Korach: The Sexual Allegations Against Moshe Rabbeinu
Did you know that Korach led a nationwide smear campaign against Moshe by accusing him of sexual impropriety? I wasn't until this year. This article is an analysis of that midrash.
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Korach: The Sexual Allegations Against Moshe Rabbeinu
According to the pshat (straightforward reading), Korach and his followers accused Moshe of despotism:
[Korach and his followers] gathered together against Moshe and against Aharon and said to them, "It is too much for you! For the entire assembly — all of them — are holy and Hashem is among them; why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?" Moshe heard and fell on his face. (Bamidbar 16:3-4)
However, according to a midrash (Sanhedrin 110a), Korach also made sexual allegations against Moshe:
"Moshe heard and fell on his face" (Bamidbar 16:4). What report did he hear? R' Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of R' Yonasan: that they suspected him of adultery, as it is stated, "they were jealous of Moshe in the camp" (Tehilim 106:16). R' Shmuel bar Yitzchak said: This teaches that each man warned his wife [to distance herself] from [seclusion with] Moshe, as it is stated: "Moshe took the tent and pitched it outside the camp" (Shemos 33:7).
Before analyzing this midrash, some factual clarifications are in order. The Torah Temimah (Bamidbar 16:6, note 6) is puzzled by Chazal’s midrashic inference. Granted, the phrase “Moshe heard” is redundant and can therefore be expounded, but where do Chazal see any allusion to suspicions of adultery? He proposes the following answer:
It is possible to answer based on Sotah 4b: “All who are haughty will ultimately stumble in adultery.” Korach and his assembly complained about Moshe being haughty, as they said, “why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?” and “you seek to dominate us, even to dominate us further?” (Bamidbar 16:13). To substantiate their words, they suspected him of the inevitable outcome of haughtiness, as explained.
The Torah Temimah is also bothered by Chazal’s proof from the verse: “Moshe took the tent,” asking, “Where does this allude to the fact that each man warned his wife not to be alone with Moshe?” He answers:
It is possible to answer that this [inference] rests on the end of the verse: “and all who sought Hashem would go to the Tent of Meeting that was outside the camp” (Shemos 33:7). Certainly, the women also went to seek the word of Hashem, as the midrashim state that the women in the Wilderness were righteous. To provoke [Moshe], each [man] warned his wife when she went to Moshe’s tent [not to be alone with him], to show that they suspected him of this on account of his perceived arrogance, as was explained. Therefore, [Moshe] took the tent and pitched it outside the camp to remove the suspicion, since, presumably, women would not go to him alone [out into the Wilderness] without being accompanied by a man. Although this verse is not written in this parashah, they nevertheless expounded that this was the case when he was sitting in his tent at the time of the Korach incident.
The question is: What does this midrash aim to teach us? As with many midrashim, it is difficult to tell whether this is supposed to shed light on the narrative or whether it is intended to address a completely different topic – and if the former, whether this is a pshat-oriented midrash or conveys a philosophical or ethical idea which is only loosely related to Korach’s rebellion.
Maharal (Be’er ha’Golah 5:6), GRA (Bamidbar 22:30), Ohr ha’Chayim (Devarim 33:3), and others interpret this midrash allegorically. It is easy to see why: it seems ludicrous to think that anyone would actually accuse Moshe of adultery — not only because he’s Moshe Rabbeinu, but because just a few parshiyos ago we learned that Moshe was forced to permanently separate from his own wife so he could be available to receive prophecy at all times.
Rather than attempting to discern Chazal’s intent here, I’m going to take a note from my rebbi, Rabbi Morton Moskowitz zt”l, and ask: What practical ideas do we learn from this midrash? I’d like to share three ideas.
The Kli Yakar (Bamidbar 16:4) begins by disavowing the completely literal reading of the midrash: “This notion is very far from rationality, and we do not derive such matters from tradition, for who is to say that this suspicion arose specifically at this time when there is no indication of this in the verse?” However, based on the Gemara in Sotah cited above, he nevertheless maintains that Korach did manage to plant a real seed of doubt about Moshe:
The reasoning seems to be that anyone who is arrogant wants to be above all others, ruling over the entire world, with none beside him (ein ohd milvado). Since every woman is subordinate to her husband, as it is said: “he shall rule over you" (Bereishis 3:16), therefore, the arrogant person cannot tolerate even this authority being in another's hands. Therefore, it specifically mentions adultery and not other illicit relations. The language "ultimately stumbles in adultery" is precise, as anyone who is arrogant examines every type of authority he sees in others in order to achieve dominance in everything, so all will be under his dominion. A man like this will not be satisfied with all the authority he has attained until he eventually sets his eyes on a husband’s authority over his wife and seeks to conquer it. This is why it says "ultimately," as this authority is the final and ultimate one he seeks to claim.
According to the Kli Yakar, Korach didn’t accuse Moshe of committing adultery; rather, he impugned Moshe’s character, claiming he was haughty and that his haughtiness would ultimately lead him to commit adultery. Korach was wrong about Moshe, but he was correct in asserting that an unbridled ego leads to adultery – not out of lust, but out of a craving for absolute power.
A related idea was suggested by my chavrusa. Chazal teach: “kol ha’posel b’mumo posel” (Kiddushin 70a), which means, “anyone who disqualifies [others] does so with his own faults.” R’ Avraham ben ha’Rambam (Bereishis 31:51) sums this up by saying, “the only one who suspects others is someone who, himself, is suspect.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that Korach and his followers were guilty of adultery. Rather, it indicates that they couldn’t conceive of a person in power who would not use his position to take advantage of others.
The insights of the Kli Yakar and my chavrusa are supported by the Rambam (Moreh ha’Nevuchim 2:40), who identifies adultery as a hallmark of a false prophet:
The test is his character: Trace his actions and study his life. The best marker is renunciation of bodily pleasures. To eschew them and think little of them is the first step taken by seekers of understanding, let alone prophets. Most objectionable are the pleasures of the senses that Aristotle deemed most shameful to us, especially the taint of sexual pleasure. God marked every claimant to prophecy in this way so as to make plain the truth to those who seek it, lest they err or be misled. You can see that in Zedekiah son of Maaseiah and Ahab son of Kolaiah. They claimed to be prophets, and they did have followers, but the inspiration they advanced was not their own. Both were sunk in vile sexual pleasures, even fornicating with their followers’ and supporters’ wives.
The third insight is my own. I can’t help but view the allegations against Moshe through the lens of the modern era, in which public figures are accused of sexual impropriety every day. Think about the various strategies used by these people when confronted with such accusations: silence, denial, minimization, apology, counterattack, victim blaming, deflection, media manipulation, enlisting support from allies, taking legal action, negotiation and settlement, seeking sympathy, and rebranding. Consider how you might behave in such circumstances.
Moshe didn’t utilize any of these strategies. Instead of directly engaging with the accusers or addressing the allegations, he simply readjusted his leadership protocol in a manner that undermined the charges and resumed serving the public as he had before. This is the response of a man who is “exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth” (Bamidbar 12:3). Only someone who had no ego and whose sole desire was to serve Hashem would be capable of responding in this manner.
What do you think this midrash means? What do you think of the three ideas I learned from it? What additional insights did you gain from it?
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Fits in with how one of the hallmarks of a cult leader is that he sleeps with all the women.
Also interesting analysis of adultery (which for some reason my mind persists in thinking is due to taivah, when clearly there are other psychological factors involved). And explains, like you said, about all the sex scandals.
I really like what you said about Moshe's solution. It's a major role model approach