2nd Tammuz 5785 · 28 June 2025
Parashat Korach
A Devar Torah by Ben Eaton
Parshat Korach seems, on the surface, a simple morality tale of one man's ambition and lust for power. Korach attempts to unseat both Moses and Aaron, swiftly receives his deadly and very public comeuppance along with a few hundred followers, and the ensuing collateral damage stretches to 14,700 people. Simple lesson: do not mess with those chosen of G‑d.
But was Korach really doing anything wrong? We live in a democracy — albeit one becoming less liberal by the week — where people have died defending the right to do exactly what Korach does: question the authority of a leader to lead. So Korach does what we do every day in our society, complains about who's in charge, and ends up being literally swallowed by the ground. A bit of an extreme punishment for exercising free speech, no?
"Character matters — the office being held is nowhere near as important as the person holding that office."
These are, of course, provocative questions — and I'm purposely being disingenuous in asking them. We're commanded to study the Torah, to live it and understand it and take joy in it. We're also commanded that where there is ambiguity in interpreting the law, we should decide according to the majority. So it's fairly safe to say that as long as we operate within the parameters the Torah gives us, we have a great deal of latitude for personal freedom. As a result, Jews are wont to question and argue about everything. Given that almost all societies governed by Judeo-Christian ethics have become liberal democracies, it seems axiomatic that the Torah strikes the perfect balance between the rights of the individual and the individual's responsibilities to society.
The Appeal to Authority
Who would want the Priesthood anyway? Long hours, get it wrong and you suffer the fate of Nadab and Abihu, and as a Levite you're reliant on the other tribes to provide for your material needs. There are, however, a few benefits — among them that the Priests serve as the highest court. If any lower court fails to resolve your dispute, you end up before the priests, whose judgements cannot be contradicted.
We see this "High Priest logic" in a great deal of modern discourse — it is also known as the appeal to authority, whereby discussion is shut down by quoting a perceived authority figure. Facts take second place to reputation or qualification. Once you have someone power-hungry in a role where they can dictate acceptable truth, and contradiction carries severe consequences for those lower down the food chain, you will very soon find yourself living under a dictatorship. As Lord Acton put it:
"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Character Over Office
Cast your mind back to the 2016 EU referendum. Full disclosure: I voted to remain. There were, however, compelling reasons to leave — the European Arrest Warrant introduced with no reciprocal harmonisation of criminal evidence standards, massive corruption from some Eastern bloc states, and a complete failure to address crises on our doorstep, notably the Balkan wars and more recently the war in Ukraine. The clincher for me was that I simply didn't trust the people running the Leave campaign — they were, to a man, about the most self-serving dishonest bunch of political reprobates one could hope to meet.
Character matters. Did Korach really think he was a better man for the job than Moses or Aaron? Once you allow people of poor character or lacking in moral courage to rule over you, all the laws and guidance in the world will not save you from injustice.
Consider what happened in November 2023, when six police officers were sent to arrest a retired special constable named Julian Foulkes. His crime? Posting a tweet — one containing no incitement, no threats, nothing unlawful. He spent the night in the cells while police ransacked his house, with one officer captured on bodycam footage describing his books as "very Brexity." The arrest was illegal — Mr Foulkes subsequently received £20,000 in compensation. Yet not one of those seven public servants questioned the instruction. To date, nobody has been sanctioned. Your taxes are paying for this.
What the Torah Asks of Leaders
What should we expect from people in positions of authority? In Parshat Yitro, Moses is advised by his father-in-law Jethro to:
"…seek out from among all the people capable men who fear G‑d, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and let them judge the people at all times."
Note the only qualifications Jethro proposes: G‑d fearing and trustworthy. Not more learned in Torah. Not rich, powerful, or popular. To be G‑d fearing is to recognise that there is a higher authority who loves us and gives us laws that are right and true — that there are times when we must sublimate our own selfish desires and instead do what is right.
"Allowing Korach to take the Priesthood would be like putting an arsonist in charge of fire safety."
Korach is neither G‑d fearing nor trustworthy. He is actively choosing to ignore the Divine presence that rests over the Mishkan and all the miracles that brought us out of Egypt. He wants to occupy the office that exists to support the spiritual wellbeing and ritual purity of the Jewish people — but he clearly doesn't believe in the Divinely given Torah that, only four parshot ago, made plain the boundaries of the Levites' duties.
The Danger of Self-Righteousness
Being G‑d fearing should not be confused with self-righteousness — the belief that one's own moral certitude overrides any doubt about one's own conduct. One should be very wary of the self-righteous. As C.S. Lewis put it:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end — for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
— C.S. Lewis
My advice: if you're voting for people to be in charge, make sure those people are G‑d fearing and trustworthy. Make sure they're competent too.
A Word for Our Own Community
The AGM is in four days, this Wednesday 2nd July. One of the motions concerns a small change to the constitution to bring us into line with charities law. There is also a working group looking at a longer-term approach to governance. This sort of thing is important to set the parameters of what people can and cannot do in the running of the shul. However, all the rules and regulations in the world will not save you if the people governing you lack moral fibre — you cannot legislate for integrity.
We have been very fortunate at BPS to have been led by great men and women of upstanding moral character — many of whom are, sadly, no longer with us: Harold Inglis, Eric Ackstine, Heinz Shire, David Blain, Henry Cohn, Lilian Rose, Corrine Oppenheimer, Helga Loeb, and many others. Zichronam Livracha. It is their personal character, much more than the articles of association, which sustained our shul.
Don't be like Korach — letting personal ambition or arrogance blind you to the words of Torah. A large part of the Torah is predicated on us taking on our obligations with a willing heart and doing our best to follow them. We get one day a year — Yom Kippur — dedicated to a self-audit of the previous twelve months. Year on year, that process should help us improve our character. Some people are born righteous; the rest of us have to work at it.
Shabbat Shalom