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D'VAR
TORAH |
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You
Can’t Always Get What You Want*
Elyse
Frishman
"Now
Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself,
along with Dathan and Abiram . . . descendants of Reuben—to
rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty
Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the
assembly, men of repute. 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 Eternal is in their
midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the Eternal’s
congregation?’ "(Numbers 16:1–3).
Who were Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram? All had status of import: Korah was a
Levite, and Dathan and Abiram were from the tribe of Reuben,
the firstborn.
Each tribe had
been given its role, living in formation around the
Mishkan
toprotect one another from outside attack and be reminded of
the centrality of God and Torah. The Levites had special
privilege for the porterage of the Mishkan.
Each Levite clan had a specific task.
Moses and Aaron
themselves were Levites, set apart for their particular roles
as Prophet and High Priest. They were Kohathites; their father
Amram was a son of Kohath. Amram’s brother was Izhar; so Korah
was their first cousin. The Kohathites were given the most
prestigious task to care for the Mishkan’s
sacred items including the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers
4:1–20). The Kohathites were warned never to look upon these
objects, lest they gaze accidentally and be killed. Aaron and
his sons covered them before the Kohathites drew near. The
role of the Kohathites required great courage and careful
dedication to instruction.
As shared a few
weeks ago about Parashat
B’midbar, Rambam taught that when they
carried the Holy Ark, the Kohathites faced inward, away from
the outside world, (Hilchot Klei
HaMikdash 2:13). The men were to focus
entirely upon their task; they were not to be distracted by
the outside world, not even on the direction in which they
were moving; they were to devote all their attention to the
Ark.
For Korah, the
mitzvah to carry the Ark was onerous task, not a
privilege. He could not appreciate the importance of his own
essential role. He yearned for what he could not have—the
perceived power of Aaron and Moses—and rationalized their
destruction for his gain.
How was Korah able
to gather a cohort around him? Moses had just navigated the
people through two precipitous events—their betrayal of God in
refusing to enter the Promised Land, and the stoning to death
of the wood-gatherer who violated Shabbat (Numbers 15:32–36).
Hadn’t the people realized that Moses had saved them,
negotiating their punishment from immediate death to wandering
forty additional years?
Moses was
distraught when he learned of Korah’s betrayal. "When Moses
heard this, he fell on his face . . . (He said), "Hear me,
sons of Levi. Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel
has set you apart from the community of Israel and given
you direct access, to perform the duties of the Eternal’s
Tabernacle and to minister to the community and serve them?
Now that [God] has advanced you and all your fellow Levites
with you, do you seek the priesthood too? Truly, it is against
the Eternal that you and all your company have banded
together. For who is Aaron that you should rail against
him?"(Numbers 16:4, 8–11).
What made Korah
think that he deserved the priesthood and that God would
support him? Yet he plotted, certain of his righteousness. The
midrash notes that Korah had been "controller in Pharaoh’s
palace and was in charge of the keys of his treasury. The Holy
Blessed One said to him, 'What benefit do you derive from
this? You are not master over them’. . . (B’midbar
Rabbah 18:15). God perceived earlier
Korah’s quest for power. Korah confused privilege with
ownership.
The challenge not
to confuse privilege with ownership is timeless: to be
stewards of the earth and not reckless lords; to manage
employees, partners, and children with appreciation; to learn
and then fulfill the role that each of us plays in the work of
the world, without greed or envy.
Consider this
commentary on "The Israelites shall camp each man with his
standard, under the banners of their ancestral house; they
shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance,"(Numbers
2:2). The Sages focus on the concept of the individual
Israelite "each with his standard":
Every Jew must
know and think that he is unique in the world, and there was
never anyone exactly like him; had there been someone just
like him, there would have been no need for him. Indeed, every
single person is someone new in this world, and it is his duty
to improve all his ways until all Israel have
attained perfection.
(Bet Aharon,
mentioned in Itturei Torah,
vol. 5, compiled by Aharon Yaakov
Greenberg [Tel Aviv: Yavneh Publishing House, 1996], pp.
