[Avodah] Korach Question

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Richard Wolberg <cantorwolberg at cox.net>
>>   If Korach questioned Moshe as to the authenticity of the Torah, at 
what point  was the Torah already revealed?
In other words, the parasha Korach is part of  the Torah.
Did Korach know that?  If so, he would know his fate.   If not, what part 
of the Torah was he claiming Moshe wrote on his own?
Also,  wasn't Korach present at Har Sinai?  Didn't all the people hear/and 
or see  the actual voice of HaShem for the first 2 Commandments?
So how could Korach,  after witnessing this, deny it?  <<

 
>>>>
 
The Torah was revealed bit by bit, as events occurred.  Otherwise, the  
Bnos Tzlafchad would not have had to ask Moshe about inheriting land in the  
absence of brothers -- they could have just read the Torah till the end to see 
 what the answer was.  Likewise, Moshe could have/should have avoided  
hitting the rock -- so that he would be able to go into Eretz Yisrael -- or  
conversely, Moshe had no choice BUT to hit the rock, since the Torah said he 
hit  the rock!  
 
However in actuality the parts of the Torah that deal with events that  
occurred and questions that arose after Matan Torah were given to Moshe and  
added to the Torah after Matan Torah, the whole Torah not being finalized 
until  Moshe's death.  What was given on Sinai was the main body of law and the  
history up till that point.
 
BTW Korach did not deny the Torah, he only denied Moshe's authority.   
Well, OK, the Torah says that Moshe acted on G-d's authority so denying Moshe is 
 tantamount to denying the Torah, but that's from our perspective after all 
the  events occurred.   From Korach's perspective, he could well have known 
 that Moshe went up to Har Sinai and received the Law there, and still have 
 assumed that Moshe was arrogating to himself and to his brother more power 
than  Hashem had actually given him.  In a way he was like today's 
Conservative  rabbis who claim to believe in the Torah (and some actually do) while 
at the  same time reading the Torah the way they want to read it and denying 
the  authority of Chazal.
 
--Toby  Katz
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