Parashat Korach, 5784/2023 thoughts: And you thought *synagogue* politics were rough! 😮

Here are my thoughts from Tuesday, June 27, 2017:

Parshat Korach, 5777/2017 thoughts, a bit belated 

 

Here are some thoughts based on my husband's reading:

Back in Temple times, there were two different factions of priests. One faction considered themselves the descendants of Aharon/Aaron--some call them the Aaronite Priests. The other faction considered themselves the descendants of Moshe/Moses--some call them the Mushite Priests. Unfortunately, the Mushites backed the wrong son of David HaMelech/King David, and when Shlomo HaMelech/King Solomon ascended the throne, he expelled the Mushites from the Bet HaMikdash/Holy Temple in Jerusalem. They survived, however, to write much of Sefer Devarim/the Book of Deuteronomy, the only book of the Torah in which priests are described as Kohanim B'nei Levi, the Priests Sons of Levi--clearly, they did not believe that only descendants of Aaron could be priests. I think one might make a reasonable case that the story of Korach's rebellion was an attempt by the Aaronite priests to discredit the Mushites by portraying them as rebels against G!d's will. Zeesh, at least when you get into a feud at synagogue, everyone lives to tell the tale!