Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the ugly politics of the Korach rebellion. One aspect was an apparent smear campaign against Moshe, accusing him of adultery.

While on the face of it, such an accusation seems absurd, the straightforward message and lesson of the Gemara is that politics and rhetoric can become dirty. People in positions of power are intrinsically suspect and therefore must take extra steps to not even have the appearance of impropriety.

Divrei Soferim (2:1) offers a deeper explanation. Often, if there is some trace of sin, God may send us a warning in the form of a close call. The form of the almost-catastrophe can hint at the nature of the shortcoming. Since we have a tradition that Moshe was destined to suffer a downfall through water, this hinted at an area of weakness. We know that the Egyptian astrologers foresaw the Jewish savior’s downfall via water, but did not realize that it was Moshe’s error by the waters of contention and not the fate of drowning (see Rashi Shemos 1:22). Drowning is known as the heavenly punishment for adultery, as it parallels the capital punishment of choking. Thus, the Jews also possessed this ruach hakodesh insight that Moshe would somehow suffer by water, and therefore assumed he had some weakness in the area of adultery.

The Shalah (Torah Shebiksav, Vaera, Torah Ohr) offers an even deeper, mystical explanation. The literal phrase is “they suspected Moshe of [violating the prohibition of] a wife of a man.” Shalah says ordinary prophecy represents a process of divine flow entering the prophet. This is more passive, akin to a woman receiving seed from a man who plays the more dominant role. However, Moshe was more intimate with God, relating to Him more directly and less passively (see Numbers 12:8). This allowed Moshe to experience prophecy on a whole other level and is alluded to in the verse that describes Moshe as a “Man of God” (Devarim 33:1), as if to say he is interactive as a man and not just in the feminine role of the other prophets.

Therefore, Korach’s complaint was: “You are not better than us. Many of us are prophets too.” In the metaphor, Moshe is suspected of “wife of man,” meaning the regular passive form of interaction with God. However, it was not so. Only Moshe could experience something closer to direct dialogue.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com