I am a populist. Growing up in Minnesota in the 1960’s and
coming of age in the 1970’s, the figure of Hubert H. Humphrey loomed large in
my consciousness. Humphrey, a Senator from Minnesota, vice-president under
Lyndon Johnson, and a populist, spent a lifetime combating bigotry of any kind
and advocating for moral government that took the needs of all people into
account, especially children, the elderly, the sick, the needy, and the
handicapped. Humphrey also was a staunch
ally of Israel and was one of the true tzadikei umot haolam. Humphrey was one of the dominant forces in
Minnesota politics and as a result, I was exposed early and often in my life to
populist ideas. As an adult, this is still a deeply ingrained way of looking at
things.
Being a populist, I can see that Korach’s argument that “the
whole congregation is holy” was a very attractive one. Korach was advocating for open leadership,
and against autocratic leadership. His argument, a form of “who died and made
you king?” was for giving power to the people.
In the end, however, a close read of Korach’s argument gives
the lie to Korach’s populism. Korach starts out on the right track: “the whole
congregation is holy and God is among them” — Torah should be accessible to
all. His very next words, however, reveal Korach’s true purpose: “why should
you be leaders over God’s congregation” — someone needs to be a leader, and
that someone should be me! The Kol
Simcha notes that the use of the word vayikach – and he (Korach) took
– at the beginning of the parsha is proof of Korach’s self-serving
nature – he wanted the leadership for himself. As the old saw goes, “he was in
it for the kavod.” Korach was no populist and only used a populist
argument to appeal to people to support him in his bid for leadership.
Further proof that Korach’s cause was one of self-promotion
cloaked in populism comes from BT Sanhedrin 109b. There, a conversation between On ben Pelet,
a member of Korach’s entourage, and Mrs. Pelet is related. Mrs. Pelet shrewdly asks her husband a
rhetorical question, “what’s in it for you?”
Mrs. Pelet’s question, her husband’s concession that Korach did not
really have his best interests at heart, and Mrs. Pelet’s subsequent actions
save On ben Pelet from the certain destruction that was about to befall
Korach and his followers. Mrs. Pelet
correctly saw that Korach’s focus on the centrality of his leadership meant
that he was more interested in controlling the masses rather than being
concerned about their physical and spiritual well-being.
Compare Korach’s attitude with that of Moshe, who is
described as the most humble person at the end of Parshat Beha’alotecha.
Throughout the Exodus narrative, we see Moshe as an individual who recognizes
his own faults, is unsure of himself at times, and is not too haughty to
consult with others or even take advice from his father-in-law. It is Moshe who sees beyond the end of his
own nose and recognizes the value of each individual in Klal Yisrael.
When Korach first confronts Moshe at the beginning of the parsha,
Moshe suggests the use of ketoret as a test to see whom God has chosen as the
true leader. Ketoret, which represents the variegated totality of Klal
Yisrael, is indicative of the true leader – one who is capable of seeing
the value of disparate individuals.
If Korach was such shameless self-promoter and was in it
solely for the honor, how is it then that his memory is seemingly honored by having a parsha named after him? I believe that this honor accorded Korach
posthumously serves to highlight a cautionary tale – we all have the potential
to be a Korach and, in the end, we will all get what we want and maybe what we
deserve. Each and every one of us is
faced daily with challenges and we need to struggle mightily to ferret out what
true motivations drive us in our decision-making process when we respond to
those challenges. Those who are
interested in self-promotion, control, and power – through lack of
self-awareness or not – may very well end living to regret their decisions as they
live on in infamy.
When the raison d’etre of an enterprise becomes one
of self-promotion, with the common good a distant second if present at all,
then the whole enterprise is corrupt. When we can concede that we all have a
potential Korach inside us, we are assured a much greater likelihood of being
able to avoid his mistake. May God bless
each of us with insight into our own motivations to tell the difference between
self-promotion and actions to promote the common good.
Shabbat Shalom
Glossary
kavod - honor
ketoret - incense
Klal Yisrael - the whole of
Israel
Kol Simcha - Rabbi Simcha Bonam of Peshischa (1765-1827), the
predecessor to the Kotzker Rebbe
parsha(t) - weekly Torah portion
tzadikei umot haolam - righteous gentiles
yetzer hara - evil inclination
