Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 24 Sivan, 5784
Parsha Korach: (Numbers 16:1 – 18:32)
First Portion: Numbers 16:1 – 16:13

Good morning! It is a rainy morning here in Oneonta, NY. This morning we have a new week ahead – it is our final week in the month of Sivan. After Shabbat, we will turn our sights into the new month of Tammuz. This can be a challenging time as one of our goals is to learn to “see in the dark.” This will prepare us for the month of Av – one of the darkest (energetically) months on the calendar – AND one of the lightest. More to come on this.

This weeks portion is a little tough. Korach is a tragic figure. Remember – we are still camped in a place where the message is courage. Sacrifice. We went from our cravings to our ego. And we are now in the space to learn to have courage.  Korath – we will discover – was still navigating his ego. Let’s dig in!

16:1Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi took [himself to one side] along with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben.

Korach was a member of the priesthood. And. He had concerns.

2They confronted Moses together with two hundred and fifty men from the children of Israel, chieftains of the congregation, representatives of the assembly, men of repute.

3They assembled against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire congregation are all holy, and the Lord is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

250 men – led by Korach went to Moses to confront him.  I remember Miriam and her confrontation. That did not go well.  How will Moses respond?

4Moses heard and fell on his face.

5He spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, “In the morning, the Lord will make known who is His, and who is holy, and He will draw [them] near to Him, and the one He chooses, He will draw near to Him.

Moses was humbled. He did not stand up to Korach. He did not get into a power struggle. He literally bowed before Korach. And. Put the resolution in Hashem’s hands.  He came up with a proposition:

6Do this, Korah and his company: Take for yourselves censers.

7Place fire into them and put incense upon them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses he is the holy one; you have taken too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi.”

Moses provided an opportunity here – and turned it back. “You take too much upon yourselves” was a dig at what they had confronted Moses with.  I wonder if there was a tinge of “you’ve gone too far” here?  Moses then pleads:

8Moses said to Korah, “Please listen, sons of Levi.

9Is it not enough that the God of Israel has distinguished you from the congregation of Israel to draw you near to Him, to perform the service in the Mishkan of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?

10He drew you near, and all your brothers, the sons of Levi with you, and now you seek the kehunah as well?

11Therefore, you and your entire company who are assembled are against the Lord, for what is Aaron that you should complain against him?”

He was basically asking them to reconsider. Hashem did so much – they had disrespected Aaron. He wanted them to see what was going on.

12Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not go up.

13Is it not enough that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that you should also exercise authority over us?

This was a complete rebellion. Dathan and Abiram would not even respect Moses’ authority to call them up.

So what is our takeaway here?

I feel like it is this line from Moses:

9Is it not enough that the God of Israel has distinguished you from the congregation of Israel to draw you near to Him, to perform the service in the Mishkan of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?

10He drew you near, and all your brothers, the sons of Levi with you, and now you seek the kehunah as well?

“Is it not enough?”

Is it not enough that Hashem has brought us to this moment?

Is it not enough that Hashem has provided us air to breathe?

Is it not enough that we have survived our traumas?

Is it not enough that we have the freedom to decide what to do with the next 30-60 seconds?

Is it not enough?

Do we still seek the kehunah?  (It reminds me of the BIG Kehuna) What is kehunah?

It means literally – the priesthood.

We want more, don’t we? We aren’t normally satisfied with a moment. We want more.

The problem becomes moving from wanting more, to expecting more. “I should have more.” That is where we get tripped up.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Sivan, 5783

Today we have a new Parsha.  Parsha Korach.  Korach is a REALLY interesting figure in the Torah.  Almost tragic.  But there is a message for us in Korach’s story.

Korach has good aspirations.  He wanted to be high priest.  His tactic though was not appropriate.  How often do we live lives with really good intent, with good hearts, but our tactics don’t get us where we want to go?

I am driven to look within me – for where I have a Korach.  Something inside me that has good desires – but the tactics being employed don’t get me where I want to go.

