My final observation has to do with this week’s Haftorah. The Haftorah for Parshas Korach is Shmuel I 11:14 – 12:22. The people come to Shmuel asking for a king. Shmuel lambasts them. He challenges the people to name an incident where he ever cheated any of them or took anything from them. The people were forced to admit that he never oppressed them or took anything from them. They confessed that Shmuel had always been honest with them.
Why is this the Haftorah for Parshas Korach?
This is the Haftorah for Parshas Korach because there is a similar pasuk in our Parsha. “This distressed Moshe greatly and he said to Hashem: ‘Do not turn to their gift offering. I have not taken the donkey of any of them, nor have I wronged even one of them.'” (Bamidbar 16:15) This is the parallel.
But the question must be asked: If Shmuel makes the speech to the people and the speech convinces them and they need to admit that Shmuel was right that he never took anything from them, why didn’t Moshe Rabbeinu make the same speech to the people (he only expressed his frustration to Hashem in the above cited pasuk)? It worked for Shmuel. The people confessed that he was right. Why would the same speech not also work for Moshe? Why did he feel that he needed this miracle of the land opening up and swallowing them to put down this rebellion?
The difference between these two situations is that Shmuel was not dealing with a machlokes. When people are not involved in a machlokes it is possible to reason with them. You can then speak to the people and make a case to them. But Moshe Rabbeinu was dealing with rebellion – an open machlokes. When people are acrimonious, they are not reasonable. A person can make the most powerful and eloquent speeches but they will fall on deaf ears. It is like people’s brains shut off. Or perhaps their ears shut off. Something shuts off.
Shmuel HaNavi was dealing with people to which he could still speak. He could make a speech: “Who’s donkey have I taken?” Moshe Rabbeinu was dealing with disputants in a machlokes. In that situation, speeches don’t help. The only thing that helps is opening the earth and swallowing them. That is the distinction between Moshe Rabbeinu’s situation and that of Shmuel HaNavi.
