Parashat Korach and the challenge of staying part of the story

One of the defining Jewish questions of our moment is not whether Israel deserves criticism. Of course it does. Every society does. The question is whether criticism and belonging can still live together. Can we challenge Israel without walking away from it? Can we remain part of the story even when we struggle with where the story is going? Parashat Korach may offer an unexpected answer.

At first glance, Korach sounds almost like a modern democrat. Standing before Moses and Aaron, he declares:

“You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, every one of them, and the Eternal is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the Eternal?” (Numbers 16:3)

“You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, every one of them, and the Eternal is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the Eternal?” (Numbers 16:3)

The first half of his claim is difficult to dismiss. “All the community are holy.” Moses himself would likely have agreed. Just two chapters earlier, when others worried that too many people were claiming prophetic authority, Moses famously responded:

“Would that all the Eternal’s people were prophets.” (Numbers 11:29)

“Would that all the Eternal’s people were prophets.” (Numbers 11:29)

Moses was not threatened by participation. He was not threatened by criticism. He was not threatened by people demanding a voice. So why does Korach become Judaism’s enduring symbol of destructive conflict? Centuries later, the sages distilled the distinction into one of Judaism’s most enduring teachings:

“Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven will endure; but one that is not for the sake of Heaven will not endure.” (Pirkei Avot 5:17)

“Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven will endure; but one that is........

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