Korach and Hamas: Sharing PR Tactics
Thoughts for Parshat Korach 5770
By Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Director of Recruiting and Special Projects
F ollowing the recent flotilla fiasco facing the IDF last week,
Israelis are wondering: Is Everyone Crazy? How is it that only we
can appreciate the missiles raining down from Gaza, even today?
How can the world watch Hamas continue to vow to destroy Israel,
send terrorists to attack civilians, holds Gilad Shalit hostage – and
still consider us to be the villain. In the words of Yossi Klein Halevi
in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, "Has the World Lost its
Mind"?
No, it hasn't lost its mind. Rather, to our great dismay, the
Palestinians have long last learned the media savvy and publicity
techniques of Korach.
The Torah tells us that during his rebellion against Moshe, ‫ויקהל‬
‫" – עליהם קרח את כל העדה‬Korach gathered against them the entire
congregation." (Bamidbar 16:19) How did Korach manage to rile up
the people against Moshe and Aharon? A very famous Midrash
(Midrash Tehillim 1) shares light not only on Korach's tactics, but
also on our own human nature, and why we're losing the PR war.
‫ ואמר‬,‫התחיל לומר לפניהם דברי ליצנות‬
‫ ועמה שני נערות‬,‫אלמנה אחת יש בשכונתי‬
,‫ באתה לחרוש‬.‫ והיה לה שדה אחת‬,‫יתומות‬
‫אמר לה משה לא תחרוש בשור ובחמור יחדו‬
‫ אמר לה שדך לא‬,‫ [באת לזרוע‬,)‫(דברים כב י‬
‫ באתה לקצור‬,])‫תזרע כלאים (ויקרא יט יט‬
,‫ אמר לה לקט שכחה ופאה‬,‫ולעשות ערימה‬
‫באתה לעשות גורן אמר לה תני לי תרומה‬
‫ הצדיקה עליה את‬,‫ומעשר ראשון ומעשר שני‬
.‫ מה עשתה עניה‬,‫הדין ונתנה לו‬
He opened before them with words of
scoffing and said: There is a widow in my
neighborhood with two orphan
daughters, who owned a field. She went
to plow her field, and Moshe said to her,
"You may not plow with an ox and a
donkey together. (Devarim 22:1). She
went to sow seeds, and he said to her,
"You may not sew your field with mixed
seeds." (Vayikra 19:19) She we to cut her
stalks and make a pile and he said to her,
"Leave the uncollected, forgotten and
corner sheaves." She brought her
produce to the granary and he said,
"Give me Terumah, Ma'aser Rishon and
Ma'aser Sheni." She accepted his judgment and gave [all of
this] to him. What happened to her? She became
impoverished .
,‫ כדי ללבוש מגזותיהן‬,‫ וקנתה שתי כבשות‬,‫מכרה את השדה‬
‫ בא אהרן ואמר לה תני לי את‬,‫וליהנות מפירותיהן כיון שילדו‬
‫ הגיע‬.‫ ונתנה לו את הולדות‬,‫הצדיקה עליה את הדין‬...‫הבכורות‬
.‫ בא אהרן ואמר לה תני לי ראשית הגז‬,‫זמן גזיזה וגזזה אותן‬
She sold the field and bought two sheep to clothe herself
from their shearing, and to benefit from their offspring.
When they gave birth, Aharon came and said, "Give me the
firstborn"… She accepted his judgment and gave him the
firstborn. When the time for shearing came and she sheared
them, Aharon came and said, "Give me the first shearing ".
‫ כיון‬,‫ הריני שוחטתן ואוכלתן‬,‫אמרה אין בי כח לעמוד באיש הזה‬
,‫ בא אהרן ואמר לה תני לי הזרוע והלחיים והקבה‬,‫ששחטתן‬
,‫ הרי הם חרם עלי‬,‫אמרה אחר ששחטתי אותן לא נוצלתי מידך‬
‫ והניחה בוכה עם‬,‫ונטלן והלך לו‬...‫אמר לה אם חרם הן כולן שלי‬
...‫שתי בנותיה‬
She said, I have no strength to stand up to this man. I will
slaughter [the sheep] and eat them. When she slaughtered
them Aharon came and said, "Give me the shoulder, cheeks
and maw." She said, since I have slaughtered them and still
not saved myself from them, they are forbidden to me!" He
said to her, "If they are forbidden, then they all belong to
me!" He took them and left, leaving her crying with her two
daughters.
