Moses Responds to Koraḥ’s Rebellion: Sleep On It

(1) Now Koraḥ, 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 two hundred and fifty Israelites, 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 the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the LORD’s congregation?” (4) When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. (5) Then he spoke to Koraḥ and all his company, saying, “Come morning, the LORD will make known who is His and who is holy, and will grant him access to Himself; He will grant access to the one He has chosen. (6) Do this: You, Koraḥ and all your band, take fire pans, (7) and tomorrow put fire in them and lay incense on them before the LORD. Then the man whom the LORD chooses, he shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”

HE FELL UPON HIS FACE. Willingly. Other say, like prophets when they receive a prophecy.

AND WHEN MOSES HEARD IT, HE FELL UPON HIS FACE. It does not say “and they fell [upon their faces],” for Aaron in his modesty and holiness did not utter a word throughout this whole controversy, but he was as one that held his peace, and who admits that Koraḥ’s status was greater than his own, and he only acted according to Moses’ behest, fulfilling the king’s decree.

ויפול על פניו, “he fell upon his face;” he was ashamed and put his face on the ground in order to offer a prayer. He hoped to receive a revelation from G-d how to confront this challenge.

What reason did he have for saying, “In the morning He will make known?”

Moses said, “Perhaps they said this thing because they had been excessively eating and drinking.”

He therefore said, “In the morning.” Perhaps between now and then they will repent.

He said to them, “I have no authority to enter [the tabernacle] now. Even though there is no eating and no drinking, it is simply because of us [that we are forbidden to enter] as we have taken food and drink.”

"Now is a time of drunkenness and it is not appropriate to appear before Him."

But his real intention in postponing the matter was that perhaps they might reconsider [their opposition] (Midrash Tanchuma, Koraḥ 5).

"Now is a time of drunkenness and it is not appropriate to appear before Him" - The explanation of the intoxication of the dispute is similar to [the phrase] "those who are drunk, but not with wine" (Is. 51:21).

Rabbi Elijah Mizraḥi (1455-1526) explained this as "the drunkenness of dispute, similar to 'drunk, but not from wine' (Isaiah 51:21)", but this interpretation is mistaken, because “a time of drunkenness” means that everyone has already finished their meal, and there is concern that perhaps someone drank a quarter-log of wine (the minimum amount to become halachically intoxicated), and therefore it is inappropriate to appear before them [in such a state]. Hence the phrase “a time of drunkenness.”

He [Moshe] did not say “you are drunk,” but rather that the time itself is one of drunkenness, for it is the way of people who have eaten and drunk to be intoxicated.

And because the question arises: Why should there be any concern about the wicked entering [the sanctuary] in a state of drunkenness or not, and why would they deserve death for that (cf. Leviticus 10:9)? And why was Moshe upset with them?

It cannot be said that Moshe and Aharon were simply avoiding appearing [before God] for their own sake—this is not reasonable, since Aharon still needed to offer the afternoon offering (Exodus 29:41), and it had not yet been brought. For if the afternoon offering had already been brought, it is obvious that nothing else could be offered afterward, as nothing was brought after the afternoon offering (Rashi on Leviticus 6:5).

And all the more so, Moshe, through whom the Divine Presence was constantly speaking, certainly had not drunk a quarter-log of wine.

Therefore, it must be that Moshe’s intention was only to delay them, perhaps they would repent.

This is a time when we are intoxicated. They were [not actually drunk, but were] engaged in this dispute all day; therefore, he said “This is a time when we are intoxicated.” Similarly, we find written, “Intoxicated but not from wine" (Isaiah 51:21). We learn from here that even if one has not drunk, he can be called “intoxicated.” Rashi had a further question: Why did Moshe not settle his own mind? Therefore he answers that “his intention was…”

Which is to say that even if you say that that they were not drunk, nevertheless, that time was a time of drunkenness, and they did not differentiate, as they said broadly, that the rabbis did not distinguish, and as we find regarding raising of the hands is not done at minhah, since it is a time of drunkenness. And even Yom Kippur, where there is no drunkenness, even for this prayer service, they did not have raising of the hands, since they did not differentiate. And Rashi concludes and he meant to to push off, since the truth was that it was permitted in the Mikdash or the tabernacle, since they offered the daily offering and the incense in the afternoon. Nevertheless, Korah accepted his words and did not feel that this was a general pushing off, since he considered maybe there was to distinguish between the priests, since they had already established and they were not drinking wine at all, for them, this was their first time, and they had not been forbidden until not with wine. And, therefore, there was to decree upon this.

It's not clear to me why there is anything about drunkenness here. And the words of Rabbi Shabbethai ben Joseph Bass are lovely. According to him, since they were all of that all of them were angry and in the heat of the argument, thus they were "drunk but not from wine".