This week I had to speak at a Bar Mitzva. These are not the best weeks to speak at joyous occasions. In our Torah readings, we have the terrible whining and complaining in the second half of B’halaticha, then, of course, the sin of the ‘spies’ in Shelach, and this week we have the rebellion against Moshe and Aharon instigated by Korach. We would love to develop positive messages for the young men and women that we are addressing. So, we must be creative.

Before we look at a number of explanations for the behavior of Korach, I am going to offer a separate idea from one of the most clever commentaries on our Tanach these days, Rav Yoel Bin Nun: The most remarkable thing about Korach is that it was included in the Torah. The Torah does not hide from the Jewish People even the most difficult stories, the failures and the sins. These failures are not only those of the “wicked” and the “sinners,” but even those of the great prophets, prophetesses, and priests – Aharon, Miryam, and even Moshe…What can we learn from this? First of all, that there are no perfect people and no perfect generations, and that it is impossible to lead a nation without crises. There is no nation without politics, no generation without bitterness and rebellions.

Cool! Let’s begin with some of the more normative approaches to the motivations of Korach and his cohorts. Most of the traditional commentaries are a bit perplexed by........

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