In her Commentary on the Weekly Parshah, Nechama Leibowitz
points out the insidious nature of Korach's oratory, emphasizing
two main aspects of his PR tactics.
First and foremost, Korach doesn't argue about the facts. He
doesn't complain about the burden of the laws of Terumah and
Ma'aser. Rather, he pulls at their heartstrings. He tells a tragic tale
about a poor widow and her pathetic plight. He knows that people
respond not to intellectual arguments, but instead to emotional
pulls at the heartstrings. He realizes that better than argue the
nuances of economic theory, he should emphasize the human
tragedy that sometimes results from the normal application of the
rules.
Secondly and even more importantly, Nechama points out that
Korach deliberately ignores the facts.
Numerous mitzvot throughout the Torah
demand compassion, charity and kindness
towards the widow and orphan:
)‫כא‬,‫ְמנָה וְיָתֹום לֹא ְתעַּנּון (שמות כב‬ ָ ‫כָל ַאל‬
You shall not afflict any widow, or
fatherless child.
‫ָתת לֹו‬ ֶ ‫ְאֹהב גֵר ל‬
ֵ ‫ְמנָה ו‬ ָ ‫ש ַפט יָתֹום וְַאל‬ ְ ‫עֹשה ִמ‬ֶ
)‫יח‬,‫ְש ְמלָה (דברים י‬ ִ ‫ֶחם ו‬ֶ‫ל‬
He (God) executes justice for the fatherless
and widow, and loves the stranger, in
giving him food and clothing.
‫ש ַפט גֵר יָתֹום וְלֹא ַת ֲחבֹל ֶבגֶד‬ ְ ‫לֹא ַת ֶטה ִמ‬
)‫יז‬,‫ְמנָה (דברים כד‬ ָ ‫ַאל‬
You shall not pervert the justice due to the
stranger, or to the fatherless; nor take the
widow's clothing to pledge.
‫שדֶה‬ ָ ‫עֹמר ַב‬
ֶ ָ ‫ַח‬ ְ ‫ְשכ‬
ָ ‫ש ֶד ָך ו‬
ָ ‫כִי ִת ְקצֹר ְקצִי ְר ָך ְב‬
‫ִהיֶה‬ ְ ‫ְמנָה י‬
ָ ‫ְק ְח ֹו ַלגֵר ַליָתֹום וְלַָאל‬ ַ ‫לֹא ָתשּוב ל‬
‫ֲשה יָדֶי ָך‬
ֵ ‫לֹהי ָך ְבכֹל ַמע‬ֶ ‫ְב ֶר ְכ ָך יְקֹוָק ֱאא‬ָ ‫ְמעַן י‬
ַ‫ל‬
)‫יט‬,‫(דברים כד‬
When you reap your harvest in thy field,
and forget a sheaf in the field, do not go
back to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the
fatherless, and for the widow;
It should not surprise us that the very mitzvah of charity Korach
cited as a complaint against Moshe actually helps the poor widow,
explicitly. But to Korach, facts don't matter. It's all about the
narrative of the poor, pathetic widow and her sad, starving
orphans, victims of a ruthless and reckless regime.
We now watch Korach's tactics once again on display worldwide.
No, the world hasn't lost its mind, because it was never watching
with its mind. It watches with its heart, feeling sorrow for the poor
victims of an evil blockade, preventing women and children from
going to school, cooking breakfast, and living a normal life. And
facts don't matter either. All the arguing in the world about
whether there is a humanitarian crisis or not, and whether Hamas
steals from its people to try and kill Jews – it's all beside the point.
Korach's uprising didn't just hurt him and his men. He hurt all of
Klal Yirsrael. And as long as the world care more about the
narrative than it does the truth, Israel will continue to suffer.