I have been doing work on my inner critic.  That voice within me that is NOT kind. Not compassionate. NOT loving.  That voice – if I’m honest – is working for my good.  But it has learned to communicate with me in a way that is NOT helpful.  I have been unwilling to listen to love and compassion in order to change something I am stuck on.  So it has learned to rely on negative talk, guilt, and shame to try and get me to change.

We do this with our kids, don’t we? Our loved ones? If there is something we need them to do – we try doing it with love and compassion – but if it doesn’t work, we default to shame and guilting others.

This journey needs to start within.   We need to learn to love the Korach within.  That responds to our Korach with – “hey – I know you want something good.  Why are you using these tactics that aren’t serving you? How can I support you? How can I love you?  To recognize your desire to be a high priest? To be more sacred? Your position “as high priest” isn’t as critical as being a priest grounded in love, compassion, and empathy.

We can teach our inner critic how to better communicate with us.  It takes time, patience, and energy.  Where do you see this within yourself today?

I’d love to know your thoughts!

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 27 Sivan, 5782

This week’s Parsha is Korah.

In many senses, Korah is a tragic figure in the Torah, but there is another side to Korah to consider.

The Chumash I’m reading says this; “Although Korah was wicked, he nevertheless harbored a desire that is appropriate for us to emulate – He wanted to be the High Priest. His mistake was the method of implementation. We can learn from Korah to always desire a higher spirituality and work to achieve that goal.”

That’s a good thought as we jump in:

The parsha starts with an introduction of Korah confronting Moses with 250 men of the congregation.

Rabbi Schneerson had something interesting for us here:

It is written in Proverbs, “The name of the wicked will rot” (10:7), on which the Talmud comments: “Let mold grow upon their names, for we do not use their names” (Babylonian Talmad, Yoma 38a).

How, then, could the Torah eternalize the name of Korah, a wicked man who did not repent in his lifetime, by calling an entire Torah portion by his name?

While Korah was indeed wicked in his deeds, he nevertheless harbored a desire which is appropriate for every person to emulate: He wanted to be the High Priest. Maimonides describes this as something fitting for all human beings: “Any type of person whose spirit inspires him, and he resolves in his mind to set himself apart [from worldly pursuits], to stand before God and serve as His minister, to work for Him, and to know God; who [then acts upon his resolution and he] goes in a morally upright manner–following his inherent, God-given disposition, and he discards all the numerous concerns that people are normally preoccupied with- then he will attain the holiness of the Holy of Holies,” i.e., the spiritual level of the High Priest.

Korah was not corrupt in his ideology, but only in his method of implementation. His desire to be High Priest was well founded, as Moses confirmed, “I too want this” (Rashi to 16:6). His only mistake was attempting to achieve this goal by usurping Moses, rather than following him.”

The confrontation with Moses was regarding how important Moses had become. They argued and challenged why Moses set up Aaron as the high priest.

Moses heard this and he fell on his face. What is interesting here, and Nachmanides writes about this; is Aaron did NOT fall on his face, likely because he felt Korah may have been more worthy of the high priest.

Moses – responded to Korah by putting it back In God’s hands. He tells Korah God will make known who is holy for priesthood.

He tells Korah to do the following:

1. Take fire pans
2. put fiery coals in them and offer incense on them tomorrow before God.

Moses tells Korah he’s Taking a risk – the one God chooses will live, and the others will die.

Moses pleads with Korah to reconcile. He says “isn’t it enough that God has distinguished you?”

Moses tells Korah and the men with him – “When I appointed Aaron as priest it was God’s explicit instruction.” He tells Korah – “you all are ganging up against God and not me.”

He then sent messengers to call Dathan and Abiram (who were backing Korah) to try to reconcile – but they refused to see Moses. They sent the message “isn’t it enough you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that you also seek to be a ruler over us?”

This is an interesting take to close today’s portion.

Dathan and Abiram saw EGYPT as the land flowing with milk and honey. Slavery was better than freedom.

How often do we look at that in our own lives? On our journey to freedom, how often do we look backwards and tell ourselves things were better than they actually were? Just to avoid trusting the future?

That’s what I’m chewing on today. How about you?