A Thought On Parshas Korach
A Thought On Parshas Korach
"...cha'mishim u'mo'a'sayim ne'sei'ae ae'da.."
"...two hundred fifty communal leaders..." (16:2)
The Torah attributes great qualities to the band of followers selected by Korach for his uprising. They are described as distinguished men, as communal leaders, and as persons with sound reputation. There were 250 of them.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel is curious about the actual status of these individuals. From the fact that our verse delineates three descriptions: ne'sie'ae ae'da (communal leaders), kru'ae mo'ed (designated with distinction) and anshei shem (sound reputation), we must infer that the men had great stature. Yet, he ponders, who might they have been? Moreover, why did Korach pick the number 250?
Well, since we are still in the "Book of Numbers", we will see what Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel does with those numbers. Korach was from the tribe of Levi. As we know, he was seeking to assert power and to garner status for himself and ostensibly for others in his tribe. There were eleven other tribes in the Jewish nation. As we see from the Torah, Korach was allied with Dasan and Aviram, nemesis figures dating back to Moshe Rabbeinu's early days in Egypt. We also know that Oan son of Peles was another crony of Korah and his band. So, there were four identified "players" in the rebellion. What about the number 250?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel reasons that Korach sought to fortify himself and his claims with a semblance of halachic propriety. Worded differently, he wanted to create an appearance of having the backing of the rabbinate. So, we all know that there is no central and absolute person within a tribe who is granted full authority to overturn precedent or to make rulings which are uniformly binding. However, there is a judicial arm in each tribe known as Sanhedrin katana which is comprised of twenty three justices or elders. These Sanhedrei katana have the power and authority to judge and rule for the constituents of their respective tribes.
Korach assembled 23 leading authorities from each of the 11 tribes in order to foster a misleading image of full rabbinic cooperation with his movement. He made it appear as if the high court system within each tribe was in support of his rebellion against Moshe Rabbeinu. If you take 23 and multiply it by 11, you should get a total of 253. When the Torah tells us that Korach came forth with 250 men, this means that, including Dasan, Aviram and Oan son of Peles within the 11 sets of 23 "faux Sanhedrins", Korach was surrounded by an entourage of two hundred distinguished, well known communal leaders.
They say "Don't judge a book by its cover." We can now say "Don't try to cover yourself by booking a judge." Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...cha'mishim u'mo'a'sayim ne'sei'ae ae'da.."
"...two hundred fifty communal leaders..." (16:2)
The Torah attributes great qualities to the band of followers selected by Korach for his uprising. They are described as distinguished men, as communal leaders, and as persons with sound reputation. There were 250 of them.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel is curious about the actual status of these individuals. From the fact that our verse delineates three descriptions: ne'sie'ae ae'da (communal leaders), kru'ae mo'ed (designated with distinction) and anshei shem (sound reputation), we must infer that the men had great stature. Yet, he ponders, who might they have been? Moreover, why did Korach pick the number 250?
Well, since we are still in the "Book of Numbers", we will see what Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel does with those numbers. Korach was from the tribe of Levi. As we know, he was seeking to assert power and to garner status for himself and ostensibly for others in his tribe. There were eleven other tribes in the Jewish nation. As we see from the Torah, Korach was allied with Dasan and Aviram, nemesis figures dating back to Moshe Rabbeinu's early days in Egypt. We also know that Oan son of Peles was another crony of Korah and his band. So, there were four identified "players" in the rebellion. What about the number 250?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel reasons that Korach sought to fortify himself and his claims with a semblance of halachic propriety. Worded differently, he wanted to create an appearance of having the backing of the rabbinate. So, we all know that there is no central and absolute person within a tribe who is granted full authority to overturn precedent or to make rulings which are uniformly binding. However, there is a judicial arm in each tribe known as Sanhedrin katana which is comprised of twenty three justices or elders. These Sanhedrei katana have the power and authority to judge and rule for the constituents of their respective tribes.
Korach assembled 23 leading authorities from each of the 11 tribes in order to foster a misleading image of full rabbinic cooperation with his movement. He made it appear as if the high court system within each tribe was in support of his rebellion against Moshe Rabbeinu. If you take 23 and multiply it by 11, you should get a total of 253. When the Torah tells us that Korach came forth with 250 men, this means that, including Dasan, Aviram and Oan son of Peles within the 11 sets of 23 "faux Sanhedrins", Korach was surrounded by an entourage of two hundred distinguished, well known communal leaders.
They say "Don't judge a book by its cover." We can now say "Don't try to cover yourself by booking a judge." Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 6:32 PM
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