RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH INTERFAITH WEDDINGS: CO-OFFICIATE: PALMETTO BLUFF, SC

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH INTERFAITH WEDDINGS: CO-OFFICIATE: PALMETTO BLUFF, SC

 

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: CHUMASH CANDESCENCE: PARASHA KORACH: NUMBERS 16:01-18:32


CHUMASH CANDESCENCE
PARASHA KORACH
NUMBERS 16:01-18:32
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

"Burn, Baby, Burn!"

This week's Torah portion tells the story of Korach and the rebellion of
Korach's followers against Moses and Aaron. They fail, of course. Some
are swallowed up by the earth, some die from a plague, others are burned
alive. God then "proves" through a "miracle" involving the rod of Aaron
growing almond buds that the priesthood belongs to Aaron's progeny
forever. God also gives more laws regarding the tasks and duties of the
Levites. The Levites are firmly reestablished as being secondary to the
Kohanim. Laws concerning first born sons, fruits, and animals are also
given to establish each Israelite's duties to God via the priests. The
priests are given the rights to 24 special gifts that the Israelites will
continually owe them.

Traditionally, Nachmanides and Rabbi Ebn Ezra agree that this revolt
happened about one year after the Exodus from Egypt. Ebn Ezra says Korach
revolted after the inauguration of the Mishkan, the desert Tabernacle.
This is when Aaron and his sons were designated to replace the firstborn
as the only ones who could perform the service of the sacrifices. Korach
was a firstborn and a first cousin of Moses and Aaron. He was angry and
jealous. Nachmanides however states the event took place after the "12
spies" story. He states that  the people were upset over God's decree
that they would die in the desert. Korach took advantage of the low
morale to lead a rebellion. The Talmud teaches in Tractate Pesachim 6B
that the Torah does not always follow chronological order. Ebn Ezra
relies on this to support his claim. Nachmanides disagrees.

The critical-theory biblical scholars believe that this parasha is
actually two stories of two similar rebellions. One is of Korach
revolting against Aaron and the priestly succession, which is also
reviewed in Numbers 27:03. The other is of two of the co-conspirators
(Dathan and Abiram), who planned a political coup against Moses to which
Deuteronomy 11:06 and Psalm 106:17 refer. Some students of Torah say that
this event occurred not one year after the Exodus, but 38 years later.

This d'var starts with what may seem to some to be Talmudic hair-
splitting. This is being done for a reason. Jews have a tradition of
being able to disagree on many of the most fundamental of issues. The
rabbis teach in Pirkei Avot (5:20) that "any dispute that is for the sake
of Heaven will have a constructive outcome; but one that is not for the
sake of Heaven will not have a constructive outcome. What sort of
dispute was for the sake of Heaven? The dispute between Shammai  and
Hillel. And what was not for the sake of Heaven? The dispute of Korach
and his entire assembly."

Hillel  and Shammai  would argue over so many points, even as to which way
to light the Hanukiah. But they always addressed each other politely.
Their children married each other (Tractate Yevomot 14B). One did not
call another one less of a Jew. The Talmud in Tractate Eruvin 13B records
that while Hillel's views won most of the time, "the utterances of both
are the words of the living God."

The Midrash records Korach arguing with Moses quite differently. He had
his followers dress in four-cornered garments made totally out of
turquoise wool that had been died with the techeilet coloring that is
used for the blue thread in the Tzitzit fringe. He would then confront
Moses and derisively ask if an all-techeilet  garment still needed
fringes with a single thread of blue in its tzitzit. Moses answered yes,
and Korach publicly scoffed at him. Korach was really asking if the
entire people was holy and a kingdom of priests, why should Aaron and his
sons be priests alone. Korach also asked if a mezuzah (containing part of
the Torah) was needed on the door of a storage room full of Torahs.
Please remember this Midrash as we will refer to it later.

The Hebrew word for a quarrel not done for the sake of Heaven is
makloket. Judaism regards divisiveness as one of its gravest sins. The
Midrash Bamidbar Rabba  (11:07) says that the tension caused by
quarreling, along with its allegations, incriminations, lashon  ha ra,
and snubbing undermines the harmony of creation. Our word for peace is
Shalom. Its root word (shalem) means "complete and whole." We ask for a
r'fua  shlema, a complete healing, for our ill friends and loved ones.
We need to be cooperative and respectful to one another in order to
achieve real peace.

