26 Sivan, 5784 - Tikkun Olam 47

on July 2, 2024

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Sivan, 5784
Parsha Korach: (Numbers 16:1 – 18:32)
Third Portion: Numbers 16:20 – 17:8

Alright alright alright! We got ourselves a SHOWDOWN. Moses vs. Korach and the 250 men with him. Who is God going to choose? Korah and his men show up at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron are there. Hashem shows up. It’s time to rumble! Let’s dig in:

20The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying,

21″Dissociate yourselves from this congregation, and I will consume them in an instant.

Hashem tells Moses and Aaron – step away because I am going to wipe out the entire congregation. He’s not happy here.

22They fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, if one man sins, shall You be angry with the whole congregation?”

Moses pleads with God – because it was Korach after all who incited the people. The rest of them were inadvertent in their sin.

23The Lord spoke to Moses saying,

24″Speak to the congregation saying, ‘Withdraw from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'”

Hashem gives Moses an out. Ask the people to withdraw from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. People were going to have to make a choice. This is Hashem’s mercy on display.

25Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

26He spoke to the congregation saying, “Please get away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything of theirs, lest you perish because of all their sins.

They went too the community and encouraged people to get away because they were going to perish. Imagine – being friends with Dathan and Abiram? And Moses tells you and your family to step aside. What would YOU do? You’ve seen Hashem perform the 10 plagues while a slave in Egypt. You passed through the sea on dry land. You were given manna in the desert. You complained at the first camp there was no meat and you got meat. At the second camp you watched Hashem deal with the ego. Now? You are watching events unfold. Which side are you going to stand on? This is a crucial moment!

27So they withdrew from around the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and Dathan and Abiram went out standing upright at the entrance of their tents together with their wives, their children, and their infants.

And they withdrew. And as they withdrew, Abiram and Dathan and their families came out.

28Moses said, “With this you shall know that the Lord sent me to do all these deeds, for I did not devise them myself.

29If these men die as all men die and the fate of all men will be visited upon them, then the Lord has not sent me.

30But if the Lord creates a creation, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that is theirs, and they descend alive into the grave, you will know that these men have provoked the Lord.”

Whoa. Moses doubling down. He isn’t saying these families aren’t just going to die – they are going to die in a new way. And no sooner than he says this?

31As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the earth beneath them split open.

32The earth beneath them opened its mouth and swallowed them and their houses, and all the men who were with Korah and all the property.

33They, and all they possessed, descended alive into the grave; the earth covered them up, and they were lost to the assembly.

Descended alive. Everything.

I wrote extensively on this the past two years (read below) – some of this is Hashem’s mercy as well. The children of Abiram and Dothan were spared – as we are souls – their death is really an avoidance of the suffering that would have become of them had they grown up with parents who had that ego. And? The people got scared:

34All Israel who were around them fled from their cries, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up [too]!”

I mean, I would be freaking out as well. And while this happened?

35A fire came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who had offered up the incense.

Wow. I think the message we are getting in the Torah? The priests? The leaders? We need to listen – even when we don’t agree. We aren’t talking government officials here. We are talking the spiritual leaders in our lives we trust.

Whoa. Hashem wasn’t finished:

17:1The Lord spoke to Moses saying:

2Say to Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen that he should pick up the censers from the burned area (but throw the fire away), because they have become sanctified,

3the censers of these who sinned at the cost of their lives, and they shall make them into flattened out plates as an overlay for the altar, for they brought them before the Lord, and have [therefore] become sanctified, and they shall be as a reminder for the children of Israel.

4So Eleazar the kohen took the copper censers which the fire victims had brought, and they hammered them out as an overlay for the altar,

5as a reminder for the children of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the seed of Aaron, shall approach to burn incense before the Lord, so as not to be like Korah and his company, as the Lord spoke regarding him through the hand of Moses.

He wanted to bring reminders forward so we wouldn’t forget. The human brain has such the capacity to rewrite history – we need these reminders. For me? I have kept a journal for 4 years now. Next month, I will literally have around 1460 entries in my journal (currently at 4 word docs covering August 2020-December 2022, January-June 2023, July – December 2023, and January-June 2024). These journals are helpful for me to revisit my life over the past 4 years. Because events didn’t always happen the way they are stored in my brain currently. I have needed to go back and check events – and get clarification on what was going on for me when that all went down. It’s really incredible to think how our brains store data to protect a story within us.

And we aren’t done yet with the Torah:

6The following day, the entire congregation of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.”

The entire congregation was scared. I mean – rightly so. And as leaders this would be a tough moment, right? What do you do? You know Hashem is safe, and yet the people were scared. What did they do?

7It came to pass while the congregation were assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned to the Tent of Meeting, and behold, the cloud had covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

8Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting.

They did what they knew to be right. They went to Hashem.

Wow. What a story. The payoff of the past few days – Hashem showed up and made it super clear what He wants. “Listen to Moses.” This is what Hashem wants for us. If you want to feel safe? Listen to Moses. You want to risk it? Don’t.

