In parashat Korach, we read how “the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that were with Korach” (Numbers 16:32). Evidently, Korach and his entire family perished. Yet, later on the Torah tells us: “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with Korach… but the sons of Korach did not die.” (Numbers 26:10-11) Apparently, his sons actually survived! We know this must be the case because there are a number of Psalms (such as numbers 42 to 49) which begin with a byline saying they were written by the “sons of Korach”. How is this possible?
Monthly Archives: June 2020
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Manna: Nutritional Information
‘The Gathering of the Manna’ by James Tissot
In this week’s parasha, Beha’alotcha, we read how the Israelites had become fed up (literally) with eating manna. The Torah reminds us how the people would collect their share of manna every day (Numbers 11:8): “The people walked about and gathered it. Then they ground it in a mill or crushed it in a mortar, cooked it in a pot and made it into cakes. It had a taste like the taste of oil cake.” Although it had its own innate taste, our Sages teach that in reality the manna would transform into whatever the person felt like eating! Still, the Israelites complained (Numbers 11:6):
We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for free; the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now, our souls are dried out, for there is nothing at all except the manna before our eyes.