The Midrash Yalkut Reuveni, basing itself on the chachmei hakaballah, the great mystics, declares that the confrontation between Korach and Moshe had played itself out in a previous era in history. They claim that not only is the duel parallel to that of Kayin and Hevel, but that Kayin’s soul transmigrated into Korach, and Moshe Rabbeinu was the corporal carrier for Hevel’s spiritual DNA. There are certainly logical connections between Korach and Kayin. Korach was swallowed up in the earth as a tikun (correction) for the earth which accepted the blood of Kayin’s brother whom he murdered. They both used the means of sacrifice to demonstrate their prominence.

Let’s take a look at the battle between Kayin and Hevel which led to the murder of one quarter of the world’s population. Allow me to express it with a beautiful interpretation by Harav Avigdor Nebenzahl (Sichos l’Sefer Bereshis, pp. 34-35).

Kayin was really the first human being to desire to bring a korban, an offering, to God. The Ramban writes (Bereshis 8:20) that Kayin understood the secrets of korbanos and how a korban aroused the upper worlds. Add to this the fact that Kayin also comprehended that the venue for sacrifice is also important, as he offered his sacrifice on Har Hamoriah, Mount Moriah, today known as the Temple Mount (see Meshech Chochma in the beginning of Vayikra, based upon Pirkei d’Rebbe Eliezer chapter 31). The Torah records that Hevel ALSO brought a sacrifice; he followed in his brother’s footsteps, not the other way around. Why, therefore, did HASHEM accept Hevel’s offering, and not that of its initiator and innovator Kayin?

What was the source of Kayin and Hevel’s battle? According to the Kuzari, they were dividing up the world and each one wanted Eretz Yisrael under his jurisdiction (some things never change). Since they had not yet invented the notion of flipping coins or the game “rock, paper scissors,” they each decided to bring an offering and the one whose sacrifice HASHEM preferred would emerge victorious. Kayin did not understand that a korban, which is a means of expressing one’s gratitude to the Almighty, needed to be beautiful. Hevel understood this and for this reason his offering was accepted.

We can now understand how our sages saw Korach’s soul as a later version of Kayin’s. Korach’s argument was based on logic. Rabbi Soloveitchik delivered a famous shiur where he identified Korach’s attempted coup as a ‘common sense rebellion.’ After all, why should a room filled with Torah scrolls need a mezuzah on its door? Everything written in the mezuzah is contained in each Sefer Torah in the room! Common sense, no? Why should Moshe and Aaron have greater authority than the rest of their Levite cousins? Why not share? Everyone is holy!! Kayin did not understand why Hevel’s sacrifice, which was costlier and more valuable, was accepted. Both were offerings to God; what is the difference between stalks and flax and firstlings of one’s flock?

I have mentioned in the past that the rabbis describe Korach as bald. The Hebrew word for bald is keyreyach, the same letters as Korach. In my mind I always visually identify Korach as the famous Soviet revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, a man identified by his bare scalp. Korach’s argument, ‘all the nation is holy,’ was the spiritual progenitor of Lenin’s communism.

The Arizal quoting the Zohar declares that Moshe Rabbeinu was the reincarnation of Hevel. The Torah records that Moshe was a shepherd; Rabbeinu B’chaye understands it literally in the past tense, that his soul served as a shepherd when it inhabited the body of Hevel. Others point out that the word Moshe is an acronym for Moshe, Shes (Seth, the son born to Adam and Chava after Hevel’s death) and Hevel, all of whom shared a soul. Hevel’s abilities were cut off when he was murdered and this great soul was then given to Moshe Rabbeinu, who actualized Hevel’s potential. Others note that Hevel’s blood called out from the ground, as he was unable to defend himself. Moshe buried in the same earth the cruel Egyptian whom he killed; as such he did not initiate the plagues upon the earth and gave that task to Aaron. Moshe survived because he was more active than the seemingly passive Hevel.

Rabbi Norman Lamm (in a sermon delivered at the Jewish Center on June 22, 1963) identifies three traits that both Korach and Kayin had in common: jealousy, desire, and honor. Both Kayin and Korach wanted to outdo his rival, each possessed much material wealth but it was not enough (our sages taught that Korach was one of the wealthiest men of history) and each yearned for homage. Kayin saw himself as the elder brother and Korach saw himself as superior to Moshe in terms of lineage. Rabbi Eliezer Hakafar (Avos 4:28) warns us of the consequences of these three ugly traits:

"רבי אליעזר הקפר אומר: הקנאה והתאוה והכבוד מוציאין את האדם מן העולם"

“Says Rabbi Eliezer Hakafar: jealousy, desire and honor remove one from the world.”

