Challenge Authority

Rabbi Melanie Aron

June 23, 2001

The obvious lesson from this week's Torah portion would seem to be -- don't challenge authority. After all look at what happened to those who challenged Moses' authority. They were swallowed by the earth, stricken by plague and fire, disgraced and disinherited. It seems pretty clear that the Torah frowned on their activities.

Yet, the rabbis were dissatisfied with this conclusion. They noted that while Korach and his band suffered serious consequences for their rebellion, there were other challenges to authority that went unpunished, or were even rewarded. They noted how earlier in the book of Numbers, a group of Israelites, who were in a state of ritual impurity at the time of the Passover offering, come to Moses and challenge the law of the Passover: "Why should we lose out and not be able to present God's offering at the right time along with the other Israelites?" Moses seeks guidance from God and they are given the opportunity to offer the Passover offering one month later.

Later in the book of Numbers, the daughters of Zelophechad come forward with their own challenge: "A petition was presented by the daughters of Zelophechad... Why should our father's name be disadvantaged in his family merely because he did not have a son? Give us a portion of land along with our father's brothers?" They too receive what they have asked for and the laws of inheritance among the ancient Israelites are revised.

The rabbi's ask, how did these two challenges differ from that of Korach? To understand their answer, let's look again for a moment at the initial description of Korach's rebellion. Korach "demonstrated against Moses and Aaron and declared to them: You have gone too far. All the people in the community are holy and God is with them. Why are you setting yourselves above God's congregation?"

We note that the first two challenges concern an issue of the interpretation of Jewish law, while Korach's challenge is about authority. The first two challengers made cogent arguments about their needs, while Korach engages in personal attacks. Finally, we can ask questions about the motivations in each of the cases, and make some deductions about the differences. Korach seems to be arguing for increased democracy, calling for a recognition of the holiness of each Israelite, yet as time progresses, we see that Korach's real goal is securing positions of authority among the Levites for himself and his sons.

Judaism is not about blindly accepting authority. It is a religion of argument. Think of the Talmud -- the whole mode of discourse is disagreement and discussion. But the rabbis of the Talmud argued within the system of the Halachah. They respected each other and did not engage in ad hominem attacks. They were motivated not by a desire for self-advancement, but for understanding the law and putting it into practice in changing circumstances.

Today when we want to change the status quo, to challenge authority within our family, or school, or greater community, we can learn much from these Biblical examples. If our challenge is really about making things better for others, then we will be able to pursue it with respect for our opponents, working with principles that are accepted by both sides, and moving towards a goal that reflects more than our own personal self- interest.