We Jews are constantly praying for peace but do we truly seek it in our
daily lives? We all love swaying to the folk tune of Henay Ma Tov U. But
do we really reflect on the words from Psalm 133:01? "How good and
pleasant it is for brothers to sit peacefully together." We ask for
peace numerous times in the thrice daily prayer the Amidah. Our Grace
after meals ends with a prayer for Shalom as well as our priestly
blessings. Shalom is one of the names of God. Shalom is even the last
word of the Talmud. In our parasha Moses exposed himself to continued
insult for the sake of peace. Even though Dathan and Aviram were part of
the rebellion , Moses gives them a chance to back out. They refused, but
Moses tried for the sake of peace.

There was a third conspirator mentioned by name along with Korach, Dathan
and Aviram in Numbers 16:01. This is "On, son of Pelet." There is a cute
Midrash to explain what happened to On. His life was saved by his wife.
Mrs. On found out about her husband's plan to join the rebellion. So she
got him drunk and he feel asleep. She then sat in front of their tent
immodestly with her hair down. When Korach came to the tent to summon
him, they saw Mrs. On dressed immodestly and they decided to leave
without On. Therefore On did not participate in the rebellion and did not
die with the others. Why is the showing of a traditional Jewish woman's
hair considered immodest? The rabbis of course have the answer in
Tractate Eruvin  100B. "Since a woman (Eve) caused Adam to sin, thus
bringing death upon humanity, married women cover themselves like
mourners." Rashi states that this means that women should be ashamed to
go out with their hair uncovered. So that you do not think the Midrashic
rabbis have gone "soft" on women, they do write that it was Mrs. Korach
who nagged her husband into rebelling.

Jews are most certainly allowed to have well-intentioned controversy. The
Talmud teaches "just as no two faces are exactly alike, likewise no two
opinions are exactly alike." Any trip to a Yeshiva will show Talmud
students yelling at each other to make a point. However our Torah
portion this week has a mitzvah which is parallel in importance to the
one asking us to love our fellow as our self. Numbers 17:05 commands us
"Do not be like Korach." The Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin 110A states
that this is a prohibition against makloket. The Talmud states in
Tractate Yoma  9B that the second Temple was destroyed because Jews had
baseless hatred ( sinat chinam  ) toward each other. The Kabbalistic Zohar
states that Korach quarreled not with Moses or Aaron but with peace
itself and "he who quarrels with peace quarrels with the Holy Name."

Korach argued with Moses because he was jealous. He says that Moses had
"taken too much for" himself (Num. 16:3). He claimed Moses and Aaron had
unfairly seized the leadership roles. Korach recruited 250 men who were
also jealous. Datan and Aviram were from the tribe of Reuben. Reuben was
the first born of Jacob. As first-born they felt they should have
received a double portion of land as well as the rights to the priesthood
over their brothers, the Levites. They were swallowed up by the earth.
This is literally what the Mishna warns of in Pirkei Avot (4:21) when it
states "Jealously, desire and pride take a man out of the world."

The Talmud in Tractate Bava Batra 74A states that Rabbah bar Bar-Chana
said that when he traveled in the desert an Arab merchant took him to the
place where Korach and his men died. There was a crevice in the earth and
you could hear Korach say "Moses and his Torah are true, and we were
liars."

 

Tractate Rosh Hashanah 17A tells of what happens when sinful
Jews go to hell. They go to Gehinnom (hell) for 12 months. Their bodies
and souls are burned. And the winds scatter their ashes under the souls
of the righteous. But, the Talmud also reports what happens to those who
deny that God gave Torah and the Talmud. They roast in hell but never
get burned. Even when Gehinnom is destroyed they will still roast and
never be consumed. Talmud Sanhedrin chapter 11 which states that "all
Jews, and the righteous of all nations, have a share in the World to
Come" but that Korach will not (Sanhedrin 108A). But the Kabballah holds
that not ONE soul will ever be lost because in the future all evil will
be destroyed. At this time all souls will merit resurrection of the dead
and live in the World to Come.

The Talmud describes Korach as wealthy (Sanhedrin 27B). The Sefer Etzot
states that Korach was humiliated by Moses when he had his head shaved
for Levitical service. The Hebrew word Korach means "bald." The Midrash
points out similarities between Cain and Korach. Both had blind
self-destructive jealousy. The earth swallows up the blood of Abel (Gen.
4:11) and swallows up Korach (Num. 16:32). Korach was not a "nobody." The
Midrash states he was the one entrusted to carry the Holy Ark of the
Torah and that he was "exceedingly wise." He was a manipulative
demagogue.