Kayin was forced into exile and Korach was swallowed up into the earth.

Rabbi Lamm identifies another tactic that both Korach and Kayin employed. They both tried to veil their true intentions. Chazal teach that the two original brothers agreed to split the world as follows: Hevel would own the moveable items while Kayin would possess the land. Therefore, Kayin would consistently inform his brother that he was trespassing. While technically and legally he was correct, he was not conducting himself properly. To quote Rabbi Lamm, Kayin’s jealousy, desire and honor “were all wrapped up in the cloak of legalism, piety and righteousness.” Korach too hid his true intentions, making his claim based on justice and logic. He showed himself as the great savior and defender of the proletariat who will battle the bourgeoisie. We know what his true intentions were.

For this reason, argues Rabbi Lamm, the text in each passage presents itself very ambiguously: with a verb without an object.

In the story of Kayin and Hevel we find the following:

"ויאמר קין אל הבל אחיו, ויהי בהיותם בשדה ויקם קין אל הבל אחיו ויהרגהו" (בראשית ד:ח)

“Kayin spoke with his brother Hevel. And it happened when they were in the field that Kayin rose up against his brother Hevel and killed him” ( Bereshis 4:8).

The beginning of our parsha states:

"ויקח  קרח בן יצהר בן קהת קן לוי ודתן ואבירם בני אליאב ואון בן פלת בני ראובן"  

(במדבר ט"ז:א)

“And Korach took, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Ke’has, the son of Levi with Dasan and Aviram, sons of Eliav, and On the son of Peles, the sons of Reuven” (Bamidbar 16:1).

What did Kayin say to Hevel in the verse above? What did Korach take? The basic meaning of the verses leave these questions unanswered and they are grammatically anomalous. Rabbi Lamm concluded:

“Perhaps what the Torah means to tell us with these unusual constructions is that the reasons Kayin and Korach gave, what they said, the ‘front’ they presented, the excuses they offered – were all empty, meaningless and of no concern to us. What Kayin said was totally irrelevant; he never said what he really meant. That fact is that he was fraudulent and hypocritical. What Korach said or whom he took along with him was equally inconsequential; the important thing is that in order to satisfy his own desire for power he deceived and almost destroyed his entire people. It is the action, the deeper motive, unspoken and unarticulated, but disguised in the cloak of piety, that is so terribly and unspeakably evil. It is that which really counts. The rest is unworthy of being recorded in Scripture.”

Let us not forget that Aharon was also a player in the drama between Moshe and Korach. Ultimately it was his staff that grew the almonds. We find a mystical connection between the battle of Kayin and Hevel and the role of Aharon.

The Zohar (3:86-87) advances that halacha has established a remembrance of the battle between Kayin and Hevel; the source for the prohibition of shaatnez – of wearing a mixture of wool and linen – stems from the fact that Kayin’s offering was from linen and Hevel brought wool (sheep). The mixture of these two powers brought a negative spirit to the world manifested by wearing the two together. It was then established that the service in the Temple would atone for this negative spirit. Both the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) and the Kohen Hedyot (regular kohen) were mandated to wear shaatnez as part of their ritual garments. Both the belt of the Kohen Hedyot and the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol contained shaatnez. Since Kayin was careless about the appearance and contents of his korban, the bigdei k'hunah (priestly garments) come and atone for his mistake, for they are worn 'l'chavod ul'sifares’ to honor and glorify (Shmos 28:2).

We will always be confronted by demagogues who make rational arguments only seeking pleasure for their egos and arrogant aggrandizement for their physical needs. They will guise their true intentions in altruistic ones; they will often hide behind their protection of the little man, merely seeking to yield power for themselves. These people will all be the same and will always be present. Moshe Rabbeinu helped us identify them.

We can either perpetuate the battle between Kayin and Hevel – between just and unjust – or learn how to overcome it. Moshe Rabbeinu was able to defeat Korach because he learned that one cannot sit by idly as (seemingly) Hevel did. Part and parcel of Moshe’s leadership (and much of Sefer Bamidbar chronicles his maturation as a leader) is the sometimes uncomfortable responsibility to stand up, risk it all, and defend the integrity of God’s system. There will also be times when one must ignore minor dissent if it is based upon people’s needs for power, desire and honor. May we continue to have the wisdom to follow great altruistic leaders, to elect those infused with yiras Shamayim (reverence for Heaven) and love of their fellow man and an absolute idealistic dedication to their various causes.