Efrat, Israel –“And Korah … took (sides)… and Dotan and Aviram and they gathered against Moses and Aaron; they said to them ‘It is enough for you, since the entire congregation are all completely holy and in their midst is the Lord. Why do you lift yourselves up above the assemblage of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:2,3)

Most of the Biblical commentaries understand Korah’s challenge as being a personal one against the leadership of Moses and Aaron; Korah was waging a rebellion because he himself was desirous of being the leader. However, if that were indeed the only substantive issue he was offering – a change in leadership – it seems incomprehensible that not even one single Israelite steps up to stand on the side of Moses.

After all, memories of the miraculous plagues produced by Moses against the Egyptian enslavers and of the splitting of the Reed Sea which brought the Israelites to safety while causing the Egyptian cavalry to drown, were still fresh in their minds – since these wonders had transpired only two years prior to Korah’s rebellion. Moses was the greatest liberator in world history, dwarfing the liberation activities of Abraham Lincoln for the American blacks and Nelson Mandela for the South African blacks combined. Does not logic dictate that many Israelites would still defend Moses as their father figure and protector? It would seem to me that Korah must be presenting some kind of alternate plan, and one which would universally speak to the hearts and minds of the Israelites specifically after the report of the Scouts, of which we read last week.

The classical commentary of Rashi (R. Shlomo b. Yitzhak, 1040-1105), in addition to describing all of the rebels as perennial anti-kehuna malcontents (either because they were Levites who were overlooked for the priesthood or because they were Reubenites who never had Grandfather Jacob’s favor or because they were first-born sons who had forfeited their initial leadership position by worshipping the golden calf), goes on to cite a Midrash which provides a curious logical underpinning to Korah’s argument, at the same time linking it to last week’s Biblical reading commanding the ritual fringes:

“(Korah) stood up and gathered together 250 heads of District Courts, mostly from the tribe of Reuven and its neighboring tribes, … and garbed them in robes which were wholly royal blue (tchelet). They came and stood up before Moses, saying, ‘Is a robe entirely made of tehelet will not automatically be freed (of further obligation)?!’” (Rashi to Numbers 16:1).

The Netziv, nineteenth century Yeshiva Head of the Volozhin Academy, explains the commandment of ritual fringes in a novel and profound fashion, which sheds much light on Rashi’s explanation of Korah’s argument. In his Commentary known as HaAmek Davar, he suggests that the essence of Judaism is to be found in the ritual of the fringes. The usual material and color of garments worn in Biblical times was wool-white, since the white wool of the sheep provided ancient people with their garments. Hence, the woolen, white fringes represent the more physical and animalistic side of the human being, who obviously shares many instinctive characteristics (drive for food and sex) with the bestial, animal world.

The blue of the tchelet, on the other hand, is reminiscent of the more ethereal and spiritual realm of the heavens, as the Bible teaches in the incident following the Divine Revelation at Sinai:

“And Moses and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and the seventy elders of Israel ascended (atop the mountain) and saw the G-d of Israel; under His feet was the likeness of the (blue) sapphire stone, like the essence of the heavens for purity” (Exodus 24:10).

The Netziv suggests that Judaism is teaching the importance of unifying all aspects of our personality and our world, of bringing together the material and the spiritual, the physical and the sacred, in Israel’s mission of sanctifying a profane universe and perfecting (completing) an imperfect society. We must build the ladder which will connect heaven and earth; we must create the Sanctuary which will enable the Divine Presence to dwell within, and completely suffuse with the sacred, every aspect of our earthly existence.

This mission is to be realized in the Land of Israel, in which our Holy Temple will be built and from which peace and redemption will come to all nations. Such a mission requires military battles and ideological debates, back-breaking labor of land reclamation and the dangerous activity of clearing swamps of their infected and unpotable liquids. There is no pure garment of tchelet  in the world as it has been created; we must find the spiritual potential even in the white wool of the animal, and sanctify the sapphire blue of our heavenly Torah.

Datan and Aviram never wanted to leave the fleshpots of materialistic Egypt, not even when Moses initially slayed the Egyptian taskmaster. They join Korah’s rebellion, and charge Moses with having “taking (the Israelites) out of the land of milk and honey (sic Egypt!) to die in the desert” (Numbers 16:13).  Many of Korah’s men are apparently in favor of going back to Egypt with a different leader – and so they applaud Korah’s words (Numbers 14:4).

Korah himself  may very well have been desirous of remaining in the desert – which appeared to be “wholly tehelet”. Completely sacred. The Desert Israelites subsisted on manna, moved their camp in accordance with Divine direction, and – freed of the necessity of manual labor or military battles – could devote themselves solely to the study of Torah. They were living in a perennial kollel, freed of all responsibility and decision making. This may well have been precisely what Korah had in mind when he said, “The entire congregation are all completely holy and in their midst is the Lord. Why do you lift yourselves up above the assemblage of the Lord” and insist on conquering Israel? It is more “sacred” to remain in the desert, directly under G-d!

But this was not the Divine wish. G-d never gave us “tchelet” on a golden platter. Then – and now – G-d expects us to join together the techelet with the wool and sanctify the land and the world, understanding that this requires hard work, tough decision making and high risks. Nevertheless, that’s what it means to ultimately strive to become “a holy nation and a kingdom of priest – teachers” for the world.