KORACH 5777A
ENTITLEMENTS AND THE BLESSINGS
June 22, 2017
28 Sivan 5777
They (Korach and his allies) combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them you have gone too far for all the community for all the community is holding and the Lord is in its mists. Why then do your raise yourself above the Lords congregation? (Numbers 16:3)
January 20, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of the nation again Donald Trump inaugural address.
Korach was one of history's earliest populists. His attack against Moses and Aaron depicted an unbridgeable chasm between the elites (Moses and Aaron) who had coalesced both religious and political power in their hands. His simple contention was that the brothers justified their exalted positions on the basis of their holiness – of being especially chosen by God. Korach's response was that all the people are holy. We all stood at Sinai and we were all similarly blessed as being part of a holy people. The time had come, then, to transfer to the people the power to shape the character of our community for we are all holy.
The flaw in Korach's "battle cry" was his contention that holiness was a Divinely assured entitlement for every Israelite. Holiness has to be earned through a commitment to live a life rooted in the observance of the Commandments, in a life shaped by mitzvah. This was made abundantly clear in His charge to the people prior to Divine Revelation. "If you all truly obey Me and adhere to My covenant you will become … My kingdom of priests, My holy people" (Exodus 19:5)
The Midrash grasps this truth in its portrayal of Korach's "platform." He rejected Moses' ongoing demand that the people observe Shabbat; embrace a kosher diet; extend a welcoming hand to the stranger; support the poor, and not covet the possessions of others. Holiness, Moses insisted, had to be earned through personal commitment.
During our long history there has been an ongoing debate on how to structure a life of mitzvot. There was a consensus, however, that aspiring to holiness demanded a life style broadly shaped by our Tradition. Tikkun olam (lit. repairing the world) demands a commitment to making the world a better place for all. It leads us to embrace social justice and to respect the rights and the needs of others.
Tikkun olam, however, must be accompanied by tikkun atzmi (lit. personal repair), achieved by embracing the many rituals that have the potential to shape our personal lives—e.g. Shabbat and Festival observance, kashrut, affixing a mezuzah on our doorposts, among others. While there are varying "standards" on how to best observe Shabbat and the vast array of rituals that have been placed before us, our tradition demands that we embrace the commitment to improve the lives of others. Holiness is not an entitlement, it is rather an honored status we must earn for ourselves.
We are currently in the midst of a debate regarding the scope of a newly proposed Health Care bill. Regardless of what will emerge from the projected legislation, there is widespread acceptance that such coverage is an entitlement. Yet regardless of the benefits it provides, the bill does not guarantee good health. Proper medical care is essential, but the bottom line is that we are responsible for a level of care for our own bodies through proper diet, an exercise regimen and healthy sleep habits. .
Korach was correct that at Sinai the entire community experienced Divine Revelation and the potential of holiness was held out before them. He was wrong when he failed (or refused) to acknowledge that holiness was not an entitlement. The lesson for us is that the blessings of holiness (spiritual health) and physical health are not a given, but are too achieved through appropriate personal commitment and action. .
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From Jerusalem, my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach– a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
SHLACH 5777
FROM WHY TO WHY NOT
June 15, 2017
21 Sivan 5777
The decision to send out the twelve scouts to explore the Land of Canaan turned out to be a disaster for the Israelites. One man was chosen from each tribe with the two most famous being Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim and Caleb from the tribe of Judah. Following its 40 day mission, the group returned with its report. The land was indeed beautiful but its strong and fearless inhabitants lived in fortified cities, and it was hopeless to try to conquer them.
The Israelites were stunned. God's promise to bring them to the land of milk and honey seemed to be an unfillable dream. In the ensuing mass hysteria, the people accused Moses of taking them out of Egypt only to bring them into the desert where they were doomed to perish. In the midst of this moaning and groaning, Caleb, the highly respected leader of Judah, arose. He began by affirming the report of his ten colleagues. The land, he agreed, was indeed very special, but he insisted that the Almighty, who had been with them from the moment of the Exodus and enabled them to defeat the Amalekites, would be at their side as they confronted the Canaanites. Sadly the people did not share Caleb's faith and they continued to remonstrate against God and Moses.
At this point God had enough of the people's complaints and incessant kvetching. While He had responded to Moses' entreaties not to destroy the people following the sin of the Golden Calf, this time He refused to budge and decreed that the worst fears of the adult generation that had been let out of Egypt, would be realized. They would all perish in the desert during a 40 year wandering through the Sinai. Their children, however,would be the recipients of God's providence they would enter and possess the land. God then rewarded Joshua and Caleb promising them that they would enter the land as well. Finally He conferred a special blessing on Caleb "My servant who was moved with a different spirit."
What was this different spirit? The commentators tend to agree that while, he outwardly verbalized agreement with the majority report, in his heart he disagreed with them and then had the courage to express this dissent.
At first glance Caleb seemed guilty of dissembling because of the obvious gap between what he said and what he really believed. I sense that God deemed Caleb's reaction praiseworthy precisely because He agreed with the majority report about the land and its inhabitants. The "different" spirit manifested itself in his assessment of the future. He had faith that his people had the capacity to confront and defeat the Canaanites. Caleb's different spirit was an ability to realistically assess the situation and still have faith that they would prevail over the Canaanites.
In life we often find ourselves in the situation where we believe that our options are limited. Yet when we summon the "Caleb spirit," and seriously apply ourselves, we can transcend the limits of seemingly insurmountable realities.
Inventors and researchers often pursue a dream of the "impossible". Edison with his vision of the incandescent lamp or Alexander Graham Bell with the telephone possessed the different spirit that gave then the strength to transcend failure after failure until they were rewarded with success. This different spirit enabled them to bring to life what they saw in their imagination
There are countless stories of men and women struggling in their Third World environment, who had the courage to follow their dream of building new and fruitful lives in a free land. This was true over a century ago, of my grandparents. Like so many others they immigrated to the United States. Their pockets were empty but their hearts and heads were filled with dreams that contributed to success in their new land. To this day this is also the narrative of countless refugees and immigrants who have found their way to our shores.
The different spirit is what motivates the commitment to engage in tikkun olam and to struggle for social justice. Robert Kennedy captured the essence of the different spirit when he wrote, "There are those who look at things the way they are and ask, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and ask, 'Why not?'".
While change often comes slowly, the contribution of many who say "Why not?" does make the seemingly impossible, possible. May we be blessed with the imagination to grasp the possibility of transcending today's difficulties and help bring about a better tomorrow for all of us.
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From Jerusalem, my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach – a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
