Korah's Wife, the Shaved Levites, and the All-Blue Cloaks

"And Moses said to Korah" etc. From here we learn that we send a messenger from the court and summon a person who is contumacious regarding judgment, and we say to him: if you do not come to judgment, let this man be under the ban (in shemata), as it is written "tomorrow" (verse 16). "But folly tears it down with her hands" (Proverbs 14:1) — this is the wife of Korah. For at the time that they passed a razor over all the flesh of all the Levites, Korah was among the Levites, and he passed a razor over all his flesh, over his head and over his beard. His wife said to him: Who commanded you to do this? He said to her: Moses. His wife said to him: Moses hates you, and he did not command you to do this except to disgrace you. He said to her: He commanded his own sons too, and they did so. She said to him: And what does he care? He says, "Let my soul die" along with yours so long as his will is done with you. When he heard this, he added further to the strife on account of his wife's word. And from where did Korah come to believe his wife that Moses hated him? Because he saw that Elizaphan son of Uzziel — whom Moses set up as prince of the father's house for the families of the Kohathites by the word of the Holy One, blessed be He. At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Wicked Korah, retract this matter — and he did not retract. Korah said: Is there favoritism in the matter? Behold, Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Amram, who was the firstborn — his sons were priests. To whom is it fitting to give greatness over the Levites of the family of Kohath? Is it not to the sons of Izhar, who was born after Amram — and I was the son of Izhar, and to me that princeship was fitting to be given; yet it was given to the son of Uzziel, who was the youngest of them all. Behold, Moses did not do these deeds except — you should know — because he hated me, and he did not wish to give me the princeship. Therefore Korah disputed against Moses. And why was this section juxtaposed to the section of the fringes (tzitzit)? Because on its account he began to dispute against Moses. Korah said to Moses: A house full of books — does it require a mezuzah or not? Moses said: It requires one. Korah said: This thing the Holy One, blessed be He, did not command. And likewise he said to him: A cloak that is entirely blue (tekhelet) — does it require a thread of blue? Moses said to him: Yes. Korah said to him: All these things that you say are from your own mind; rather, a thread of blue exempts, and if the fringe is entirely blue, would it not exempt itself? Your words are nothing but words of falsehood. Immediately, what did Korah do? He commanded and made 250 cloaks that were entirely blue, and he did not place on their corners a thread of blue, and he gave them to 250 men of the children of Israel. Moses said to them: And why are they all blue, and the cloak would be exempt if it had no threads of blue? They said to him: All these things that you speak to us are words of fabrication. Immediately Moses left them and went on his way. In the morning they rose early and went to the study-house of Moses, all clothed in cloaks that were entirely blue. Moses said to them: My sons, thus I did not hear from the mouth of the Almighty; rather, that one must place on every corner a thread of blue. They said to him: All the cloaks are blue and it is not exempt, yet one thread exempts the cloak? These are not the words of the Creator, but your words, and they are words of fabrication. And over this they rose up before Moses, as it is said "And they rose up before Moses" etc. (Numbers 16:2) — these are Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and men of the children of Israel; these are the wearers of the cloaks, and they grew envious of Moses because he set up the princes and accepted their offering, but theirs he did not accept, and he did not appoint them as heads over them.