Friday services – Parashat Korah
Chaverim/ Dear Congregants,
We would love you all to join us tonight, Friday June 20 at 7pm for our inspiring Kabalat Shabbat services.
Sunday at the JCC, there is another in the popular summer Splash Bashes! The event is free and open to the community. There will be kosher food for purchase, sno-cones, swimming and bouncy water slides! We hope you can bring your familes.
Sunday afternoon June 22, at 3:30 pm at Beth El we continue our journey exploring the rich culture, religion and heritage of the Jewish people with Cantor Ben-Moshe and his wonderful Intro to Judaism class.
Our next Saturday morning services are in a week’s time, Saturday, June 28.
We wish you a peaceful Shabbat and we pray, along with the Jewish community in Israel and worldwide, for the safe and speedy return of our three kidnapped boys in Israel, Naftali Fraenkel (16), Gilad Shaar (16) and Eyal Yifrah (19).
Hazzan Ben-Moshe’s Weekly message:
This week’s parshah, Korah, deals with a serious challenge to the leadership of Moshe and Aharon-their cousin, Korah, challenges them for the religious leadership of the People of Israel, while Dathan and Aviram of the tribe of Re’uven claim political primacy. While the rebels cloak their rebellion in high-sounding words, saying that all of the People are holy, so who are Moshe and Aharon to claim leadership-it is clear that their real motivation is a sense of entitlement. Korah feels entitled to leadership because, as the Midrash tells us, he is the richest of all the Israelites (“as rich as Korah” is a common phrase in Hebrew even today). Dathan and Aviram seem to think that because they are descended from Re’uven, Ya’acov’s first-born, that leadership is theirs by right. This sort of thinking is dangerous, of course. No one is inherently entitled to leadership, but rather one becomes a leader (ideally) because of one’s talents. Furthermore, leadership should only be taken up for the right reasons. As Rabban Gamliel son of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi would say, “Let all who work for the community do so for the sake of Heaven, and thus the merit of their ancestors will aid them and their righteousness will endure forever”. (Pirkei Avoth, 2:2). May all who exercise authority do so for the sake of Heaven, and not out of a sense of entitlement. Shabbat Shalom
Weekly Torah Portion from Rabbi Peter Tarlow of Texas A&M Center for Crypto Judaism.
This week’s Torah portion is one of the Bible’s most interesting sections. It is also perhaps one of its most relevant to our modern world. Called Korach after the name of the failed coup d’état’s leader, you will find it in the Book of Numbers 16:1-18:30.
In this week’s portion we read about Korach’s attempt to overthrow Moses. Korach comes close to bringing the nation to a state of civil war. As in all revolutions, Korach bases his revolt around an ideology that at first appears to be “fair” but upon deeper reflection we soon discover that his policies would lead to anything but fairness. Korach’s argument is based around the principal that: “col ha’edah culam kdoshim/all of the members of the community are holy”. At first Korach’s proposition appears to be reasonable, but upon further examination we soon discover that it is political theater that in which not only are all people are presumed to have the same skills, but talent is sacrificed to expediency
Korach supposedly fought for social and power redistribution. Yet if we read his words carefully it becomes clear that what Korach was really suggesting was a return to anarchy. In Korach’s world there would be no difference between equity and equality. In other words, Korach wanted a world in which to excel is to be unfair to others; a world in which life would be lived at the level of the lowest denominator, and where creativity should be replaced by conformity. His statement that we are all holy demonstrates the fallacy in his thought. To be holy is to be special; if all are holy then none are holy. That is the reason that we derive the Hebrew word for holy (kadosh) from the root K-d-Sh meaning to “set apart”. From this same root we derive words such as Kiddush, the prayer over wine and kiddushin meaning marriage. In all cases we make something holy, special, by setting it apart.
The Bible tells us that Moses’ and G’d’s reaction to Korach’s revolt was swift and precise, the social cancer would be totally eliminated. Is the Torah teaching us that unless we fight a war to win it, then it is better not be involved? Is the text teaching us that leaders who live in a world of the make-believe or “shoulds”, rather than in the world of “is” in the long run cause more harm than good? Does this week’s parashah teach us that the consequences of a leader’s mistakes are visited upon the innocent and the guilty alike?
The text clearly does not mean to imply that G’d was pleased by the innocent shedding of blood, but rather it is teaching us that: leaders must be extremely careful in what they do and do not do, that we must be wise enough to look beyond the political rhetoric and realize that words unexamined may lead to tragedies that impact generations to come.
In this week’s portion we read about Korach’s attempt to overthrow Moses. Korach comes close to bringing the nation to a state of civil war. As in all revolutions, Korach bases his revolt around an ideology that at first appears to be “fair” but upon deeper reflection we soon discover that his policies would lead to anything but fairness. Korach’s argument is based around the principal that: “col ha’edah culam kdoshim/all of the members of the community are holy”. At first Korach’s proposition appears to be reasonable, but upon further examination we soon discover that it is political theater that in which not only are all people are presumed to have the same skills, but talent is sacrificed to expediency
Korach supposedly fought for social and power redistribution. Yet if we read his words carefully it becomes clear that what Korach was really suggesting was a return to anarchy. In Korach’s world there would be no difference between equity and equality. In other words, Korach wanted a world in which to excel is to be unfair to others; a world in which life would be lived at the level of the lowest denominator, and where creativity should be replaced by conformity. His statement that we are all holy demonstrates the fallacy in his thought. To be holy is to be special; if all are holy then none are holy. That is the reason that we derive the Hebrew word for holy (kadosh) from the root K-d-Sh meaning to “set apart”. From this same root we derive words such as Kiddush, the prayer over wine and kiddushin meaning marriage. In all cases we make something holy, special, by setting it apart.
The Bible tells us that Moses’ and G’d’s reaction to Korach’s revolt was swift and precise, the social cancer would be totally eliminated. Is the Torah teaching us that unless we fight a war to win it, then it is better not be involved? Is the text teaching us that leaders who live in a world of the make-believe or “shoulds”, rather than in the world of “is” in the long run cause more harm than good? Does this week’s parashah teach us that the consequences of a leader’s mistakes are visited upon the innocent and the guilty alike?
The text clearly does not mean to imply that G’d was pleased by the innocent shedding of blood, but rather it is teaching us that: leaders must be extremely careful in what they do and do not do, that we must be wise enough to look beyond the political rhetoric and realize that words unexamined may lead to tragedies that impact generations to come.
What do you think? Do you agree with the rabbinic interpretation that living in a world of “should” rather than “is” creates a perception of weakness permitting evil to turn into bloodshed?