Topics in this digest: Parsha Korach
by Rabbi Dr. Barry Leff
At the heart of this week’s parsha is the story of the rebellion of
Korach.
Our modern sensibilities are troubled by this story. What was the grave
offense for which Korach and his followers were killed?
At the beginning of the episode of the rebellion, Korach says: “You take
too much on yourselves; the entire congregation is holy, every one of
them, and God is among them. Why do you raise yourselves above the
congregation of the Lord?”
Korach sounds like he’s speaking up because of what appears to be an
egregious usurpation of power on the part of Moses and Aaron. Korach in
fact sounds like he’s speaking out on behalf of democracy.
Even Rashi, ever the commentator to rally to the side of the righteousness
of God and virtues of Moses, suggests this. Rashi says that Korach’s
point that the entire congregation is holy is because everyone heard the
words at Sinai from the mouth of God; God didn’t speak only to the two of
you alone, and Rashi brings proof from the text in Exodus that says “all
the congregation heard.”
The classical commentator Ibn Ezra points out that when Korach charged
that Moses and Aaron elevated themselves, he was referring to their
positions, the loftiest of possible offices: Aaron was the high priest,
and Moses, as the teacher of Aaron, was even higher than Aaron.
None of the commentators says that the accusations of Korach were wrong.
They even support Korach’s assertions as to the holiness of the whole
congregation, and the high station to which Moses and Aaron were
elevated—or seemed to elevate themselves.
So what was Korach’s sin??
Korach violated commandment number ten of the ten commandments. The
commandment against coveting. Korach and his followers coveted: they were
deeply, seriously, envious of the high position that Moses and Aaron held.
Many commentators say that the commandment not to covet is only violated
when you actually do something wrong. It’s not enough to just think
coveting thoughts, you need to do something. So what did Korach do? He
just brought up a question, started an argument. Arguing is clearly an OK
thing to do, not just arguing with people, but even arguing with God is OK
in Judaism.
When God was ready to wipe out the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham
argued with God. He asked God whether it was right to punish the
righteous along with the wicked. He stood up for the innocent people that
might be killed. So we can clearly see that arguing per se is not a bad
thing to do.
To understand what made Korach’s argument a bad thing, we need to turn to
the Mishnah, in Pirkei Avot (chapter 5) we learn: Every argument that is
in the name of heaven will be established in the end. And those that are
not in the name of heaven will not be established in the end. What is an
argument that is in the name of heaven? The arguments of Hillel and
Shammai. And one that is NOT in the name of heaven? This is the argument
of Korach and his followers.
Why is Korach’s argument NOT one in the name of heaven? Because he was
advancing a selfish cause. He wasn’t protesting because of the injustice
to other people. He was protesting because he wanted to inflate his own
position. He was jealous.
How do we know that the arguments of Hillel and Shammai are in the name of
heaven? The Talmud (Eiruvin 13b) records how for three years there was a
dispute running between the schools of Hillel and Shammai. The disciples
of Shammai would say “the halacha, the law, follows our opinion,” and
disciples of Hillel would say, “no, the halacha follows OUR opinion.”
After three years of going back and forth with no resolution, a heavenly
voice called out: eilu v’eilu divrei Elokim chayim, these and those are
the words of the living God, (but the halachah is in agreement with the
rulings of Beth Hillel).
What is it that makes both opinions words of God? How can we accomplish
this goal of having our words be words of the living God?
In Pirkei Avot Rabbi (Yehuda ha Nasi) says: Make your desires God’s
desires, so that God will fulfill your desires as if they were His own.
Subjugate your wishes to God’s wishes, so that he will subjugate the
wishes of others to yours.
In other words, if your goal is to do God’s will, God will do what you
want!
After I’d been following halacha, Jewish law, in a serious way for a while
I ran into a conflict, where two halachic principles seemed to conflict
with each other. I asked myself “what would God want me to do?” I then
felt uneasy about asking the question. I came up with all sorts of
reasons to back away from it. Who am I to ask God directly? Shouldn’t I
go by what the rabbis say? How can I tell what God would really want?
And the toughest one: how do I avoid fooling myself?
After much thought, I’ve concluded that asking “what would God want me to
do?” Is actually a very good question to ask. But it comes with a couple
of caveats:
1) It’s not a substitute for studying Torah. In general the way we Jews
learn what God wants of us is through study and learning. Our tradition
can provide guidance on all sorts of situations, from issues we encounter
at the beginning of life to issues we encounter at the end of life, and
everything in between. But sometimes, we encounter situations where two
principles from the tradition conflict with each other. In those
situations, asking what God would want can be very helpful.
2) You have to be REALLY honest with yourself: you can’t simply say, “well
God would want me to be happy;” you have to remember that while God
probably does not mind if you are happy, God certainly would NOT want your
happiness to come at the expense of the happiness of another one of God’s
creatures. And even though we don’t understand the reason behind the
different rules that God gave us, like observing Shabbat, Rambam tells us
we can take it on faith that God gave us those rules for our benefit.
Next time you find yourself in an argument, or in a situation of some
moral amibiguity, pause to ask yourself “What would God want me to do?”
You just may find a way to make your will God’s will, and thereby make
your argument one that is for the sake of heaven, and thereby avoid
falling into a pit (whether it’s one of God’s making, or one of your own
making).
Shabbat Shalom
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