Three Villains Walk Into a Coup

By Rabbi Ari Lorge

I was a few credits shy of a minor in art history. Which makes me only mostly unqualified to share the following information.

In the 1300s, the Republic of Sienna was one of the most powerful city-states in Italy. It was governed in a unique way: a council of nine men chosen from the city’s leading families. This leadership fostered a period of stability, prosperity, and good governance.

Around 1337, the council commissioned Ambrogio Lorenzetti to paint an allegorical fresco in their meeting room depicting good government, bad government and the effects of each on a city and in the country. They wanted a constant reminder of the virtues towards which they should strive and the vices they should spurn.

I went to see the frescoes for myself. If you’ve stood in front of them, you know the scale, the beauty, and the way they define the room. I was struck by the wisdom. Knowing human inclination, knowing the danger that power can pose, and yet recognizing the need for leaders who wield it, the council forced itself to confront a constant visual reminder of what their power was for: what was acceptable and what was reprehensible.

This week’s Torah portion serves a very similar purpose for Jews. The reading is all about the danger of depraved governance. The tradition forcing us to recount the narrative every year is the auditory equivalent of the frescoes: a reminder of contemptible ways power can be wielded. Because Torah is read for all to hear, this lesson is as much for those who lead as it is for those who are led.

The story begins with a band rising up to challenge Moses and Aaron. This isn’t riffraff. These are serious men.

While they appear at first to be a united opposition, they are in fact three factions. Each is an archetype or allegory of destructive leadership. It is key to read their accusation against Moses and Aaron closely. Long before Freud taught us about the psychological act of projection, Torah demonstrates the behavior here. The factions accuse Moses and Aaron of the very faults and motivations that darken their own hearts and minds.

What types of leaders are of such concern that they are enshrined in this parshah?

The first is immortalized in the character of Korah. He is best described by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks as the despot disguised as a populist. He claims to want to democratize power, when in fact he is simply trying to grab it all for himself.

Korah declares to Moses and Aaron, “You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire community, they all are holy, and God is in their midst. Why do you lift yourselves up above the community?” (Numbers 16:3).

The accusation is הִתנַשְּׂאוּת, from the same root we get the word נשיא - prince, president, lord.

Korah says they want to be in power so they can lord themselves over the people. But this is a projection of what motivates him.

Moses unmasks him. He reminds everyone that Korah is a Levite. He is not a man of the people. He is among the most elite in the camp. And Korah isn’t suggesting the Levites forgo their privileges to create an equal society.

Moses says to him: “God has already set you apart, given you power over the mishkan so that you can stand before the people and serve them” (Numbers 16:8-9). But that hasn’t satisfied Korah. Because nothing will satisfy Korah until he is lord over everyone. And so the Torah warns us away from leaders who see power as a means of aggrandizing themselves.

Datan and Aviram are the heads of the next faction, leaders of the Tribe of Reuben. What accusation do they make against Moses? They say he took them away from the richness of Egypt. Then they claim Moses wishes to “act as a tyrant and dominate us even further…” (Numbers 16:3). Moses says to God in reply, “I have not taken so much as a donkey from any of them.”

What is their accusation? Patrimonialism or clientelism. They claim Moses wants לְהִשׂתָּרֵר, to dominate them by using his position to enrich himself at their expense.

This is yet again a projection of what is in their hearts. They see power as a means of lining their pockets. Which is why they are obsessed with the treasures of Egypt. The rabbis teach in the Talmud and midrash that during slavery in Egypt these two were Israelite overseers. We can imagine them eagerly taking what power they could from the oppressors to enrich themselves, dole out favors, establish cronies, and punish anyone who complained.

Here in the wilderness, they’ve lost their positions, and there is nothing for them to misappropriate and no relationships to instrumentalize. Egypt seems better to them than freedom. And they take desperate actions to regain what they’ve lost. The rabbis make this point even more concretely by teaching that Datan and Aviram were the Israelites who tried to hoard the manna overnight - betraying their drive to amass their own wealth and use it for dishonest ends. Here, the Torah warns us against leaders who see power as a means of personal gain.

The final faction is led by On, the son of Pelet. And that is all we know about him. He disappears after being mentioned. We’re left to intuit one last type of dangerous power-seeker. The one who goes along. The ones who enable the despot cloaked as a populist or the corrupt dictator using the privilege of place to defraud the public. On allows his name to be used by others as a prop, becoming Torah’s final archetype of malevolent leadership.

Torah has communicated its 3 archetypes of detrimental leaders who use power for nefarious ends. But, what about good governance? In Sienna, they had the counterpoint up on the wall: a positive example to counterbalance the negative. Where is ours? It was communicated by Moses. While the rebels keep speaking about patrimonialism, tyranny, and personal gain, Moses uses two different ideas: service and ministry (Numbers 16:9). In Hebrew: עַבדוּת and שֵרוּת.

The great German neo-orthodox leader, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, in his commentary on this parshah restates the lesson beautifully:

“In Jewish thought, public office dignifies…because it entails ‘service of the community.’ The bearer of the office does not control others; he serves them.” He also points out the greatest form of leadership, those who inspire through moral conduct.

Torah knows that for a community to function, power will be entrusted to people. There is an inherent danger in that act. And so we have this week’s lessons: our very own allegories of good government and bad government to guide us as we select our own leaders on this journey through the wilderness. May we hearken to the wisdom of our ancestors and lift up those who seek to be ministers of morality and servants of the people.