Why Moses Made Korach Wait Until Morning to Sober Up

Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 16:5

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

"In the morning the LORD will make known" (Numbers 16:5). And what is the meaning of "In the morning the LORD will make known"? Moses said: It is a time of drunkenness, and you are drunk, and perhaps it is out of eating and drinking that arrogance has come upon them, and that is why they have spoken these words. But tomorrow, once the wine has gone out from their body, they will have a sound mind and will retract their words. Therefore he granted them the reprieve until morning. He said to them: Just as it is impossible without morning, so it is impossible for Israel that Aaron should not be High Priest, for the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him the priesthood, and not I.

Themes

PriesthoodRepentance

Biblical References

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Exempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924)Exempla of the Rabbis, Tale 39This brief tale, preserved among the Exempla of the Rabbis collected by Moses Gaster, turns on a single dramatic day in the life of the Jerusalem priesthood. SiExempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924)High Priest Simeon & AlexanderBehind this dense column of references stands one of the most celebrated encounters in the Jewish memory of the Second Temple: the meeting of Simeon the Just, tMidrash AggadahAaron Enters the Tent to Retrieve the Yom Kippur Censer and PanOn the holiest day, the verse seems to fall out of order. "And Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting", but had he not already finished the service of the daMidrash AggadahWhy Aaron's Sons Died Beside the Yom Kippur Law in Midrash AggadahWhen the Holy One spoke to Moses about the Sanctuary, He reached back to a word He had already given: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother." Now speak to that Midrash AggadahAaron's Yom Kippur Confession Over His Own Sin-Offering BullThe verse commands that Aaron bring near the bull of the sin offering "which is his", the Midrash hears in those two small words a fence: the High Priest must aMidrash AggadahThe Five Immersions of the High Priest on the Day of AtonementListen, and follow the High Priest through the holiest day of the year. The verse commands, "And he shall wash his flesh in water in a holy place", and the sage