Parshat Qorach (Korach (a name))

The Torah portion is Qorach, Numbers 16:1-18:32. In synagogues using the Triennial system, 5784 is year 2 and the Torah reading is Numbers 16:20-17:24.

Qorach, Dathan and Abiram and their followers rebel against Moses, saying that all people are equally holy and complaining about their new status, free but wandering the Wilderness. Qorach, Dathan and Abiram and their families are swallowed up by the earth and a fire consumed their followers. Others who continue to rebel suffered a plague. Lays out the duties of Aaron's descendants (the kohanim, that is, priests) and the other members of the tribe of Levi and the offerings that they will keep for this duty, but the tribe of Levi will not have its own territory in the Promised Land like the other tribes.

There is a special maftir portion (the final piece of the Torah reading) for Rosh Chodesh Shabbat: Numbers 28:9-15. This portion lays out the offerings made on Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of the new month) when it occurs on a Shabbat.

The haftarah is for Rosh Chodesh, Isaiah 66:1-24. This portion speaks of the many sins committed by the People in Isaiah's time and the consequences, but promises that some will prosper and endure.