Parshas Korach: Behind Every Man…

Rebellion and dissention were no strangers to the Jewish people during their 40-year sojourn in the dessert. Perhaps the greatest rebellion, and the hardest one to comprehend, is the rebellion of Korach and his followers. The Mishnah in Ethics of Our Fathers singles out Korach as the paradigm of dissention. In fact, the Mishnah draws a distinction between the arguments of Hillel and Shamai and those of Korach. The Mishnah states, “What is an argument for the sake of Heaven? That of Hillel and Shamai. And what is an argument that is not for the sake of heaven? That of Korach and his comrades.” The commentaries note that while Hillel and Shamai were adversaries, the adversary in Korach’s case was Moshe. Why then does it mention Korach and his comrades, as opposed to Korach and Moshe? The answer given is that in Korach’s case, there was such internal strife that it never reached a point where one could clearly single out the two sides because each one had their personal goals and ambitions in minds. There was never a united front against Moshe.

What transformed Korach from being an elder statesman of the Jewish people to turning against his own leader, his own tradition and ultimately his own G-d? The Talmud in Sanhedrin 109b elaborates on the root of Korach’s rebellion. Korach came home one day with his head shaven and he seemed somewhat disheveled. Over dinner, his wife asked him if anything out of the ordinary occurred that day. In between bites, he managed to reply that in fact, today Moshe made the appointments of the Priests and the Levites. Unfortunately, he was passed over for a coveted position and it was given to a younger member of the family. Additionally, since he was a Levite, his head was shaven and Moshe physically waved him around like a lulav for his inaugural ceremony. Aghast, Korach’s wife nearly choked on the piece of lamb chop that she was in middle of swallowing. She exclaimed, “What is Moshe doing? Is he trying to embarrass you?” He replied, “No, Moshe himself was included in the hair shaving ceremony for the Levite inauguration.” His wife illogically retorted that once Moshe did this to everyone else, he included himself as well, even though his intentions where to embarrass Korach. Thereupon, she proclaimed that Korach must stand in opposition to overthrow Moshe. The rest is history. Korach was okay with Moshe’s actions. His wife was not okay. His wife ultimately persevered, and brought down the entire ship with her.

The Gemarah directly attributes the entire rebellion to Korach’s wife. Let us contrast this example with that of the wife of On ben Pelles. The Talmud relates that although the Torah includes On ben Pelles in the original leadership of the revolt, his name mysteriously disappears as the story unfolds. The Talmud explains that after On ben Pelles joined up with Korach in the rebellion, he arrived home and related the events to his wife. In a clairvoyant fashion she pointed out that On ben Peles had nothing to gain from joining Korach. Either Korach or Moshe would end up in charge, but regardless of the outcome, On ben Peles wouldn’t be in charge. “Distance yourself immediately from this rebellion,” she demanded. He explained that he could not withdraw due to an oath that he had taken when joining Korach’s forces. She said, “Leave it to me to rectify matters.” She intoxicated On, put him to sleep and uncovered her hair. When Korach’s forces came and saw her uncovered hair they ran away. That was On’s salvation.
After contrasting these two woman, the Talmud concludes that a wife has the power to either make or break her man.

In another rebellion we also find how a woman saved the day. Out of the twelve spies sent to the land of Israel, only Joshua and Caleb remained righteous and delivered a positive report. Moshe prayed on behalf of his disciple Joshua to remain righteous, and Caleb prayed for himself at the Patriarchal tomb in Hebron. Why didn’t Moshe pray for Caleb as well? Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky explains that since Caleb was married to Miriam (Aaron and Moshe’s sister) he had no fear for Caleb. With such a righteous wife there was no chance that he would be negatively affected.

Here we have it; the Jewish women determined the outcome of two of the most disastrous rebellions in Jewish history. Sure, Korach was a tremendous leader and Torah giant, but his wife broke him. On ben Peles, and Caleb’s wives saved them. The lesson: Never underestimate the power of the Jewish woman!