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One way that this week's Torah portion, Parashat Korach, can be understood is as a story of family strife and jealousy. Korach, who questions the authority and leadership of Moses and Aaron, is, in fact, actually the first cousin of these two brothers and their sister Miriam.
This is made clear in the opening sentences of the parsha, which state, "Korach, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, separated himself... They stood before Moses with two hundred and fifty men from the children of Israel."
Korach is the grandson of Kohath, as are Moses and his siblings, which makes them all first cousins. Certainly Korach was well aware of this fact and yet it did not stop him from condemning Moses and suggesting that he himself would make a better leader and was more entitled to become God's emissary.
Of course, Moses did not ask for or choose his sacred role. God chose him and this should have been clear to Korach. However, Korach became jealous of his cousins. He felt that no one from his own family should be more widely acclaimed and appreciated than himself.
Korach was overcome with desire and greed for authority. And though he claimed to only prioritize the welfare of his fellow Israelites, it is clear that his motivations were not so pure. If he truly were seeking to help, he could have spoken privately with his cousins and expressed his concerns. Instead, he gathered a small army and confronted Moses and Aaron with threats.
The role of family - of relatives - should be to support and encourage each other, to take pride in their accomplishments and feel the joys of their successes. However, whenever jealousy, envy, and greed enter into the equation, fighting, hatred, and even violence can follow.
May we all be blessed to have peace in our own families, never to know the type of conflict which plagued the family of our great prophets.
Shabbat Shalom.
Cantor Zachary Konigsberg
cantorzkonigsberg@gmail.com
917-696-0749
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