselves, and to assert that they were not like the others of their generation. Surrounded by evil-doers, they bravely chose a different path for themselves.
Whether we realize it or not, today we are also steeped in an increasingly toxic brew. Dominant voices in our society regularly denigrate the stranger, cast aspersions on immigrants, and place blame for societal problems at the feet of the vulnerable. Even if these are not really our values, it is hard not to become somewhat inured to these messages over time, and complacent. It is time for us to wake up and loudly affirm and reclaim a different set of values, to actively defy the voices of selfishness and cruelty that dominate. If Korach's own children could manage to do this, so must we!
Yesterday I read an article in Vanity Fair -- "Even God Cannot Hear Us Here": What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women's Prison -- a first-person account by Rümeysa Öztürk about the 45 days she spent in a South Louisiana processing facility. I found it both incredibly disturbing and also not surprising at all, given the many similar news accounts I've read about people being snatched off of streets and the terrible conditions in detention centers. But, accounts like this should shock us into action.
I am grateful to the many in our Kavana community who are stirring to action, coming together to align and affirm our values and organizing to do good in a variety of ways. This week, I especially want to thank Brooke Brod for her tireless efforts to pull together a Multi-Faith Vigil called "Together in Welcome" -- co-sponsored by Kavana together with a number of other local orgs -- to give us an opportunity to publicly assert our solidarity with immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. I hope you will plan to join us downtown next Thursday, July 24th from 3:30-5pm -- please click here for more details and to RSVP.
Even with only a single small mention in our Torah portion, the "sons of Korach" can serve as models for us about how to step out from under the shadow of wrongdoing before it is too late. Not only do they "not die," but they also go on to live and flourish in the most interesting and creative of ways. As holy poets and music-makers, they quite literally live to "tell the tales" of their generation and to sing words of praise. So too may we find the moral courage and strength to break free from the swirl of ugliness, fear-mongering and callousness that surrounds us in these heavy days, and to work towards a future that is worthy of song and praise.
Shabbat Shalom, and I look forward to seeing many of you at Shabbat in the Park tonight and at the "Together in Welcome" Vigil next Thursday!
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
