Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 1 Tamuz, 5783
Happy Rosh Chodesh! We have a new moon and a new month!
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:
- Are we a body with a soul inside? Or are we a soul enclosed within a body?
- Does Hashem have power?
- 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?
My commentary from a year ago:
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;
- God’s mercy
- God’s Justice
- Our sin and knowing our sacrifices to God are still holy to Him
- Our journey – our questions:
- Are we a body with a soul inside? Or are we a soul enclosed within a body?
- Does Hashem have power?
- Is Hashem good?
What do you think?
No responses yet