To understand why  Korach’s end came in a frightening, public display of God  ’s domination over nature, the Midrash Tanchuma shares the story of another infamous rebel.

But first, the Midrash Tanchuma sets down the ground rules. God   has lots of tools in His tool chest. 

זֶה הַיָּם גָּדוֹל וּרְחַב יָדַיִם שָׁם רֶמֶשׂ וְאֵין מִסְפָּר (שם קד, כה). מַהוּ, לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁבְּכָל דָּבָר, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה שְׁלִיחוּתוֹ, וְלֹא בָּרָא דָּבָר אֶחָד לְבַטָּלָה. וּפְעָמִים שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה שְׁלִיחוּתוֹ עַל יְדֵי צְפַרְדֵּעַ, וּפְעָמִים עַל יְדֵי יַתּוּשׁ, וּפְעָמִים עַל יְדֵי צִרְעָה, וּפְעָמִים עַל יְדֵי עַקְרָב.

” God    has not created one thing in vain. Sometimes the Holy One Blessed Be He, accomplishes His mission by means of a frog, by means of a gnat, by means of a wasp, or by means of a scorpion.” 

Titus, the Roman General went beyond his mission to destroy the Second Temple.  He brought prostitutes into the Holy of Holies and blasphemed God  .  Yet Titus was brought down by a seemingly insignificant display of God  ’s domination of nature. 

אָמַר לֵיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רָשָׁע בֶּן רָשָׁע, בְּרִיָּה פְּחוּתָה וְקַלָּה שֶׁבִּבְרִיּוֹתַי אֲנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ בְּךָ לְבַעֶרְךָ מִן הָעוֹלָם. נִכְנַס           יַתּוּשׁ בְּחָטְמוֹ, וְעָמַד בְּחָטְמוֹ שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים….כֵּיוָן שֶׁמֵּת, קָרְעוּ רֹאשׁוֹ וּמָצְאוּ שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה כְּמִין גּוֹזָל וּכְצִפּוֹר דְּרוֹר, וְהָיוּ צִפָּרְנָיו קָשִׁין כִּנְחֹשֶׁת,

“God  , said, ‘O you wicked one, son of a wicked one, I am sending against you a tiny creature, the least of My creatures, to eradicate you from the world.’ A gnat entered his nostril, and stayed in his nostril for three years… When he died they split open his head and found that (the gnat had grown) to be like a partridge and a sparrow and its claws were as hard as copper.”

The gnat in his head seems to be an obvious punishment for the power that went to his head. A divine punishment that fit the crime. The Midrash Tanchuma illustrates that Titus got the message. In fact he had deep insight into what it means for a Jew to witness, close and personal,  God  ’s hand in history.

וְכֵיוָן שֶׁהָיָה עוֹבֵר בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁהַנַּפָּחִים עוֹשִׂין מְלַאכְתָּן, כַּד הֲוָה שָׁמַע קַלָּא דְּמַרְזֶפְתָּא, הֲוָה נָח. כָּל דַּהֲוָה עָבַר קַמֵּיהּ נָכְרִי, הֲוָה אַגִּיר בְּאַרְבַּע זוּזֵי, וְאָמַר לֵיהּ מַחִי קָמֵי כֻלֵיהּ יוֹמָא בְּמַרְזֶפְתָּא. וּכְדֵין הֲוָה עֲבִיד כָּל יוֹמָא, וַהֲוָה יָהִיב אַרְבַּע זוּזֵי. וְכַד עָבַר עָלָיו בַּר יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאוֹמֵר לוֹ: קַח וְהַכֵּה עַל הַמָּקוֹם וַאֲנִי אֶתֵּן אֶת שְׂכָרְךָ, וְהָיָה מַכֶּה כָּל אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם. כֵּיוָן שֶׁבָּא לִיפָּטֵר מִמֶּנּוּ, אוֹמֵר לוֹ הַיְּהוּדִי, תֵּן לִי שְׂכָרִי. וְהָיָה מְשִׁיבוֹ וְאוֹמֵר לוֹ: מִסְתַּיֵּיךְ דְּקָא חֲזִית בְּשַׂנְאַךְ

