Shabbat Parashat Korach - 5783

Shabbat Parashat Korach - 5783

Rabbi Hal Miller

God said to Aharon, "You, your sons, and your father's house with you shall bear

the iniquity of the Sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity

of your priesthood." [Bamidbar 18:1]

What iniquity would Aharon and the Kohanim bear? Even moreso, since the verse begins

with the Kohanim (you, your sons), why does it include here also "your father's house",

at least for the first part, which would seemingly mean the family of Amram? This is not all

of the Levites, as Amram had brothers whose families are Levites too. The verse seems to

equate some level of responsibility to all of the people it mentions in the first part, but

only to the Kohanim for the second part.

Rashi says that "your father's house" refers back to Kohat, who was the father of Amram,

thus our verse includes a larger portion of the tribe of Levi, but still only a third, so the

same questions still apply. But it does give us an insight as to what our verse means.

The sub-tribe of Kohat was charged with the relocations of the Sanctuary itself in the

desert journeys, and the other sub-tribes moved other items. The verse begins to make

sense, that those charged with the transportation and use of the Sanctuary are responsible

for it, and only those charged with the priesthood are responsible for that.

So what are the two references to iniquity that these people would be responsible for?

Onkelos provides an interesting view. "You and your sons and your father's house with you

shall cause forgiveness for any wrong associated with the Sanctuary, but only you and your

sons with you shall cause forgiveness for any wrong associated with the priesthood." But

this seems a stretch of the language of the verse to understand it as "you shall cause

forgiveness" when it actually says "bear the iniquity".

Rashi begins with an understanding that the command is for the listed people not to

enter the Kodesh HaKodashim, the Holy of Holies. But that is well documented in

other verses, so it would seem redundant here. Rashi then goes on for the first part,

"I place upon you the punishment of non-Kohanim who will sin in matters concerning

the sacred things which are given over to you to care for" and for the second part,

"For it is not given over to the Levites and you shall warn the careless Levites that they

should not touch you in your service." Sforno explains this to mean that the Kohanim

are gatekeepers, that they are responsible for any wrongs done by unauthorized

people, either in the Sanctuary or in priesthood matters in general.

This seems to explain Onkelos as well. The people who might make such a mistake are

not liable themselves, although prohibited from doing those things. Only those listed in

our verse are liable, and only for the class of wrongs to which they fit.