פרשת קרח פרק יז

פסוקים א-ה- Elazar makes the מחתות into a ציפוי למזבח

After the unfortunate deaths of the rebels, Elazar, the son of Aharon, was asked by Hashem to remove the מחתות from the the pile of ash from the fire that swallowed up the 250 men. Elazar is told to separate the מחתות because they are holy, but why would the מחתות that were used by sinners be holy? Rashi answers: “המחתות ואסורין בהנה שהרי עשאום לכלי שרת”- “The מחתות, it is prohibited to get benefit/pleasure from them because they were used as a לכלי שרת- a utensil to serve Hashem”. The מחתות were used to serve Hashem and do a Mitzvah so after they were used to follow the command of Hashem, they were no longer able to be used for any non-Mitzvah activity. Hashem then told Elazar to hammer the מחתות down until they are a flat sheet that will be used as a ציפוי למזבח, and this will be a sign to Bnei Yisroel not to bring קטרת because that is only for the Kohen Gadol, Aharon, to bring and “ולא יהיה כקרח וכעדתו”. Besides that Hashem was telling Bnei Yisroel not to be like Korach and his rebels, He was also implying that there will never again be an argument that one side is 100% right and the other side is 100% wrong.

פסוקים ו-י- Bnei Yisroel’s reaction to the rebellion and Hashem wants to destroy them so Moshe and Aharon daven to save them

After Elazar followed Hashem’s command, Bnei Yisroel began to complain to Moshe and Aharon that they killed the nation of Hashem. Hashem gets so fed up with them that His presence comes down and he threatens to destroy Bnei Yisroel and “ואכלה אותם כרגע”. As soon as Moshe and Aharon hear this, “ויפלו על פניהם”. Moshe and Aharon immediately fall on their faces in Tefilla and we can see form this how devoted, caring, and amazing leaders they are.

פסוקים יא-טו- Moshe and Aharon plan to save Bnei Yisroel from the מגפה

Moshe and Aharon are very scared for Bnei Yisroel because Hashem is very angry with them and has caused a plague to fall over them. Moshe tells Aharon to bring קטרת as a korban because hopefully if they do this, Hashem will forgive Bnei Yisroel. Aharon listens to Moshe and he brings the korban, “ויעמד בין המתים ובין החיים”, and the plague thankfully stopped. But why would Moshe/Hashem tell Aharon to specifically use קטרת? Rashi says: “לפי שהיו ישראל מליזין ומרננים אחר הקטורת לומר סם המות הוא”- “Since Bnei Yisroel were mocking and concerned/putting down the קטרת, that it is the cause of death”. Bnei Yisroel were worried that because of all the deaths that were caused by this korban, it is a “killer korban”.

פסוקים טז- כו- “Staff Challenge/מבחן המטות”

After Aharon and Moshe saved Bnei Yisroel from the plague, Hashem commanded Moshe to collect one staff from the leader of each Shevet. Each leader should write his name on his staff  Aharon would represent Shevet Levi. Hashem told Moshe that the staffs should be placed in the Ohel Moed, in front of the Aron, and Hashem will meet them there. Hashem was going to make a miracle and Aharon’s staff will blossom and this will calm down Bnei Yisroel from their complaints against Moshe and Aharon. Moshe gives over the directions to Bnei Yisroel and he adds that “ומטה אהרון בתוך מטותם”. Moshe leaves the staffs to remain in the Ohel Moed overnight and when he returned, 3 miracles had happened to Aharon’s stick. 1) ויצא פרח- a flower grew from it. 2) ויצץ ציץ- buds had sprouted. 3)ויגמל שקדים- almonds grew from the stick. These were all miracles because first, it was a dead stick and it would have been a miracle for anything to happen on it. Second, there were 3 different stages of development happening at the same time. And finally, Aharon’s stick was left in the Ohel Moed for a while as a sign for Bnei Yisroel and it stayed fresh. Moshe then took all the sticks out of the Ohel Moed and returned them to the leaders. But Moshe kept Aharon’s stick and placed in front of the Ohel Moed as a sign to Bnei Yisroel from hashem that He doesn’t want anyone to argue again against the Kihuna, or they would have to be punished and killed.

פסוקים כז-כח- Bnei Yisroel are nervous that they’ll keep getting punished

After Bnei Yisroel see Hashem’s miracles and are warned by Him, they start to get extremely nervous that that no matter what they do, they will end up getting punished. They cry and ask Moshe, “Are we doomed forever and are we going to be forever lost?”. They are finally realizing and accepting that Aharon is the rightful Kohen Gadol. They are very concerned and say to Moshe, “Anyone who comes close to the Mishkan is going to die? What do we do? Are we going to forever perish?”

The book (perek) ends with Bnei Yisroel being very nervous that they are doomed and are forever going to perish! How unfortunate!