Dear Friends,
I hope this note finds you well and managing the conflicting emotions of these unusual times.
One of NCSY’s outstanding educators recently had a Shabbos guest arrive sporting a keffiyeh that he planned to wear to shul. How should he respond?
The student was wearing the keffiyeh as a symbol of righteous concern for innocents in Gaza, though he appeared unconcerned about entering the haven of a Jewish family and community wearing the uniform of those who intimidate and demonize Zionists and Jews. The educator’s task was not to explain to this student the subtleties of the conflict in the Middle East but to teach him a core principle and value of Judaism: Jews – committed as we must be to the good of all humanity – must first and foremost protect and be loyal to each other. The chinuch (education) we provide cannot just be about beliefs, behaviors, and Shabbat experiences but must emphasize profound dedication to Klal Yisrael.
We all tend to raise up our righteous principles that set us apart from fellow Jews who think or do otherwise. The story of Korach highlights how – like that student – we need to recognize that those principled disagreements may mask a lack of connection, responsibility, and loyalty.
Korach was a heretic who challenged the veracity of Moshe’s prophesy, but his issues were neither theological nor philosophical. This is why our Sages considered him the classic example of an argument NOT for the sake of Heaven (Avot 5:17) and why they interpreted the Torah’s warning against emulating Korach as prohibiting all forms of divisiveness, even those without religious ramifications (Bamidbar 17:5, Sanhedrin 110a). Korach was not righteous but selfish.
Our Sages knew this because of the company he kept. Korach’s co-conspirators were Datan and Aviram, chronic rabble rousers who appear in multiple stories in the Torah. Their divisiveness was consistent, and it was usually not even remotely philosophical. When Moshe first encountered Datan and Aviram (Shemot 2:11-15), they were beating up on each other. Moshe subsequently discovered that they had informed Pharaoh of Moshe’s earlier “crime” of having loyally stood up for a Jew under attack. Datan and Aviram’s real issues were clearly not with God but with their fellow Jews, as they rejected the value of defending their brethren and chose instead to betray them. It was they who stood shoulder to shoulder with Korach, joining together in a thinly disguised “principled” rejection of Moshe’s leadership and prophesy.
In this light, it is noteworthy to consider the response to heresy that was made part of our daily davening. As Rambam taught (Laws of Tefillah 2:1), during the period of the second Mikdash, Rabban Gamliel recognized the emergence of a new threat that had become “the greatest need of the Jewish people,” i.e. the significant increase in Jewish heretical movements who were both “oppressing Jews and turning them away from God.” This threat led him and his court to establish the blessing of V’lamalshinim, that – as in the case of Moshe’s response to Korach, Datan, and Aviram – needed to address both the oppression of the betrayers (malshinim) and the religious distortions of the heretics (minim, risha).
This leads us to two practical conclusions. First, while amongst our people there are and must be principled disagreements, Korach and his partners provide a cautionary tale requiring us to identify when those differences are exacerbated by an underlying lack of connection, responsibility, and loyalty to each other and by our failure to uphold the principle of embracing Klal Yisrael first.
Second, Torah has unified the Jewish people since we first committed to its observance at Sinai as one man with one heart. Korach and his successors, by choosing to turn away from that commitment we made at Sinai, may find themselves both removed from the observance of the eternal Torah taught by Moshe and detached from the organic unity of Klal Yisrael.
Today, more than ever, Klal Yisrael needs to revive both the Torah and the unity of Sinai. Today, more than ever, we must stand k’ish echad b’lev echad, as one man with one heart.
Have a wonderful Chodesh and Shabbos and may we be blessed with besorot tovot, truly good news.
Moshe Hauer