21–22)
We are unique; but
that awareness could lead to self-aggrandizement. So the
midrash reminds us of the weight of that honor: to improve
ourselves—not to improve each other. Indeed, it reminds us to
improve ourselves for the sake of one
another. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
taught: "Each person is created at a certain time, by God’s
plan, to fulfill a certain role in creation. Until a person is
created, he is not worthy of being in the world.
Unfortunately, each person must confess every year: 'Now that
I have been created, it is as if I had not been created’—I was
meant to fulfill a certain role, but have not managed to
fulfill it, so it is as if I was not created"(Olat
Ra’ayah, mentioned in Torah Gems,
Itturei Torah, vol. 3, complied by
Aharon Yaakov Greenberg [Tel Aviv: Yavneh Publishing House,
1992, pp. 16–17).
Korah illustrates
that aspect of ourselves that denies reality because we prefer
an alternative one. Discontent with our lot, we seek another,
not by looking within to change ourselves but by undermining
what is around us. We have an
adulterous affair, we abuse substances, we treat those we love
with indignation and arrogance, suggesting that our problems
or situation are their faults. "Why then do you raise
yourselves above the Eternal’s congregation?"(Numbers 16:3).
We state falsehood with such certainty that it seems true.
Abraham Joshua
Heschel taught: "Even more frustrating than the fact that evil
is real, mighty and tempting is the fact that it thrives so
well in the disguise of the good, that it can draw its
nutriment from the life of the holy. In this world, it seems,
the holy and the unholy do not exist apart, but are mixed,
interrelated and confounded,"(Abraham Joshua Heschel,
God
in Search of Man: A Philosophy of
Judaism, [New York: Harper and Row,
Publishers,1966], p. 369).
How easy it is to
confuse lust with love, greed with need, mere knowledge with
wisdom.
Let us understand
Aaron’s role in this encounter. Was Aaron known to the people
outside of his all-encompassing priestly role? His leadership
seemed to be defined by duty rather than vision; in this
sense, he was the consummate Levite. Yet, until now, the
Israelites had never truly experienced Aaron outside of his
very-defined priestly duties.
Five earlier
episodes illustrate aspects of Aaron that the Israelites may
or may not have witnessed. First, Aaron somehow left
Egypt and met Moses
on his way back from the Burning Bush, accompanying him back
to Pharaoh. Second, confronting Pharaoh with Moses, Aaron
performed the first plagues yet took no credit for his
efforts. Did the slaves ever learn that it was Aaron, as God’s
and Moses’s agent, who turned the waters to blood and brought
frogs upon the land? Third, during the attack of the
Amalekites, Aaron helped Moses to keep his arms upraised so
the people would prevail. Fourth, his building the Golden Calf
revealed a hand that was neither deterrent nor evidence of
leadership. Finally, his reaction to the death of his sons was
hidden and private, happening during the period of ordination
that allowed him no formal or public mourning. (Was Korah, a
cousin, aware of this tragedy)?
Aaron and Korah
were opposites: one the humble embodiment of duty, the other a
jealous seeker of power.
". . . Moses said to Aaron,
'Take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the altar. Add
incense and take it quickly to the community and make
expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from the Eternal:
the plague has begun!’ Aaron took it, as Moses had ordered,
and ran to the midst of the congregation, where the plague had
begun among the people. He put on the incense and made
expiation for the people; he stood between the dead and the
living until the plague was checked,"(Numbers
17:11–13).
Aaron went into
their midst, whispering words of comfort and consolation,
gently swinging the incense, dissipating the ether of death
with the soothing fragrance of the Mishkan.
Until now he was titular High Priest. Like Moses, his
figurehead was frightening and awesome; the human Aaron was
unknown to them. But suddenly, his compassion and courage were
manifest. The people healed. God’s High Priest became
their High
Priest.
So, too, the
loving people in our lives are willing to walk among those of
us who are damaged, trying to heal us, even when their own
lives have been deeply wounded by us.