The Midrash states that Korach's jealousy began when his cousin, Elzafan
ben Uziel was made head of the Kehat family of Levites. Kehat was
Korach's grandfather. Kehat was the father of Amrom and hence also the
grandfather of Moses and Aaron . Kehat had two other sons after Amrom.
First Yizhar and then Uziel. Korach was the son of Yizhar and was next in
line after Moses and Aaron for appointment. But the son of Yizhar
(Korach) was skipped over for the son of Uziel ( Elzafan). God may have
made the selection, but Korach held Moses responsible for suggesting this
to God.

We as humans tend to get jealous over the silliest things. The Ramchal of
16th century Italy recognized that jealousy has its place. King Solomon
taught in Ecclesiastes that there is a time and a place for everything.
It we see our neighbor doing well and we too become motivated this is
good, he wrote. The rabbis recognized this when they wrote in Tractate
Bava Batra 75B, "everyone is burned by his neighbor's canopy."

If Korach is so bad, the Midrash asks, why is an entire Parasha named
after him? As we mentioned above, his name means "bald." It connotes
division; creating a bald spot between two factions where previously
their had been unity and peace. Rambam writes that the Torah "was given
to make peace in the world." The Midrash asks again, "why should a
portion of the Torah be called by a name that suggests divisiveness?" The
opening words of the this week's portion (Num. 16:01) are
"Korach...took." The Targum translation of the Torah is
"Korach...divided." This is compared to the division God made on the
second day where it is traditionally believed that He divided the waters
with a firmament.

Korach saw the priesthood as an elevation. He saw a hierarchy and a
division between the priests and the people. He saw everyone as equally
holy and complained that he and others had just as much right to the
priesthood as Aaron and his sons. While his motives were not pure, his
concept was. He perhaps envisioned a time when every Jew was able to
pray directly to God again the way the Patriarchs did. Maybe Korach was
able to forecast a time when the Temple and Priesthood would be no more,
and that peace and union with God would come through prayer and good
works. Perhaps this is a lesson the sages were trying to teach when they
named the Parasha after Korach.

Numbers 26:11 states that Korach's sons did not die. Since Numbers 16:32
says that all of his followers were swallowed up by the earth, we can
assume that his sons were not part of the rebellion. They are recorded as
authors of Psalms. The Midrash states that the Prophet Samuel was a
descendant. They were honored to be able to sing in the Temple. They
were not the superstars of the Temple drama. They were happy to be in the
background and let the priests get the spotlight. Ironically little is
mentioned of Moses' children in the Torah or the Midrash. Rashi suggests
that maybe Korach knew the future of his sons and since they would be
great, he wanted to be great also. His descendant Samuel is ironically
supportive of the Kings of Israel. He anoints both our first king, Saul
and David, our second king. The theme of this week's Haftarah is "behold,
God has set a king over you...and you will not rebel "(Samuel 12: 13-14).

But rebellion on an intellectual level has always been a hallmark of
Judaism. It has allowed our religion to grow and adapt. The Talmud itself
changed Torah laws, albeit via legal fictions. The Talmud in Tractate
Moed Katan 16B states that God asks "I reign over man, but who reigns
over Me?" God answers His own question by saying "The righteous ones.
Because when I issue an edict, the righteous ones can overrule Me." In
Tractate Bava Metzia 59B, Rabbi Elazer and Rabbi Yehoshua are arguing
over a point of Jewish law (halakah). A Bat Kol (Heavenly voice) says
that Elazer  was correct. Yehoshua  jumps up and says that the law is no
longer in Heaven. Rabbi Yirmiah explains "the Torah was already given on
Mt. Sinai and heaven no longer has authority. The Torah states 'follow
the majority (Ex. 23:2).'" Later Rabbi Noson ,the Talmud reports, asks
Elijah the long-dead prophet what God said when Rabbi Yehoshua made his
statement?" Elijah said that God smiled and joyously  exclaimed "My
children have overruled Me, My children have overruled Me."

The rationale that the Talmudic rabbis used to give themselves permission
to amend the law is derived from Deuteronomy 32:07. This passage
instructs the Israelites to abide by the Torah as taught to them by their
sages. An amendment is called a gezira, a decree of the wise. It is
limited by a ruling that states that "a gezira is not decreed unless most
of the people can support it." This begs the question: Who are the
"wise?" Traditionally we read in the Mishna that Moses taught Joshua,
Joshua taught the Elders, who taught the Prophets, who taught the Men of
the Great Assembly. We traditionally believe that this Assembly was a
group of 120 sages at the time of the Second Temple. We are taught that
Mordechai, Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi were all members.
Historians claim that this Assembly never existed.

