My cat Petunia is yellow where she should be pink.

I wish I could tell you that this week’s thoughts on Parashat Korach emerged from deep Torah study, careful analysis of classical commentators and a profound examination of leadership, authority and rebellion.

Instead, they emerged from staring at a cat’s gums.

Petunia is somewhere between ten and thirteen years old, depending on which version of her biography one accepts. Like many cats, she has always regarded objective facts as optional. What is not optional is that she has shared my home, my routines, my writing sessions and a significant portion of my life.

This week, I noticed that something was wrong.

Yesterday, we went to the vet. Blood tests were taken. On Monday morning we have an ultrasound appointment in Kfar Saba. Somewhere between now and then lies the answer to a question I am not particularly eager to hear.

And that, strangely enough, is where Korach enters the story.

Most people read Korach as a parashah about leadership. They are not wrong. Korach challenges Moses and Aaron, gathers supporters and launches what is arguably the Torah’s first organised political campaign. It ends badly. Extremely badly. The earth itself intervenes in a manner that........

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