(17) Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; But one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure. Which is the controversy that is for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Hillel and Shammai. And which is the controversy that is not for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Korah and all his congregation.

(1) Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben— (2) to rise up against Moses, together with certain other Israelites, two hundred and fifty of them: chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute. (3) They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and GOD is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above GOD’s congregation?”

(17) When Ahab caught sight of Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” (18) He retorted, “It is not I who have brought trouble on Israel, but you and your father’s House, by forsaking the commandments of GOD and going after the Baalim. (19) Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, together with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” (20) Ahab sent orders to all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. (21) Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you keep hopping between two opinions? If the ETERNAL is God, then follow [the ETERNAL]; and if Baal, follow [Baal]!” But the people answered him not a word.

(5) Then he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Come morning, GOD will make known who is to serve, and who is holy, by granting direct access—whoever is chosen will be granted access.

(37) Answer me, O ETERNAL One, answer me, that this people may know that You, O ETERNAL One, are God; for You have turned their hearts backward.”

(16) And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company appear before GOD, you and they and Aaron. (17) Each of you take your fire pan and lay incense on it, and each of you bring that fire pan before GOD, two hundred and fifty fire pans; you and Aaron also [bring] your fire pans.” (18) They each took their fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and took a place at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, as did Moses and Aaron.

(22) Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only prophet of GOD left, while the prophets of Baal number four hundred and fifty. (23) Let two young bulls be given to us. Let them choose one bull, cut it up, and lay it on the wood, but let them not apply fire; I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and will not apply fire. (24) You will then invoke your god by name, and I will invoke GOD by name; and let us agree: the god who responds with fire, that one is God.” And all the people answered, “Very good!”

(28) And Moses said, “By this you shall know that it was GOD who sent me to do all these things; that they are not of my own devising: (29) if these people’s death is that of all humankind, if their lot is humankind’s common fate, it was not GOD who sent me. (30) But if GOD brings about something unheard-of, so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, you shall know that those involved have spurned GOD.”

(37) Answer me, O ETERNAL One, answer me, that this people may know that You, O ETERNAL One, are God; for You have turned their hearts backward.”

(1)Answer me, Adonoy, answer me. Answer me with fire, answer me with rain. So did [Targum] Yonoson render this. But our Rabbis said, “Answer me with fire, (and water) answer me so that they do not say that this deed was accomplished by sorcery.” (2)[And this people] will know that You are Adonoy. And I am Your servant, and when You will send me to bring them tidings [of the redemption] that is forthcoming, they will believe me, if You will answer me today. (3)And You have turned their hearts away. You gave them an opportunity to turn away from following You, although You could have directed their hearts toward You. And according to Midrash Aggadah, if You do not answer me, I will deny and say that You turned their hearts. And so did Moshe say, “If as all men die will these men meet their death,” I, too, will deny and say, “then Adonoy has not sent me,” to speak [the words of] the Torah and the commandments, and so did Michoyhu say, “If you really return in peace, Adonoy did not speak to me.”

אם כמות כל האדם ימותו אלה, “if these people die like any other human being, etc.” Our sages (Tanchuma Korach 8) illustrate this by a parable. The bridal attendants of the king’s daughter who held proof of that daughter’s virginity at her wedding in their hands were challenged by one of the wedding guests who claimed that the evidence they claimed to possess was forged. Thereupon these bridal attendants demanded from the king that he personally confirm that what they held in their hands was proof of his daughter’s virginity, and that if the king would refuse to do so they themselves would have to conclude that the accusation was true and that they had been furnished with forged evidence. The king responded by saying that it was better to execute the guest than to have the loyal attendants spread lies about the chastity his daughter. This is what motivated Moses to demand such an unusual penalty for Korach and his fellow-rebels. He argued that if these rebels were allowed to die in bed like most mortals, and the physicians would check on them prior to their deaths as they do with most sick people, then he Moses, would also deny that he had ever been appointed by G’d to lead the Jewish people and that he had arrogated all this authority to himself without divine appointment. Korach would then be considered as having a valid complaint.
We have a similar incident in Jewish history which is described in Kings I 22,28 where Michaya (the true prophet) said to Tzekekiah (the false prophet): “if you ever come home safe, then I will also admit that the Lord has not spoken to me.”
Something similar occurred at Mount Carmel (Kings I 18,36-37) when the prophet Elijah proclaimed: “let it be known today that You are the G’d in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord are G’d; for You have turned their hearts backward.” What Elijah meant with this postscript was ”if You do not respond to my request I myself will say that You have turned their hearts backward.”
It is a well known fact that the quarrel initiated by Korach at that time has become the root cause for the neglect or worse of the entire Torah seeing that each individual nowadays reserves the right for himself to reject a part of the Torah as not being divinely decreed. The moment one begins to challenge even a minute part of the Torah as being “man-made,” the flood gates have been opened to reject Torah as a whole. Eventually, the challenger will declare that the entire Torah is man’s invention and that the lawgiver perpetrated a colossal fraud relying on the gullibility of his people. In order to head off such events in the future the punishment for Korach and his fellow rebels had to be especially severe. They had brought this upon themselves seeing that we have a principle that anyone who challenges the words of Moses is considered as having challenged the word of the Lord Himself (Sanhedrin 110).