Perhaps his action
brought the people an insight about themselves. To be God’s
people meant to take risks, to walk among the dying and bring
them back to life, to enter the Land even when afraid.
Earlier at Sinai,
God named the Israelites an am s’gulah,
"a treasured people."It was conditional
on Torah observance: "Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully
and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession
among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, but you
shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,"(Exodus
19:5–6). The Israelites were to be loyal and dutiful. Thus
far, they were neither. It’s no surprise then that they could
be drawn to another defier, Korah, who, if he had succeeded,
would have undermined all divine authority. Aaron’s action
said: "I am a Levite whose eyes are never distracted from the
truest duties of the Mishkan, to
serve God by serving you. I forgive your challenge of me. I
love you."And his action became a prayer, averting further
destruction.
Thus taught
Hillel: "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and
pursuing it, loving your fellow creatures and drawing them
near to Torah,"(Pirkei Avot
1:12).
* "You Can’t
Always Get What You Want,"Let It
Bleed, written by Mick Jagger and Keith
Richards, 1969
Rabbi
Elyse Frishman is the spiritual
leader of The Barnert
Temple in
Franklin
Lakes, New
Jersey. She is the editor
of Mishkan T'filah,
A Reform Siddur.
DAVAR ACHER
|
![Davar Acher]()
Challenging
God
David N.
Young
Throughout the
Bible, God is challenged. Abraham challenges God. Pharaoh
challenges God. Jezebel challenges God. The Israelites
constantly challenge God.
What is it that
distinguishes these challenges and God’s responses to them?
Parashat
Korach gives us a little insight. We
read of four different challenges this week, and four levels
of response. Korah bands with Dathan and Abiram against Moses
and Aaron. The Israelites gather against Moses and Aaron.
Moses and Aaron beseech God not to destroy the entire
community. The chieftains of Israel accept the
challenge God puts forth for the right to be in the Divine
Presence.
Korah’s rebellion
is the most severe. As Jacob Milgrom points out, Korah and his
band are "demoralized by the majority report of the scouts and
condemned by their God to die in the wilderness"(The JPS Torah
Commentary, Numbers [Philadelphia: The
Jewish Publication Society, 1990] p. 129). They are angry, and
perhaps jealous of their cousin Moses, and they express their
anger by inciting the community. Even our typically humble
Moses denounces the revolt, telling Korah rav
lachem, "You have gone too far,"echoing
Korah’s his own words from a few verses earlier (Numbers 16:3,
7). The people of the Korahite rebellion are utterly
destroyed, either sent to Sheol or burned to ash by fire from
God.
When the
Israelites rebel as a community, they do so out of fear. They
have just seen 250 of their religious leaders die, and they
are afraid that it is because of Moses and Aaron and this
invisible God they are following around the wilderness. God
sees this as punishable by death, but Moses and Aaron
intervene, challenging God to reconsider punishing them with
the same ferocity as Korah. God does reconsider, and the
reaction to the Israelites is modified. When the chieftains
accept God’s challenge, none are punished because God sets the
terms. Their acceptance shows a willingness to adhere to the
results of the challenge. Their staffs do not sprout, and only
Aaron is given the right to be in the Ohel Mo-eid the
"Tent of Meeting.”
God can take a
challenge, but not every confrontation is equal. The
difference is in the intent of the challenger. If we are
acting out of anger, jealousy, or fear, we are demonstrating a
lack of faith in God’s leadership and ability to protect us.
If we put forth a challenge out of a desire to change the
world for the better, perhaps God will regard our request. Our
greatest hope of this comes when we challenge ourselves to
become better versions of ourselves. May these challenges help
us to nurture our communities to fuller Jewish lives.
Rabbi
David N. Young is the assistant
rabbi at Temple
Sinai of North Dade
in Miami,
Florida. He lives
in Sunrise, Florida
with his wife Cantor Natalie Young and their two sons Gabriel
and Alexander. |