Traditionally rabbis who study with rebbes are granted a laying-on of
hands called "Semikah." This implies that their teaching is transmitted
through the generations over 3500 years from the mouth of Moses without
error to them. Since we cannot verify the existence of the great
Assembly, we most assume that the Talmudic rabbis were indeed learned,
but many had their positions due to wealth, politics and nepotism. The
frankness of the Talmud shows them all to be human and some with many
human frailties. The first editors of the Talmud were called savora'im
(reasoners). The did not do things blindly. They thought, they debated,
they made decisions and they made changes.

One of the human frailties that some of Talmudic rabbis had was a fierce
protection of their status. The were protective of their authority and
their right to decide who was awarded semikah ordination. In modern
business terms, it was their franchise. Talmud Tractate Eruvin  63B
states that if one renders a halachic (law) decision in the presence of
his rabbi, he is punished by dying without children. Tractate Sanhedrin
110A equates one who challenges, quarrels with, or even thinks ill about
his rabbi with one who challenges God Himself. Such an act is on the
level of idolatry and punishable by death.

Centuries later Maimonides combined his studies of Aristotle, Ptolemy,
Galen and Hippocrates with his Judaic studies and produced a reworking of
the Talmud called the Mishna Torah. It swept the Jewish world. But it
also caused protest among the scholars who declared he had no Semikah.
The Rambam was "just" a doctor who was the court physician to the Sultan.
He was called an "upstart." He dared to answer questions that the
Talmudic rabbis left unanswered. He laid down laws of Judaism and amended
many without asking the "authorities." He quoted "idolaters" in his
books. He showed his students where the rabbis had erred. 1000 years ago
Maimonides was considered too radical a "reformer" and had a decree of
Jewish excommunication placed on him. Would anyone today dare to say the
great Rambam  was performing makloket that was not for the sake of
Heaven?

Rabbi Israel Salanter, founder of the Ethical Mussar movement of 19th
century Europe, wrote that "all valid attempts to reconstruct what God
told Moses are subsumed under the title of "Torah," including the
opinions that are ultimately nullified." The Maharal of Prague (Rabbi
Yahudah Loewe) posited that "nothing is black and white at any time." The
Kabballists wrote that all souls were present at Mt. Sinai. They received
the word of God through 49 different conduits. "Every individual
perceived God's word according to his own grasp of things, and according
to the capacity of his soul. One could be at one extreme. A second could
be at an opposite extreme. "A third would reach a middle ground. Yet all
is Truth. All is Torah. Understand this."

The major principle that kept our religion as a non stagnant developing
philosophy of life is the idea of "acharei rabim le hatot" which is
following the majority opinion in matters of dispute. Rabbi Yannai in the
Talmud stated "the majority is to be followed--when a majority says it is
unclean, it is unclean; when a majority says it is clean, it is clean."

In the early 1800's Jewish leaders, for the sake of Heaven, wanted to
preserve our people in response to the Enlightenment of Europe. Jews were
no longer subjects but voluntary members of the Jewish community. Many
chose to leave it. Some chose to convert to Christianity. Most became lax
in their religious observance.

Enlightened Jewish leaders attempted to counter these forces with
religious reform. They modeled themselves after the German protestant
reformation. They wanted to rid our religion of any ritual that would
mark us as "superstitious aliens." They revised the synagogue service to
make it "more dignified and rational." They renamed our houses of worship
as "temples" and abrogated the messianic dream of the Temple being
rebuilt in Jerusalem. Some wished to do away with Kosher laws and rules
against intermarriage. The first Reform Temple opened in 1818 in Hamburg,
Germany with prayers in German instead of Hebrew.

New scholarship in Judaism occurred. Documentation that showed that
Jewish rituals and rites were constantly changing over time was
discovered and allowed to be discussed. Jewish excommunications such as
those that happened to De Costa and Spinoza in Amsterdam no longer
threatened modern-thinking rabbis. All of these changes were done to help
Judaism survive. None were done to promote makloket or quarreling.

