Sefer Bamidbar

Parshat Korach: On the Dangers of Populism


Parshat Korach is named for the Levite who, in this week’s Torah portion, heads a large rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron—which of course causes disastrous results: Korach’s people being swallowed up into the ground and a plague killing 14,700 more people. 1 

The uprising begins, though, with the pretenses of seemingly righteous, or at least honest, intentions. Numbers 16 tells us: 

They gathered up against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above God’s congregation?” 2

On its surface, this sounds like a fair point. To people who demand equality, their message naturally resonates. But in communal life, we must realize that a community requires the leadership of both those who have a special calling to lead and the support of those who can most effectively serve the group in supporting roles. 

And the Torah immediately responds with an endorsement of Moshe’s character, saying, “Moses himself was very humble, more so than any other human being on earth.” 4

In Parshat Behaalotecha, which we read two weeks ago, Miriam and Aaron—two important figures in their own right—question the authority of Moses, saying, “Has God spoken only through Moses? Has [God] not spoken through us as well?” 3

The medieval commentator Abraham ibn Ezra says that the mark of Moses’s humility is that he “did not seek honor over his brother.” 5 Being humble, it seems, is a key characteristic of a strong leader. 

Populists, however, tend not to be humble. And Korach, who leads a rebellion using a populist tactic, exploiting an egalitarian ethos in order to increase his own power, is the perfect example in the Torah of a populist. 6 The problem is not with Korach’s argument itself, but with his intentions.


Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers, uses Korach’s rebellion as the quintessential example of an unnecessary conflict. It teaches: 

Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; but one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure. Which is the controversy that is for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Hillel and Shammai. And which is the controversy that is not for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Korah and all his congregation. 7

It is instructive to note that while the example given for an argument for the sake of Heaven has two sides (Hillel and Shammai), the example given for one that Is not for the sake of Heaven only has one side (Korach and his congregation). Korach was not interested in, and had no use for, the other side of the argument.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, similarly explains this somewhat cryptic teaching: 

The Sages were drawing a fundamental distinction between two kinds of conflict: argument for the sake of truth and argument for the sake of victory… The rebels’ rhetoric had nothing to do with the pursuit of truth and everything to do with the pursuit of honour, status, and (as they saw it) power. They wanted not to learn but to win. 8

Moshe and Aaron are the leaders of the Israelites. That doesn’t mean that they should not be challenged. But it does mean that it’s a mistake to deem them the enemy to overturn for no reason except to heighten one’s own status.   

And we are all vulnerable to populists’ efforts to persuade. The beginning of our parshah tells us that Korach rebelled “with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute.” 9 Perhaps, the closer we are to power, the more careful we must be about reaching for more of it. 

In a world in which people like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, 10 and Vladimir Putin seek to galvanize the masses to increase their own sense of greatness, we are tasked with making sure that the actions we take are in service of truth and justice, not purposelessly tearing down existing leadership.


But how do we handle the populist movements that inevitably pop up and win over much of the public? Rabbi Sacks found two potential answers in this parshah. First, we can appeal to people’s existing gifts. He wrote: 

Moses tried to argue Korach out of his dissent, not by addressing his argument but by speaking to the resentment that lay behind it. He told him that he had been given a position of honour. He may not have been a Priest but he was a Levite… He was telling him to be satisfied with the honour he had. 11

Second, we can draw people in with signs of peace and love. Elaborating on a later part of the parshah, in which Aaron’s staff miraculously sprouts blossoms and almonds, Sacks wrote: 

What resolved the dispute… was not a show of power but something altogether different … In the Near East, the almond is the first tree to blossom, its white flowers signaling the end of winter and the emergence of new life … The sprouting almond branch was therefore more than a sign. It was a multifaceted symbol of life, light, holiness, and the watchful presence of God. 12

Today, we see a rise of populism all over the world. Populists on the far left and right say that the system will inevitably exclude you unless we dismantle it. It appeals to revolution and distrust. But populists throughout history have so frequently exploited the very masses they’re claiming to serve.

It is righteous to fight systems of power when those systems are corrupt. But it’s not righteous to fight power for its own sake.

There is a blurred line sometimes, because we do want to build movements that create a more equitable society, and we do need to challenge the systems of oppression. But we must think carefully about how to do that with thoughtfulness and nuance. We must be careful not to destroy more than we build.

So God teaches us a profound lesson with the swallowing up of Korach, of how we must act with alacrity to protect the vulnerable in society from populists who are self-serving. And those who are only self-serving, by definition, separate themselves from society and have no place in it. 

We must make sure that the conflicts we have aim to be generative rather than destructive. 


Sources

  1.  It is not clear from the text precisely how Korach himself perished. It is equally fascinating and instructive to note that Korach’s sons did not die (Numbers 26:11), and even contributed to Sefer Tehillim. The Shir shel Yom (Psalm of the Day) for Monday, in fact, begins, “A song by the sons of Korach” (Psalm 88). The Psalm recited prior to the blowing of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah similarly begins, “For the conductor, by the sons of Korach” (Psalm 47).
  2.  Numbers 16:3
  3.  Numbers 12:2
  4.  Ibid. 12:3
  5.  Ibn Ezra on Numbers 12:3:1
  6.  Populism, although an imperfect term, refers to “a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.” (Oxford Languages, an Oxford Dictionary website).
  7.  Pirkei Avot 5:20
  8.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: Argument for the Sake of Heaven
  9.  Numbers 16:2
  10.  President of Brazil
  11.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: Argument for the Sake of Heaven
  12.  ibid.