If we look at the first Rashi in this week’s Parasha of Korach, he sends us to the book called מדרש רבי תנחומא. In other words, Rashi is saying that if you really want to enjoy the Parasha, you better look at this Midrash and you will get all the background and drama behind this whole story. So I listened to Rashi, I looked at Midrash Tanchuma, and it gave me a new perspective on the old stories that some of us heard in school.
The Parasha starts with the words ויקח קרח and Korach took something. Rashi brings two Persuhim: First, that Korach took himself to one side to create division, and to criticize Moshe Rabbeinu for having too much authority. Him as a king, and Aharon as a Kohen Gadol.
The Second Perush is that he spoke with the heads of the Sanhedrin and he convinced them to be on his side. He so to speak took his words to convince them.
But, the third Perush in the Midrash Tanchuma is that Korach took something physical in order to illustrate his claims. At the end of the previous Parasha we learned about Tzitzit. So, Korach decided to take 250 blue Talitot and put it on 250 people. He then asked Moshe Rabbeinu, “You said that the strings need to be blue. But what if the entire Talit is blue, do we still need to put the blue string?” Moshe Rabbeinu responded, “Yes, you still have to put the blue string. Korach questioned, “What’s the point of putting blue strings if the whole garment itself already is blue?” Moshe didn’t respond. Korach asked Moshe a second question, “Do we still have to put a mezuzah on a house full of books?” Moshe again replied, “Yes, of course.” Korach repeated his same question, “But what is the point of putting a mezuzah if the whole house is anyways filled with books?” If this is the real Perush, then how does it fit with what is written in the Parasha, רב לכם כי כל העדה כולם קדושים his argument was that everyone is equal?
Korach asked Moshe why he thinks he’s better than everyone because we all heard the voice of G-d on Mount Sinai? Secondly, there are so many other Mitzvot that we don’t understand, such as Shatnez. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that a garment that is completely blue and a house that is full of books are all metaphors of Am Yisrael. Korach is saying that everything is holy, like all the books, or how the garment of the talit is blue, so why should we need a leader?
On a deeper level, the Maharal explains that Korach was acting like a husband that was not happy with his wife and he wanted to start a fight with her. So, he decided that when he comes back home, he will throw his hat onto the ground and if his wife will pick it up, he will yell at her that he wants hat to be on the floor. But, if she will not pick it up, he will yell at her for not picking it up. But, his wife was very wise, so when he threw it, she said, “I understand that you are very upset. Do you want me to pick up your hat?” The same thing with Korach. He thought to himself, “If Moshe will say that a blue Talit doesn’t need the blue strings, I will respond that we are also all blue and don’t need a leader or Kohen Gadol.” But, Moshe answered that a blue Talit still needs the blue strings, so Korach said that it doesn’t make sense. He further responded that just as what your saying doesn’t make sense, so to it doesn’t make sense for us to have a leader or Kohen Gadol. From this the Maharil says that maybe Korach had a good argument, but, his questions were out of jealousy. He wasn’t looking for answers and he was not looking for the truth. He was fighting against Moshe for the sake of fighting. As opposed to all the other Torah arguments there have been throughout the generations. Those arguments were to seek the truth and what is just, even if that mean your wrong.