The Sages taught: Ten phenomena were created on Shabbat eve during twilight, and they were: Miriam’s well, and manna, and the rainbow, writing, and the writing instrument, and the tablets, the grave of Moses, and the cave in which Moses and Elijah stood, the opening of the mouth of Balaam’s donkey, and the opening of the mouth of the earth to swallow the wicked in the time of Korah. And some say that even Aaron’s staff was created then with its almonds and its blossoms. Some say that even the demons were created at this time. And some say that even

Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

I had ascended the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the Tablets of the Covenant that GOD had made with you, and I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, eating no bread and drinking no water.

He arose and ate and drank; and with the strength from that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb.

There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night.
Then the word of GOD came to him: “Why are you here, Elijah?”

To the cave. That is the cleft of the rock where Moshe stood.

(22) Be mindful of the Teaching of My servant Moses, whom I charged at Horeb with laws and rules for all Israel. (23) Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of GOD. (24) He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction.

Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of GOD.

Le verset dit : "Voici, je vous enverrai Élie le prophète..." et il est écrit : "Et il ramènera le cœur des pères vers les enfants..." Selon l'explication de Rabbi Eliezer (le Rabbi), cela indique que la prophétie se réfère à la venue du Messie, et qu'Élie, par l'inspiration divine, annoncera la réconciliation entre les générations, et particulièrement entre les sages et leurs élèves. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi semble comprendre ce passage en liant cette prophétie aux paroles des sages, et non aux mots de ceux qui ont compilé la Mishnah. Il a apporté ce verset après les paroles de tous les sages pour dire que leur désaccord réside dans ce verset, car certains sages interprètent l'idée de "rapprocher et éloigner" de manière différente : certains pensent qu'il s'agit d’éloigner ceux qui sont "pas corrects" et de rapprocher ceux qui sont "bons", tandis que d'autres, comme Rabbi Shimon, expliquent que cette réconciliation concerne uniquement les sages eux-mêmes, sans avoir d'impact sur la filiation en elle-même. Le Rambam commente que les sages disent qu'il n'y a pas d'escroquerie en matière de généalogie ; toute personne appelée par son nom doit être associée à la vérité, car la Torah est la base de tout. Les disputes humaines sont des querelles entre individus, issues de la haine gratuite, et il est dit que les sages cherchent à faire la paix dans le monde. Le Raavad explique que l'intention des sages est de réconcilier Israël avec les nations. Il ajoute que toute la discussion dans ce verset concerne la réconciliation des générations, notamment entre les pères et les enfants, ce qui devrait aussi éviter des divisions entre les sages. Selon Rabbi Yishmael, ce verset souligne qu'il est crucial que les lois de la Torah soient interprétées de manière unifiée par les sages, sans désaccord. Le passage "Voici, je vous enverrai Élie" est souvent interprété comme un appel à la réconciliation avant la venue du Messie, signalant un jour de paix juste avant la grande révélation. Ce jour-là, les cœurs des pères et des enfants seront réconciliés, et l’on espère que ce sera un jour de consolation mutuelle. Le verset se conclut par une mise en garde : "Si vous ne vous souvenez pas de la Torah, je viendrai et frapperai la terre de malédiction". Cela signifie que si Israël ne se souvient pas de la Torah, une grande punition suivra, mais si la Torah est respectée, un sauveur viendra et délivrera le peuple de ses ennemis. Ainsi, ce passage encourage à se tourner vers la Torah, à se réconcilier avant l’arrivée du Messie et à prier pour que ce jour vienne rapidement, pour la paix et la rédemption d’Israël.