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Parsha Q&A

For the week ending 5 July 2003 / 5 Tammuz 5763

Parshat Korach

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Questions

  1. Why did Datan and Aviram join Korach?
  2. Why is Yaakov's name not mentioned in Korach's genealogy?
  3. What motivated Korach to rebel?
  4. What did Korach and company do when Moshe said that a techelet garment needs tzizit?
  5. What warning did Moshe give the rebels regarding the offering of the incense?
  6. Did Moshe want to be the kohen gadol?
  7. What event did Korach not foresee?
  8. What does the phrase rav lachem mean in this week's Parsha? (Give two answers.)
  9. What lands are described in this week's Parsha as "flowing with milk and honey"?
  10. When did Moshe have the right to take a donkey from the Jewish Community?
  11. What did Korach do the night before the final confrontation?
  12. What sin did Datan and Aviram have in common specifically with Goliath?
  13. Before what age is a person not punished by the Heavenly Court for his sins?
  14. What happens to one who rebels against the institution of kehuna? Who suffered such a fate?
  15. Why specifically was incense used to stop the plague?
  16. Why was Aharon's staff placed in the middle of the other 11 staffs?
  17. Aharon's staff was kept as a sign. What did it signify?
  18. Why are the 24 gifts for the kohanim taught in this week's Parsha?
  19. Who may eat the kodshei kodashim (most holy sacrifices) and where must they be eaten?
  20. Why is G-d's covenant with the kohanim called "a covenant of salt"?

Answers

All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated

  1. 16:1 - Because they were his neighbors.
  2. 16:1 - Yaakov prayed that his name not be mentioned in connection with Korach's rebellion (Bereishet 49:6).
  3. 16:1 - Korach was jealous that Elizafan ben Uziel was appointed as leader of the family of Kehat instead of himself.
  4. 16:1 - They laughed.
  5. 16:6 - Only one person would survive.
  6. 16-6 - Yes.
  7. 16:7 - That his sons would repent.
  8. 16:7,3 - Rav lachem appears twice in this week's Parsha. It means "much more than enough greatness have you taken for yourself (16:3)" and "It is a great thing I have said to you (16:17)."
  9. 16:12 - Egypt and Canaan.
  10. 16:15 - When he traveled from Midian to Egypt.
  11. 16:19 - Korach went from tribe to tribe in order to rally support for himself.
  12. 16:27 - They all blasphemed.
  13. 16:27 - Twenty years old.
  14. 17:5 - He is stricken with tzara'at, as was King Uziyahu (Divrei HaYamim II 26:16-19).
  15. 17:13 - Because the people were deprecating the incense offering, saying that it caused the death of two of Aharon's sons and also the death of 250 of Korach's followers. Therefore, G-d demonstrated that the incense offering was able to avert death, and it is sin, not incense, which causes death.
  16. 17:21 - So people would not say that Aharon's staff bloomed because Moshe placed it closer to the Shechina.
  17. 17:25 - That only Aharon and his children were selected for the kehuna.
  18. 18:8 - Since Korach claimed the kehuna, the Torah emphasizes Aharon's and his descendants' rights to kehuna by recording the gifts given to them.
  19. 18:10 - Male kohanim may eat them and only in the azara (fore-court of the Beit Hamikdash).
  20. 18:19 - Just as salt never spoils, so this covenant will never be rescinded.
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