מדרש על במדבר 16:34

“The name of the man was Elimelekh, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Maḥlon and Khilyon, Efratites of Bethlehem in Judah. They came to the field of Moav, and they were there” (Ruth 1:2).
“The name of the man was Elimelekh” – once trouble came, you went and abandoned them. “A man from Bethlehem of Judah” (Ruth 1:1) – that is what the verse says: “Our oxen [alufeinu]¹⁴The word aluf can also mean leader. The midrash is reading the verse to refer to Elimelekh as a leader of the people. are laden [mesubalim]; [there is no breach, none have gone out; there is no outcry in our plazas]” (Psalms 144:14). Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It is not written here: Bearing [sovelim],¹⁵As in, the leaders bear the burdens of the people. but rather: “Are laden [mesubalim].” When the lesser bear the burden [sovelim] of the greater, “there is no breach [peretz]” – there is no outbreak [pirtza] of plague, as you say: “A plague broke out among them” (Psalms 106:29). “None have gone out [yotzet]” (Psalms 144:14) – there is no emergence of a plague, as you say: “Fire emerged [vatetzeh] from before the Lord” (Leviticus 9:24). “There is no outcry” (Psalms 144:14) – there is no outcry of plague, as you say: “All Israel that were around them fled at their cry” (Numbers 16:34).¹⁶This verse appears in the story of Koraḥ, which concludes with a plague (Numbers 16–17). Reish Lakish reverses the order of the verse: When the greater tolerate¹⁷He reads alufeinu mesubalim to mean, ‘our leaders bear [tolerate].’ the lesser there is no breach of exile, as it is written: “Through breaches they will go out” (Amos 4:3). “None have gone out” – to exile, as it is written: “Cast them from before Me and let them go out” (Jeremiah 15:1). “There is no outcry” – of exile, as it is written: “Behold the sound of the outcry of the daughter of my people” (Jeremiah 8:19), and it is written: “And the outcry of Jerusalem has risen up” (Jeremiah 14:2). Rabbi Luliani said: When the lesser heed the greater, but the greater do not bear the burden of the lesser, about them Scripture states: “The Lord will enter into judgment” (Isaiah 3:14). “The name of the man was Elimelekh” – when trouble came, you [Elimelekh] went and abandoned them: “A man from Bethlehem of Judah went” (Ruth 1:1).

19 (Numb. 16:31) “Then it came to pass, as soon as he had finished speaking […], that the ground under them was split apart”: [This is] to teach you He causes retribution to spring up from any place that He wants. (Numb. 16:33) “So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol”: Some say they are alive and preserved up to the present. (Ibid., cont.) “Then the earth closed over them”: They perished but not their offices; indeed, other were appointed captains of thousands and captains of hundreds in their stead. (Numb. 16:34) “Then all Israel […] fled at their cry”; since they cried out to Moses, “Moses our master, save us!” (Numb. 16:35) “And a fire went forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense”: These had been swallowed up, but those were burned; and Korah stood among those who were burned, as Moses had said (in Numb. 16:17), “you also and Aaron, each his censer.” Moreover, Korah received more [punishment] than all of them, in that he was [both] burned and swallowed up. And why were both sentences carried out against him? Because if he had been burned but not swallowed up, those who were swallowed up would have complained and said that though only Korah had brought retribution upon them, here they were being swallowed up while he escaped. But if he had been swallowed up and not burned, those who were burned would have complained and said, “Although only Korah brought this retribution upon us, here we are burned while he escaped.” For that reason he was condemned to both deaths. First, he was set ablaze in the sight of all who were being burned, in whose hand was the censer with the incense in it; and [then] the fire rolled him up like a ball. And the fire rolled him along until it brought him to the mouth of the earth among those being swallowed up, as stated (in Numb. 16:32), “And the earth opened its mouth […].”