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Why did Moshe proceed with the ketores test against Korach despite knowing he was right? Rashi (רש"י) reveals that Moshe's certainty about his own righteousness wasn't sufficient justification. He needed to foresee that Korach would actually die while his repentant children would survive—suggesting that being right doesn't automatically justify every course of action.
This shiur analyzes a profound Rashi (רש"י) on Parshas Korach that reveals a counterintuitive principle about the relationship between being right and taking action. The discussion begins with Korach's fatal miscalculation—he saw through prophecy that great descendants would emerge from him, including the prophet Shmuel who was equal to Moshe and Aharon, and twenty-four priestly divisions performing with Divine inspiration. This vision convinced Korach he couldn't die, leading him to challenge Moshe's authority through the ketores test. However, Korach 'didn't see correctly'—his children would survive through repentance after his own death, not because he himself would be spared. Rashi then makes a startling observation: 'Moshe saw correctly.' Unlike Korach, Moshe understood that the future greatness would come through Korach's repentant children, not through Korach's own survival. But this raises a fundamental question—why did Moshe need this prophetic insight at all? He already knew he was right because Hashem (ה׳) had commanded him to appoint Aharon as Kohen Gadol.
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Parshas Korach
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