“When Titus passed by a place where blacksmiths were working and (the gnat) heard the sound of iron, it was still. Whenever a gentile (blacksmith) would pass him, [Titus] would hire him for four dinars and say to him, ‘Bang your hammer in front of me the whole day.’ And when he would do this the whole day, [Titus] would give him his four dinars. But when a Jewish (blacksmith)passed him, he would say to him, ‘Take your hammer] and bang it and I will give you your wage.’ And he would bang the whole day. [But] when he was about to leave him and the Jew would say to [Titus], ‘Give me my wage,’ he would answer and say to him, ’it is enough for you that you see your enemy like this.”

Unlike Titus, Korach may have been more driven by jealousy than power, but it threatened a complete break down of leadership for Moshe and Aharon the High Priest.  So it had to be put down in a manner  that showed God  ’s utter rejection of Korach and his followers — with the earth swallowing them up. 

Interestingly enough, for Moshe, it  wasn’t a power struggle. According to Midrash Tanchuma, he told Korach that he didn’t seek his role as the leader of the Jewish People.  Thus Korach, like Titus, was actually staging a  direct rebellion against  God  ’s sovereignty, because Korach was questioning God  ’s choice of  leaders - Moshe and Aaron.

Yet, despite the enormity of the uprising, Moshe, is the consummate savior of the Jewish People.  He argued with God   on so many occasions when God was about to exact severe judgment on the Jewish People.  Moshe even attempts to reason with Korach, Datan and Aviram. Perhaps this next story in the Midrash Tanchuma explains why Moshe had to finally let go.

מַעֲשֶׂה בְּאֶחָד שֶׁהָיָה הוֹלֵךְ מֵאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְבָבֶל. כְּשֶׁהָיָה אוֹכֵל לֶחֶם, רָאָה שְׁנֵי צִפָּרִים מִתְנַצִּים זֶה עִם זֶה, הָרַג אֶחָד מֵהֶן אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ, הָלַךְ וְהֵבִיא עֵשֶׂב וְהֵנִיחוֹ עַל פִּיו וְהֶחְיָהוּ. הָלַךְ אוֹתוֹ הָאִישׁ נָטַל אוֹתוֹ עֵשֶׂב שֶׁנָּפַל מִן הַצִּפּוֹר, הָלַךְ לְהַחְיוֹת בּוֹ אֶת הַמֵּתִים כְּשֶׁהִגִּיעַ לְסֻלָּמָהּ שֶׁל צֹר, מָצָא אַרְיֵה מֵת מֻשְׁלָךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, וְהֵנִיחַ אוֹתוֹ הָעֵשֶׂב עַל פִּיו וְהֶחְיָהוּ. עָמַד הַאֲרִי וַאֲכָלוֹ. מַתְלָא אָמַר בֶּן סִירָא, טַב לְבִישׁ לָא תַּעֲבִיד, וּבִישָׁא לָא יִמְטֵי לָךְ   

“A certain person was going from the land of Israel to Babylon. While he was eating, he saw two birds fighting with each other. One of them killed its companion. Then (the bird) got an herb, and placed it in (the dead bird’s)  mouth and made it live again….When (this person)  arrived at the Ladder of Tyre, he found a dead lion lying in the open. He touched the herb to its mouth and made it live. The lion got up and ate him. The proverb says, “Do not do good to the evil, and evil will not happen to you.”

This traveller from Israel to Babylon was excited to even bring a lion back to life. But he  was a little too indiscriminate in his mission- and it came back to bite him. Perhaps this mirrors Moshe’s challenge in dealing with Korach and his life-long nemeses Datan and Aviram. 

Despite Moshe’s nature to shield everyone from punishment, Moshe realized that not everyone should be saved. There are times you have to let the evil meet its just end. Otherwise it could lead to a far worse outcome.