We are fortunate to have Moses in the Torah. The question becomes – how to do we bring the Torah within us? To listen to Moses within?

Today? What is the part of you that is Korah? That wants power? What is the part of you that is Moses – connected to your Neshama? In terms of the rest of the congregation – which side do they connect with? The side of Korah? The side of Moses? This is the question within us.

And in that ancient story of the two wolves within us? Who gets fed? Do we feed Moses? Or do we feed Korah? This is the question for today.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 1 Tamuz, 5783

Happy Rosh Chodesh! We have a new moon and a new month!

The month of Tammuz is a month of paradox. We receive blessings of the Torah this month – but this is also the month the Children of Israel became impatient and made the golden calf.

Chabad has a lot to say kabbalistically about this month:

What I love about Tamuz is the concept of learning to “see in the darkness.” We often avoid the shadow because it seems scary – but the new moon is just a shadow. Because on the other side of the moon? It is reflecting the sun perfectly. Like the moon, we all go through cycles – just because we are in our shadow, and might believe we are in darkness, we need to learn to see our own light shining in a different direction.

This new moon cycle is going to be about the difficult work of seeing light in the darkness. That will take energy to do. If we want it easy? This is going to be a difficult time for us.

Read more on Tamuz by clicking HERE

Ok let’s dig into today’s portion.

Today’s portion is all about Korach “getting his.” Hashem punishes Korach, his family, and his followers.

A year ago (see my commentary below) I wrote about the following concepts:

God’s mercy
God’s Justice
Our sin and knowing our sacrifices to God are still holy to Him
Our journey – our questions:
1. Are we a body with a soul inside? Or are we a soul enclosed within a body?
2. Does Hashem have power?
3. Is Hashem good?

Today’s portion has it all. And, I think combining these thoughts with the new moon – I apply these concepts in a cycle. What I mean is this:

We see various cycles of Hashem’s mercy. Sometimes we need to look in the dark to find it – other times we can’t miss it.
We see various cycles of Hashem’s justice. Again – we go through periods where this is easier to see. Other times it’s a challenge.

Now. Full stop. Because when you read #2 – ask yourself “Did I read about Hashem’s Justice when it comes to OTHER people? Or did I read about Hashem’s Justice when it comes to MYSELF?

Because we often talk about Justice when it comes to OTHERS. But rarely do we chew on justice when it comes to us, right? How can we see in our own darkness and shadow the justice AND mercy Hashem provides us?

I think this gets to the third point – our sin. And that our sacrifices. Our mitzvahs. Our connecting points with Hashem? They are the lifeblood of our relationship with Him. With US.

Because the Neshama is within us – Hashem is within us. And our love for ourselves. Truly loving ourselves is the soul love we are seeking from someone else. It has to start within. Realizing we are NOT a mistake. We are here for a PURPOSE.

Even Korach is remembered in the Torah. The sons of Korach wrote psalms to Hashem. This is a beautiful journey if you think about it. Because within us? If Korach had a neshama? We are connected to Korach in some way.

And I think THAT is beauty in Hashem’s creation. What do you think?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Sivan, 5782

Good morning!

Today we learn what happens to Korah given his desire for becoming the high priest and his denial of the authority of Moses.

Today’s portion starts with Hashem telling Moses and Aaron to “disassociate yourselves from this congregation, and I will destroy them in an instant!”

God was telling Moses and Aaron He was going to destroy everyone. Why? My belief is it was to reveal compassion and mercy for Moses and Aaron. God knew that Moses and Aaron had extreme compassion. They had grown tired from leadership – and the griping, the complaining; EVEN GIVEN that God had shown the people each step of the way super naturally that He was in charge. The people had all the evidence that God had chosen Moses and Aaron to lead them, yet they still struggled.

I think God also did this for US. How often do we feel a lack of mercy and compassion because we get swept up in things; distracted by the world around us, while at the same time trying to focus on God?

Yet here, God threatened ALL of Israel. And what did Moses and Aaron do?

They fell on their faces and begged God for mercy for the people. They asked God whether everyone should be punished for the sin of one man (Korah).

God responded “yup. You are right. Only the sinners will be punished. Move away from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’s home.” I may have taken a smidge of liberty with that quote; but basically, God acknowledged for Moses that his heart was for his people.

Moses went TO Dathan and Abiram’s tents.

What? God just told you to clear out! Why did Moses go TO THEM?

He brought the elders with him. He spoke to the congregation around Dathan and Abiram’s tents and said “please get away from the tents of these wicked men and do not touch anything of theirs, so that you don’t die because of all of their sins.”

They cleared away from the tents.

Let’s stop here.

So. Moses wanted to save as many people from destruction as he could. He went TO the tents to encourage people to leave. I am guessing there were people who had a hard time deciding where to go. Do they stay and follow Korah? Or do they follow Moses?

