The Eye That Did Not See Straight
- Posted on JulpmSat, 09 Jul 2016 22:32:26 -05002016-07-09T22:32:26-05:0010 17, 2016
- in Bible, God, Hebrew, Korach, Messiah, Study, Torah, Yeshua
- by Hallelujah Girl
The Eye That Did Not See Straight
Little Yisrael, who as later to grow up to become the famous R’Yisrael of Husyatin, was learning Parashah Korach, where Rashi notes, “Korach was clever. Why then did he act so foolishly? Because his eye deceived him.”
The boy tuned to his teacher, Rabbi Yochanan, and ask, “Why does Rashi use the singular–his eye–and not ‘eyes’? A person has two eyes.”
“A good question. Answer it yourself!” Said the teacher.
The boy had a ready reply: “Why was Man created with two eyes? So that one could always look up, to observe the greatness of his Creator, while the other looks down, to realize his own loweliness. Korach was a very important person; he was among those chosen to carry the aron of HASHEM. Surely, he was able to see the greatness of HASHEM with one eye. It was his second eye, the one that was supposed to regard his own insignificance, which misled him, for it revealed a line of great men which would descend from him. This eye prevented him from seeing his own loweliness.”
~Tales From The Tzaddikim (Numbers 16:1)
Welcome to this week’s portion Korach. The Torah Portion can be found in Bamidbar (Numbers) 16:1-18:32. The Haftarah Portion is found in 1 Samuel 11:14-11:22 and the Gospel portion is Luke 18:35-19:28.
Our portion begins with the opening two verses of Numbers 16, “Now Korach, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men and they rose up in face of Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty men; they were princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown.”
Who was Korach? Korach was a man from the Tribe of Levi. According to the Midrash, Korach’s ancestry was illustrious, one of most important of the Levite families. Korach was the first cousin of Moses and Aaron. Korach had been chosen as one of the carriers of the aron (ark of the covenant). Korach was a very intelligent and learned man, above all, Korach was self assured because of his fabulous wealth. He thought himself favored by HASHEM to contend with Moses.
In the Hebrew text of Numbers 16:1 begins “And took Now Korach” ( ויקח קרח). Possibly indicating that Korach literally seperated himself from the community. Along with 250 men, challenging the authority of Moses and Aaron, attempting to take power for himself. After all, in the last portion they all were told they were doomed to die in the desert and the would never enter the land flowing with milk and honey. During times of suffering and want, and hardship there tends to be a psychological separation of the people from their leaders. So then the people become subject to smooth-tongued rabble-rousers who take advantage of the circumstances for their own benefit. On the surface, Korach’s arguments seem seem logical, to prevent its leaders from becoming tyrants. But Korach’s motives were that of jealousy and envy. Korach was jealous of his cousin Aaron who had received the position of Kohen Gadol (High Priest) and of his other cousin Elizafan, son of Uziel, who had been chosen to lead the family of Kohath (Numbers 3:30).
Dathan and Abiram had been antagonists of Moses ever since the enslavement in Egypt. They seemed to be involved in every quarrel. They had anticipated becoming leaders of the Israelites, when they declared, “Let us appoint a leader and let us return to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4)
On, the son of Peleth, was the only one among the rebels to realize his error in time and so he is not mentioned again. The Midrash gives credit to his wife who deterred him and thereby saved his life. Korach’s wife had the opposite effect on her husband for reinforcing his stubbornness. The Midrash concludes with the words of Proverbs 14:1, “A wise woman builds her house, but a foolish woman destroys it with their own hands”.
Two hundred fifty men from the Children of Israel, representatives from each of the tribes stood with Korach (representing the tribe of Levi) against Moses. All of the people were present to see what would happen before the Mishkan the next morning. With their fire pans ready, the Shekinah appeared in the Cloud of Glory and the Holy One commanded Moses and Aaron to seperate themselves from the rest of the people, for He would consume them in an instant. The earth split open where Korach, Dathan, and Abiram’s tents stood. With a powerful suction, it drew them and their families, their tents, and their belongings downward to Sheol.
What a powerful portion we are given this week. Many lessons to learn. Just as in the story above, we have eyes that need to stay fully engaged in the Covenant Lifestyle, at all times and in all places. Criticizing and complaining will only lead to rebellion. The “Wilderness of Paran” is among us today and sometimes it becomes difficult to maintain pure hearts in the midst of toxicity. This obstacle course was designed by our Father to challenge us, to test our strength, to see how dedicated we are to the Bridegroom-King. Now more than ever it is so important in our journey through life to not take offense or be tempted to take sides in power struggles of men who have become disconnected from the Holy One. Do not take part of the corrupt tree (The tree of knowledge of good and evil). Instead hold tight to the Tree of Life, Torah!
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are those who support her. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are Shalom (Peace). –Proverbs 3:17-18
Shalom, Happy Day 🙂
Hallelujah Girl
Tags: #ReadYourBible #ItsAllAboutYeshua #TorahIsTruth, Korach