PARSHAT KORACH - HOW THE RIGHTEOUS FALL - LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

[TorahZionist]

BS"D

YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva

PARSHAT KORACH
25 Sivan 5768/27-28 June 2008


HOW THE RIGHTEOUS FALL - LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

How is it possible that 250 leaders of the tribe of Reuven, heads of the
Sanhedrin, lost their way, rebelled against Moses, went over to the side of
Korach - only to lose everything and be taken out of this world, as the
parsha tells us: "A fire came forth from Hashem and consumed the two hundred
and fifty men who were offering incense." How could these leading Rabbis
fall into such folly?

Leaving this question aside for the moment, let's jump to the end of our
parsha, which teaches us of the commandment to guard the Temple, a 24/7 job.
This work, as the Mishna tells us, was given over mostly to the tribe of
Levi. In 21 places the Levites guarded the Temple. The Levites, like the
Kohanim, were divided into 24 families; each family came up to Jerusalem
once in six months to work for the week in the Temple service. The families
were subdivided into six heads of families; each one in turn worked one day
of the week, and on the Shabbat all six families worked together.

So the Levite who came up to Jerusalem to work his shift in the Temple
might have actually guarded the Temple twice. The Mishna goes on to teach us
that the person in charge of the Temple would make his rounds throughout the
night to ensure that all was well, and if he found a Levite sleeping on the
job, he would set his clothes on fire and the sound of the Levite crying out
was so great that it could be heard throughout all of Jerusalem.

Why was this so? Could he have not just woken him up? Did he have to
burn his clothing? A little push would have done the job! As is known, the
Levites would receive ten percent of the yield of the field from the owner.
The owner could, in essence, give it to any Levite of his choice. On
receiving the produce, the Levite could do as he pleased with it, open a
supermarket, or sell it on the side, thus making himself a nice livelihood.
In return, what do we ask from the Levite? Just to work in the Temple once
every six months, and only once or twice in that week, and here, this Levi
fell asleep on the job. When he comes home and we see his bandages, everyone
will know that this Levi did not do his job. The owner of the field will cry
out and say: What?! I give you my produce and you did not fulfill your part
of the deal, so from now on I will give it to a different Levi. For he has
been receiving money for nothing!

All too often, we have our own Levites today who sleep on the job. Our
leaders were elected to serve the people and protect them, and even the
minimum they do not do for the people. Not only do they sleep on the job,
but they outright steal and grab all they can - and are still in office. The
very least that a government must do - to protect their people -even that
they are incapable of doing, as missiles continue to rain down on Jewish
towns in spite of the so-called truce. Worst of all is the fact that we have
gotten used to the daily barrage of rockets that fall on Jewish cities. The
Levites as the leaders should have their clothing burnt for failing in their
job.

Getting back to our question on how the 250 leaders followed Korach into
hell: Our Rabbis teach us that Korach was very wealthy. In fact, he was one
of the wealthiest men in history, as he found part of the treasures that
Joseph had hidden. Korach spread his wealth around and bought off these 250
leaders from the Sanhedrin. And in spite of the fact that they were all
righteous, they were powerless to oppose Korach's ugly plan and went along
with it. For once you take from the sinners, no matter how righteous you are
you will be dragged down with them. We see this today, as time and time
again religious political parties sleep with the devil just in order to
receive some moolah. We saw this in the expulsion of the Jews from Gush
Katif, and we see it today in Jerusalem.

The lessons in our parsha are clear: If you do not even do the minimum
that is required of you as a leader, then you need to have your clothes
burned. Also, once you touch evil money, even if you are the heads of the
Sanhedrin, you're doomed to fall.

With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen


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