This again is God’s extreme mercy. So many chances we are given to choose life. To choose love. We can step away from arrogance, hubris, and ego. We can choose love in our hearts.

This is different than authority. We can speak with authority and have it be perceived as arrogance, hubris and ego. But the issue is correction. Are those who speak with authority open to correction? Or are they stuck in their arrogance? Hashem knows the heart.

Moses spoke with authority. That is different than Korah. Moses knew Aaron was the chosen high priest. But he ALSO knew God was in charge. That is very different, and a lesson for us. When we are in touch with the Torah and Hashem, we can speak with authority. AND, be open to correction when we’ve misunderstood the Torah and Hashem.

Ok. Back to the portion. People are choosing sides. Moses or Korah?

Once the congregation cleared out, Dathan and Abiram came out and stood proudly at the entrance of their tents with their wives, children and infants.

Moses told the people; “through this you will know that God authorized me to carry out all these acts of appointing the priests for it was not my idea; if these men die as all men die and the fate of all men occurs to them, then Korah is right and God has not sent me. But if God creates a new form of death that you have never seen before, and the earth swallows them along with everything that belongs to them, and they descend alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have provoked God!”

As soon as he said this, the earth split open and swallowed them. Everything. Tents. People. Property. They descended alive into the grave with everything they possessed. Then. The earth covered them up.

You can imagine being here and watching this. The Jewish people watching all fled from the sound of the earth because they were worried the earth would swallow them up.

And. If this wasn’t enough?

A fire came down from God and consumed the 250 men who offered up incense with Korah.

Full stop.

My first thought is – why the babies? Why the infants? Why the wives? Why did they die?

And I have to remind myself of the fundamental question. “Who am I?”

Am I a body with a soul inside? Or am I a soul with a body wrapped around me?

If I am a body with a soul inside? Then yes, the consequence of Korah and Hashem killing babies is really harsh.

If I am a soul wrapped in a body? Then the “death” of Korah and his family is really just a releasing of their souls back to Hashem. That’s not to say death is a trivial matter. It’s to look at a bigger picture of purpose. Why are we here? Why did Hashem put us on earth? If Korah and his family was put here to teach the rest of us a lesson, then they served their purpose and their souls went back to Hashem.

And. The name of Korah did not die. There are 12 psalms sung by the sons of Korah. There is some belief that as the earth swallowed up Korah and his family – some realized what was happening and were singing to Hashem as they fell into the earth. Because they recognized the greatness of Hashem at that moment.

Others believe there were sons of Korah who had already chosen to leave the family and weren’t in the camp when it was swallowed.

Either way, the name of Korah is alive today in the Psalms. We have to ask ourselves “why?”

Ok. Back to the portion.

God speaks to Moses and tells him to get the priests to collect all the fire pans from the burned area, but to throw the coals away. He tells Moses to beat the pans of those who sinned into sheets as a coating for the altar. Even though they were brought by people in their sin, those pans were holy because (according to the Torah) they were brought before God. They will be a reminder for the children of Israel.

The immediate question I have is “a reminder of what?”

The Torah is explicit in one sense; the Torah tells us it was a reminder for the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should approach the altar to burn incense before God.

But I’m also reminded reading this story, that even the offerings to God brought by sinners are holy. Because if you think about it. Korah and the 250 people still listened to Moses. They brought the fire pans. They believed they were listening to God. Why would they have agreed with Moses to the offering of the fire pans? Korah knew in his heart Moses had authority. That’s why he agreed. And so, the offerings were still holy; despite what the hearts of men brought with the offering.

This is a critical reminder to really dig into our hearts what is going on; to consider our hearts may be in the wrong place; and trust that even if they are, what we give to God is still His. Even if we suffer the consequences of our actions.

But the story today isn’t over.

Because the next day? The entire congregation of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron.

Sigh.

Like, you just witnessed what happened to those who complained against Moses. You see that God is on Moses side. And we still don’t get it.

You would think Moses LITERALLY predicting what would happen moments before it did (picture someone getting on the news and saying “in 10 seconds we are going to experience a global earthquake” and then literally 10 seconds later (complete with countdown clock) the entire earth experiences an earthquake) and people STILL didn’t trust the expertise.

What did they complain about? “You killed God’s people, Moses!”

They believed Moses had power now. They questioned whether he was good.

How interesting! In my own spiritual journey, I didn’t always believe God had power. It’s been a long journey to discover His power. But since October of 1998, I continue on the journey of figuring out whether God is good.

The people could no longer question whether Moses was chosen by God. What they did question is whether Moses would use his power to hurt people or not.

This is an important consideration for us. What do we believe about Hashem? Do we believe He has power? If we do, do we believe He is good?

Those are the fundamental questions (in my opinion) we (as souls enclosed in our humanity) are here to learn.

And as the people were complaining to Moses? A cloud descended on the tent of meeting. The glory of God appeared. Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting.

Wow. What a portion today! I feel like there are so many good things;