Parashat Korach: Gifts and Corruption

In law, a gift is understood as the transfer of something of value without payment in return, and it may come with conditions attached. An identical idea appears in Maimonides: “Whoever has made a gift conditionally, regardless of whether the donor or the donee has imposed the condition, and the donee has taken possession and title, then the gift is valid if the condition has been fulfilled; if not, the gift is null and void.” (Laws of Acquisition and Gifts, 3)

God tells the Kohanim in this week’s parashah: “And I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.” (Numbers 18:6)

The Levites’ service is given as a gift to the priests to assist in the Tent of Meeting. The gift is their labor; the condition is that it serve God alone, as Rashi explains: “Perhaps for your personal, secular service? The Torah, therefore, teaches, ‘for God.’”

The Torah describes the priesthood itself as a gift: “Therefore you and your sons with you shall keep your priest’s office for everything that concerns the altar, and within the veil: and you shall serve: I have given your priest’s office to you as a service of gift: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.” (ibid., 7)

As Judah Leib Gordon (1830–1892) interprets, the priesthood is given as a gift – an honor and glory for the priests.

Gifts and corruption

But if sacred service is a gift, there is no wage attached to it. How, then, are priests to live? Through gifts. The Torah enumerates a long list of gifts that the people bring when they come to offer sacrifices – largely food-based. The entire tribe of Levi received no inheritance and no land. Those who served in the Tabernacle and later the Temple were entirely dependent on such gifts.

The problem is obvious: this mechanism invites corruption. Priests have a vested interest in maximizing sacrifices. As Prof. Ruhama Weiss observed on in a ynet article in 2019, when people feel more sinful and sacrifice more, priestly profits increase, making it difficult to distinguish where genuine religious experience ends and commercial interest begins.

One particularly valuable priestly gift was the hide from guilt-offerings, which could be sold commercially. According to a story in the Tosefta (Menachot 13:18), a powerful priestly faction routinely seized these hides until the gift had to be discontinued entirely – the proceeds were redirected toward adorning the Temple instead.

This illustrates how gifts to public servants become gateways to corruption and power struggles. Perhaps this is why Proverbs warns: “He who hates gifts shall live” (15:27). In 1979, the Knesset enacted a law specifically governing gifts received by public officials. Under this law, if a public servant receives a gift by virtue of their position and does not immediately refuse or return it, the gift becomes state property. Unlike the biblical era, public servants today receive salaries and have no need for gifts to sustain themselves. In such circumstances, gifts easily become vehicles for bribery and unlawful benefit.

The welcome shift

And yet, viewing sacred service itself as a gift contains a welcome shift in perspective. We often take things for granted, failing to recognize them as genuine gifts. As Rabbi Yohanan said in the Midrash: “Three items were given as a gift to the world: The Torah, the lights, and the rains.” (Bereshit Rabbah 6:7). And as another Midrash tells: “The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: I have a good gift in My treasure house and Shabbat is its name.” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 10b)

The priestly gifts failed – they became an invitation for serious corruption. But the underlying idea reminds us: some things in life are genuine gifts, freely given. We would do well to recognize them.

Lior Tal Sadeh is an educator, writer, and author of “What Is Above, What Is Below” (Carmel, 2022). He hosts the daily “Source of Inspiration” podcast, produced by Beit Avi Chai.

For more insights into Parashat Korach, listen to “Source of Inspiration”.

Translation of most Hebrew texts sourced from Sefaria.org

Main Photo: The Death of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, by Gustave Doré\ Wikipedia