In 1885, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the conference of the Reform
Jewish movement, Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler presented a position paper with
"ten propositions." He stated that "we can no longer be blind to the fact
that Mosaic-Rabbinic Judaism, as based on Law and Tradition, has actually
and irrevocably lost its hold on the modern Jew... Judaism is historical
growth...We must accentuate and define what is essential and vital amidst
its ever-changing forms and ever-fluctuating conditions." He helped pass
the Pittsburgh platform which dismissed "such Mosiac and Rabbinic laws as
regulate diet, priestly purity and dress" as anachronisms that can only
obstruct spirituality in the modern age. Reform Judaism accepted as
binding only the moral laws of Judaism and only those rituals that
"elevate and sanctify our lives."

The Reform rabbis reaffirmed the belief in a monotheistic God and a
commitment to ethics and social justice. They wished to promote
activities in furthering the Messianic age in which all people will
acknowledge the one God and establish an era of "truth and righteousness
among men." If any of us read this with an unprejudiced eye, does this
sound like a disagreement for the sake of Heaven like Hillel and Shammai
had two millennia ago or does it sound like that of Korach, based on
jealousy?

Reform Judaism along with Conservative , Reconstructionist , Spiritual and Renewal Judaism has
helped keep Judaism alive the world over. Yet there are those who are
being taught, against the long standing traditions of our people, that
we in the above movements are not Jews. There are those that are taught
there is only one correct way of Judaism and anyone not following that
was is deluding themselves. Worse yet, liberal Jews are labeled
Apikorit--apostates. And the Torah states that apostates should be
killed.

 

So it comes as no surprise that a few years back two synagogues in
Jerusalem were vandalized with arson by Ultra right wing Orthodox Jews.

One was a Conservative synagogue,
the other Messianic. Prime Minister Barak called the attacks "a horrible
deed, that every Jew should deplore." Even the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
Israel Lau said that the "plague of violence between movements must
end."

As mentioned above, we are commanded "not to be like Korach" and not
spend our time like little school children quarreling. Nothing is ever
totally "black or white" in Judaism because no one can truly say they
know the mind of God. We do know that baseless hatred is wrong, whether
it be among different organizations of Jews or individuals. It is a
chillul ha Shem , a desecration of God's name. We are all God's children
and all the movements  of Judaism are trying to do what they think will
help bring people closer to God, to each other and to our past, in order
that we will continue to have a present and a future.

We need to recall that even the great prophet Isaiah was punished with
death for slandering the Jewish people by stating that "he sits among a
people of impure lips." The the Book of Isaiah reports that after he
said this, an angel came with a hot coal to burn these words off of his
lips. The Talmud explains that he word for glowing coal, vimaw, is a
contraction of the word, vi otmaw, which means "break the mouth of the
one who slandered My people."

Do you recall the Midrash that was quoted above which I asked you to
remember? It was about how Korach quizzed Moses about the need for a
mezuzah on the door of a room full of Torah scrolls. Let me please tell
you of a "modern Midrash" from the 20th century concerning this story. It
is told in some black-hatted traditional circles that the slogan of the
Reform movement in Germany was "Yehudi beveitecha ve'adam beteitecha--be
a true Jew at home, but on the outside be a person like everyone else."
Similarly Korach said of the Jewish people "Kal ha'eida kulam
kedoshim--the entire community is holy." Korach also said "uvetocham
HaShem--and God is among them (Num. 16:03)." This modern Midrash
explains that Korach meant that the Jews were all holy since they had God
"betocham--in their hearts." He asserted that it is sufficient to be a
good Jew on the "inside" without openly showing it on the outside. Hence,
some traditionalists believe, that the Rabbis of the Reform movement are
like Korach and they and their followers deserve the same punishment.

Sadly the chasm that divides the ultra-orthodox and the Reform is so
wide, that many Reform Jews would not find the charge that they are like
Korach much of an insult. On the contrary, many modern Jews would happily
identify with the aforementioned ideas contributed to Korach, that is it
sufficient to be a good Jew on the inside without showing it on the
outside. Most modern Jews would agree that one need not flaunt one's
Judaism by wearing identifiable Jewish garb outside of the synagogue,
such as kipah (skull cap) or tzitzit (fringes) flowing from one's
trousers.

That these two synagogue arsons occurred in Jerusalem is another irony in
the history of our people. One translation of the city's name means
"peace will be seen (yeru- shalom)." Please join me in a berachah that
"God bless us all with the patience and sensitivity to avoid destructive
arguments and accord proper respect to all. Please help us heal the
divides that rip our people apart from each other and from You." Amen.

Shabbat Shalom,
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

If visiting SC's Low Country, contact us for a Shabbat meal, in our home by the sea, our beth yam.

 

Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!

 

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