Finally, how do we know Korach got the message?  Midrash Tanchuma provides this famous episode:

אמר רבה בר בר חנה זימנא חדא הוה קאזילנא באורחא ואמר לי ההוא טייעא תא אחוי לך בלועי דקרח, אזלי וחזאי תרי ביזעי דקא נפקי קיטרא מינייהו, שקלי גבבא דעמרא ואמשייה במיא, ואותבה בריש רומחא ואיחרך, ואמר לי אצית מאי שמעת, שמעי דהוו קא אמרי משה ותורתו אמת

“Rabba bar bar Hannah said: One time it happened that we were traveling on the road, when a certain Arab merchant said to me: ‘Come, I will show you chasms of Korach.’ I went and saw two fissures out of which was coming smoke. He took a ball of clipped wool, steeped it in water, placed it on a spearhead, and raised it over them. Then he said to me: ‘Listen, what do you hear?’ I actually heard them saying: ‘Moses and his Torah represent truth, but they (i.e., Korach and his companions) are liars.”

While Korach repented, the Talmud (Gitten 56B) relates a story which shows that Titus was so evil, he never changed his views. Titus was the uncle of the great Jewish sage Onkelos who is known for his famous translation of the Bible to Aramaic. 

אונקלוס בר קלוניקוס בר אחתיה דטיטוס הוה בעי לאיגיורי אזל אסקיה לטיטוס בנגידא אמר ליה מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא אמר ליה ישראל מהו לאידבוקי בהו אמר ליה מילייהו נפישין ולא מצית לקיומינהו זיל איגרי בהו בההוא עלמא והוית רישא דכתיב (איכה א, ה) היו צריה לראש וגו' כל המיצר לישראל נעשה ראש אמר ליה  דיניה דההוא גברא במאי א"ל

במאי דפסיק אנפשיה כל יומא מכנשי ליה לקיטמיה ודייני ליה וקלו ליה ומבדרו אשב ימי

“Onkelos bar Kalonikos, the son of Titus’s sister, wanted to convert to Judaism. He went and raised Titus from the grave through necromancy, and said to him: ‘Who is most important in that world where you are now? ‘ Titus said to him: ‘The Jewish people.’ Onkelos asked him: ‘Should I then attach myself to them here in this world?’ Titus said to him: ‘Their commandments are numerous, and you will not be able to fulfill them. It is best that you do as follows: Go out and battle against them in that world, and you will become the chief, as it is written: “Her adversaries have become the chief” (Lamentations 1:5), which means: Anyone who distresses Israel will become the chief.’ Onkelos said to him: ‘What is (your)  punishment  in the next world?’ Titus said to him: ‘’that which (I) decreed upon myself  (that my body be burned and the ashes spread over the seven seas). Every day (my) ashes are gathered, and they judge (me), and they burn (me) , and they scatter (me) over the seven seas.”

Here is one last punishment that fit the crime. Titus thought he was so important that his ashes should be spread over the 7 seas. God   said, OK let’s repeat this act of self importance -every single day.

(The Midrash tells the story of a woman who saved her husband (listed in the Torah as someone in Korach’s camp) by getting him drunk so he missed the whole episode. It’s not that she knew Moshe was right. She only knew  it’s not worth getting involved in a Machloket.  REminds of the story Navah heard from Reb Moshe Wolfson Mashgiach Ruchani : Grandson “whose side were you on” Grandfather; “neutral .. if you were there you would have been running after Korach”

• The Common Sense Rebellion Against Judaism))

PS: As someone who was privileged to be influenced by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchick, I urge everyone to get their hands on his profound article on this Parsha entitled: The Common Sense rebellion Against  Torah Authority.  

*These stories appear at the end of Midrash Tanchuma Korach in the highly acclaimed “Zichron Aharon” edition as well as Midrash Rabba. However, in some earlier editions of Midrash Tanchuma  these stories appear in next week’s Parsha; Chukat. A leading commentary to Midrash Tanchuma “Beer Ha-amorim” says these stories  indeed belong in Korach and it was an editor’s mistake to put them in Chukat.