Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Korah and his 250 followers rebel against Moshe and Aharon’s leadership. Here’s Moshe’s response:
וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל קֹרַח וְאֶל כָּל עֲדָתוֹ לֵאמֹר
בֹּקֶר וְיֹדַע ה׳ אֶת אֲשֶׁר לוֹ
וְאֶת הַקָּדוֹשׁ וְהִקְרִיב אֵלָיו…
Then Moshe spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “In the morning God will make known who is God’s own, and who is holy to be drawn close…”
Why does Moshe tell them to wait until the next morning? Couldn’t God just have dealt with the situation right away?
אָמַר מֹשֶׁה, שֶׁמָּא מִתּוֹךְ רֹב מַאֲכָל וּמִשְׁתֶּה אָמְרוּ דָּבָר זֶה.
לְכָךְ אָמַר, בֹּקֶר. אָמַר, שֶׁמָּא בֵּין כָּךְ וּבֵין כָּךְ יַעֲשׂוּ תְּשׁוּבָה.
Moshe said: Maybe they rebelled because they ate or drank too much.
That is why he said, “In the morning.” He was saying: Maybe between then and now they will change their minds and do teshuvah (repent).
According to this midrash, Moshe doesn’t want to rush to conclusions, and he wants to give Korah and his followers a chance to gain forgiveness without punishing them. He delays the response because he’s hoping that their feelings were only temporary, and that they might wake up in the morning with a different perspective and change their minds.
- What does this midrash teach us about Moshe? Would you be able to have that much patience and understanding if you were the leader and people were rebelling against you?
- When we feel attacked, it can be hard to show understanding and patience for the people we’re dealing with. Can Moshe’s example help us do this? What else can help?
-------------------
-------------------
