Parshat Korach Numbers 16 1 - 18 32 First Portion Numbers Chapter 16 Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi took himself to one side along with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben. They confronted Moses together with two hundred and fifty men from the children of Israel, chieftains of the congregation, representatives of the assembly, men of repute. They assembled against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire congregation are all holy, and the Lord is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the Lord s assembly? Moses heard and fell on his face. He spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, In the morning, the Lord will make known who is His, and who is holy, and He will draw them near to Him, and the one He chooses, He will draw near to Him. Do this, Korah and his company Take for yourselves censers. Place fire into them and put incense upon them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses he is the holy one you have taken too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi. Moses said to Korah, Please listen, sons of Levi. Is it not enough that the God of Israel has distinguished you from the congregation of Israel to draw you near to Him, to perform the service in the Mishkan of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? He drew you near, and all your brothers, the sons of Levi with you, and now you seek the kehunah as well? Therefore, you and your entire company who are assembled are against the Lord, for what is Aaron that you should complain against him? Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, We will not go up. Is it not enough that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that you should also exercise authority over us? Second Portion You have not even brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Even if you gouge out the eyes of those men, we will not go up. Moses was exceedingly distressed, and he said to the Lord, Do not accept their offering. I have not taken a donkey from a single one of them, and I have not harmed a single one of them. Moses said to Korah, You and your entire congregation should be before the Lord you, they, and Aaron tomorrow. Let each man take his censer and place incense upon it, and let each man present his censer before the Lord there will thus be two hundred and fifty censers, and let you and Aaron each take his censer. So each man took his censer, and they put fire upon it and placed incense upon it, and they stood at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron. Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord appeared before the entire congregation. Third Portion The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, Dissociate yourselves from this congregation, and I will consume them in an instant. They fell on their faces and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, if one man sins, shall You be angry with the whole congregation? The Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the congregation saying, Withdraw from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He spoke to the congregation saying, Please get away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything of theirs, lest you perish because of all their sins. So they withdrew from around the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and Dathan and Abiram went out standing upright at the entrance of their tents together with their wives, their children, and their infants. Moses said, With this you shall know that the Lord sent me to do all these deeds, for I did not devise them myself. If these men die as all men die and the fate of all men will be visited upon them, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates a creation, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that is theirs, and they descend alive into the grave, you will know that these men have provoked the Lord. As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the earth beneath them split open. The earth beneath them opened its mouth and swallowed them and their houses, and all the men who were with Korah and all the property. They, and all they possessed, descended alive into the grave the earth covered them up, and they were lost to the assembly. All Israel who were around them fled from their cries, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up too ! A fire came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who had offered up the incense. Numbers Chapter 17 The Lord spoke to Moses saying Say to Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen that he should pick up the censers from the burned area but throw the fire away , because they have become sanctified, the censers of these who sinned at the cost of their lives, and they shall make them into flattened out plates as an overlay for the altar, for they brought them before the Lord, and have therefore become sanctified, and they shall be as a reminder for the children of Israel. So Eleazar the kohen took the copper censers which the fire victims had brought, and they hammered them out as an overlay for the altar, as a reminder for the children of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the seed of Aaron, shall approach to burn incense before the Lord, so as not to be like Korah and his company, as the Lord spoke regarding him through the hand of Moses. The following day, the entire congregation of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron saying, You have killed the people of the Lord. It came to pass while the congregation were assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned to the Tent of Meeting, and behold, the cloud had covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting. Fourth Portion The Lord spoke to Moses saying Stand aside from this congregation, and I shall consume them in an instant. They fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, Take the censer and put fire from the altar top into it and put incense. Then take it quickly to the congregation and atone for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord, and the plague has begun. Aaron took it , just as Moses had said, and he ran into the midst of the assembly, and behold, the plague had begun among the people. He placed the incense on it and atoned for the people. He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague ceased. The number of dead in the plague was fourteen thousand, seven hundred, besides those who died because of the matter of Korah. Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was checked. Fifth Portion The Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to the children of Israel and take from them a staff for each father s house from all the chieftains according to their fathers houses a total of twelve staffs, and inscribe each man s name on his staff. Inscribe Aaron s name on the staff of Levi, for there is only one staff for the head of their fathers house. You shall place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting before the Ark of the Testimony where I commune with you. The staff of the man whom I will choose will blossom, and I will calm down turning away from Myself the complaints of the children of Israel which they are complaining against you. Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their chieftains gave him a staff for each chieftain according to their fathers houses, a total of twelve staffs, and Aaron s staff was amidst their staffs. Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony. And on the following day Moses came to the Tent of Testimony, and behold, Aaron s staff for the house of Levi had blossomed! It gave forth blossoms, sprouted buds, and produced ripe almonds. Moses took out all the staffs from before the Lord, to the children of Israel they saw and they took, each man his staff. Sixth Portion The Lord said to Moses Put Aaron s staff back in front of the Testimony as a keepsake and a sign for rebellious ones. Then their complaints against Me will end and they will not die. Moses did so. He did just as the Lord had commanded him. The children of Israel spoke to Moses saying, Behold, we are dying, we will perish, we are all lost! Whoever comes the closest to the Mishkan of the Lord dies! Have we been consigned to die? Numbers Chapter 18 The Lord said to Aaron You, your sons and your father s house shall bear the iniquity associated with the Sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your kehunah. Also your brethren, the tribe of Levi, your father s tribe, draw close to you, and they shall join you and minister to you, and you and your sons with you, before the Tent of Testimony. They shall keep your charge and the charge of the Tent, and they shall not approach the holy vessels or the altar, so that neither they nor you will die. They shall join you, and they shall keep the charge of the Tent of Meeting for all the service of the Tent, and no outsider shall come near you. They shall keep the charge of the Sanctuary and the charge of the altar, so that there be no more wrath against the children of Israel. I have therefore taken your brethren, the Levites, from among the children of Israel they are given to you as a gift, and given over to the Lord to perform the service in the Tent of Meeting. And you and your sons shall keep your kehunah in all matters concerning the altar, and concerning what is within the dividing screen, and you shall serve the service as a gift I have given your kehunah, and any outsider non-kohen who approaches shall die. The Lord told Aaron Behold I have given you the charge of My gift offerings . I have thus given you all the holy things of the children of Israel for distinction, and as an eternal portion for your sons. These shall be yours from the holiest of holies, from the fire all their offerings, their meal-offerings, their sin-offerings, their guilt-offerings, and what they return to Me they shall be holy of holies to you and to your sons. You shall eat it in the holiest of places. Any male may eat of it it shall be holy to you. This shall be yours what is set aside for their gifts from all the wavings of the children of Israel I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as an eternal portion. Any ritually clean member of your household may eat it. The choice of the oil and the choice of the wine and grain, the first of which they give to the Lord, to you I have given them. The first fruit of all that grows in their land, which they shall bring to the Lord shall be yours any ritually clean member of your household may eat of it. Any devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. Every first issue of the womb of any creature, which they present to the Lord, whether of man or beast, shall be yours. However, you shall redeem the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. Its redemption shall be performed from the age of a month, according to the valuation, five shekels of silver, according to the holy shekel, which is twenty gerahs. However, a firstborn ox or a firstborn sheep or a firstborn goat shall not be redeemed, for they are holy their blood shall be sprinkled on the altar, and their fats shall be burned as a fire-offering, as a pleasing fragrance to the Lord. Their flesh shall be yours like the breast of the waving and the right thigh, it shall be yours. All the gifts of the holy offerings which are set aside by the children of Israel for the Lord I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as an eternal portion it is like an eternal covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and your descendants with you. The Lord said to Aaron, You shall not inherit in their land, and you shall have no portion among them. I am your inheritance and portion among the children of Israel. Seventh Portion And to the descendants of Levi, I have given all tithes of Israel as an inheritance, in exchange for their service which they perform-the service of the Tent of Meeting. The children of Israel shall therefore no longer approach the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin and die. The Levites shall perform the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they will bear their iniquity it is an eternal statute for your generations, but among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they shall set aside for the Lord as a gift, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance. Thus, I have said to them that they shall have no inheritance among the children of Israel. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying Speak to the Levites and tell them, When you take the tithe from the children of Israel which I have given you from them as your inheritance, you shall set aside from it a gift for the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. Your gift shall be considered for you as grain from the threshing-floor and as the produce of the vat. So shall you too set aside a gift for the Lord from all the tithes you take from the children of Israel, and you shall give thereof the Lord s gift to Aaron the priest. From all your gifts, you shall set aside every gift of the Lord, from its choicest portion, that part of it which is to be consecrated. Say to them, When you separate its choicest part, it shall be considered for the Levites as produce from the threshing-floor and as produce from the vat. You and your household may eat it anywhere, for it is your wage for you in exchange for your service in the Tent of Meeting. After you separate the choicest part from it, you shall not bear any sin on account of it, but you shall not profane the sacred offerings of the children of Israel, so that you shall not die.