Rosh Chodesh Tamuz & Parshat Korach
This week, Rosh Chodesh Tamuz is on Thursday and Friday, 30 Sivan and 1 Tamuz.
In the time of the Sanhedrin (past and future), there is only one day of Rosh Chodesh for each month. It follows either the 29th day of the previous month, or the 30th. Either way – just one day.
With our current fixed calendar, in which months have either 29 or 30 days based on certain calculations, those with 29 days are followed by one day of Rosh Chodesh for the next month. When a month has 30 days, then that last day of the month is the first day of Rosh Chodesh of the new month, and the first day of the new month is the second day of Rosh Chodesh.
The 30th day of a month (when there is one) is Rosh Chodesh because in the time of Kiddush HaChodesh by the Sanhedrin, the 30th day could have been the Rosh Chodesh day. In other words, for our time, Chazal declared the day following the 29th of a month to be Rosh Chodesh, and the first day of the month to be Rosh Chodesh. Sometimes those two days are the same (meaning one day of Rosh Chodesh), and sometimes they are two consecutive days, as we have this week for Rosh Chodesh Tamuz.
Now let’s turn to Parshat Korach. Some stats:
The sedra is written on 184 lines (rank: 32nd of 54). It has 13 parshiyot – seven open and six closed. There are 95 pesukim (rank: 39th); 1,409 words (rank: 36th); and 5,325 letters (rank: 35th).
The rise in rank for words and letters is due to Korach being above average in words and letters per pasuk. Korach is a short sedra (in a sefer with many long sedras) with fairly long pesukim (in a sefer with lots of short-pasuk sedras).
As for mitzvot, Korach has nine – five positives and four prohibitions. Only 17 sedras have more mitzvot; 35 have fewer. Korach just makes it into the top third (tied with Ki Tisa).
Let’s focus on a number prominent and specific to Parshat Korach: 250. In addition to Datan and Aviram and On ben Pelet (who dropped out of the rebellious gang), Korach gathered 250 people to challenge Moshe’s authority.
Who were they? It’s a machloket. The Torah itself does not specify who they were. Commentaries speculate.
One opinion is that they were all Leviim who felt, as Korach did, that Moshe had unfairly appointed his own brother Aharon as kohen gadol. Korach and these Leviim felt that they should have become Kohanim.
Another opinion is that the 250 people were mostly from Shevet Reuven (some Leviim and/or people from other tribes included) who were angry/upset/jealous that Reuven, b’chor Yisrael – the oldest of the tribes – was passed over in favor of Levi/Yehuda/Yosef regarding status on a number of levels.
Some say that the 250 were all or mostly firstborns of the various tribes who considered it unjust that they were bypassed as far as Divine service was concerned.
By all accounts, it seems clear that Korach and his gang had different motives for their challenges to Moshe.
Here’s another number unique to Parshat Korach: 1,500.
That number is the highest gematria of any word in the Torah – and it belongs to “Tistareir” (tav-sin-tav-reish-reish). It’s only a five-letter word, but made up of the highest-scoring letters from the end of the alef-bet. The word is part of the arrogant response by Datan and Aviram in refusing Moshe’s summons. It means something like “You lord yourself over us.”
The words in the Torah with the smallest gematria are “Bo” (come) and “Av” (father), each with a numeric value of three.
Let’s now return to a concept I introduced in last week’s column: juxtapositional mitzvot.
Parshat Korach presents them in a more obvious way than did Parshat Shelach. Our sedra consists of three perakim – Bamidbar 16 (35 pesukim), 17 (28 pesukim), and 18 (32 pesukim). Similar to Shelach, two-thirds of the sedra deals with the whole Korach story. The last third contains the sedra’s nine mitzvot – all obviously with the Korach affair as their backdrop.
The story of Korach & Co. runs from the beginning of the sedra through Chamishi (i.e., the fifth aliyah). The mitzvot are found in Shishi and Shevii, and deal with Kohanim and Leviim and our obligations toward them. The Torah, with these mitzvot, underlines the reality of the failed rebellion.
Leviim are required to guard the Mikdash (honor guard). In fact, according to the Mishna in Midot, there were 24 guard posts, three of which were manned by Kohanim, and the other 21 by Leviim.
Kohanim and Leviim are forbidden to perform each other’s sacred tasks. And a Yisrael may not work in the Mikdash.
It is forbidden to disregard the obligations of the Beit HaMikdash honor guard.
The Torah next lists several gifts that are given to the Kohen: the meat of certain korbanot; teruma; bikurim; consecrated objects; the firstborn of kosher farm animals; and the redemption/exchange for a firstborn donkey. Firstborn humans are to be redeemed for five silver shekels. Firstborn cows/goats/sheep may not be redeemed, but must be given to a Kohen who must bring it as a korban within a year (if unfit for the altar, the bechor is the possession of the Kohen without restrictions).
All gifts of the kehuna (24 in number) are for Aharon and his descendants in perpetuity. However, the Kohen does not receive a portion of land in Israel. (This is the basis of the complex intertwined relationship between Kohen and non-Kohen.)
The Levi is to receive ma’aser – a tithe (a tenth of produce) from all Israelites. (The 10% is to be taken after the terumah has been taken off for the Kohen, which is about 2%.) This is the Levi’s due in exchange for his work in the Mikdash. Leviim also do not receive land (except for 48 cities around the country – six Arei Miklat (cities of refuge), plus 42 other cities). Their role is that of spiritual functionaries. They receive ma’aser in lieu of a portion of land.
The service of the Leviim in the Mikdash constitutes a positive mitzvah. So too it is a mitzvah to give ma’aser rishon to a Levi.
In turn, the Levi is commanded to give a tenth of his tenth to a Kohen. This is known as terumat ma’aser or ma’aser min ha-ma’aser. This mitzvah is performed in a technical way nowadays in Eretz Yisrael (by Rabbinic decree) to permit the balance of the produce to the rest of us.
The Korach story is about Leviim and firstborns challenging the status of Shevet Levi, which consists of the Kohanim and the Leviim. The juxtapositional mitzvot of the sedra make clear the seriousness of the issues involved in that episode.
On the lighter side, if you are playing Scrabble and on the top row of the board beginning with the sixth square across is the word “position,” and you were to spell out “juxta” in front of that word and an “al” after it, you would form the word “juxtapositional” – and get 347 points for your effort!
Chodesh tov and Shabbat Shalom.
