Parshat Korach / Num 16:1-18:32
On this Shabbat I will celebrate 36 years (double CHAI) of my ordination as a Rabbi and 18 years (CHAI) of tenure as Rabbi of Temple Isaiah. I was looking in this week’s Torah portion, Korach, in the book of Numbers, for something that could connect with this significant landmark in my life. I looked at Chapter 18, which is part of this portion, and then jumped to the end to see if it had 36 verses but, no! Chapter 18 stops at verse 32 so I could not look for hidden meaning there. I returned to the lesson of the week. Korach, Dathan and Aviram incite a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. There is a lesson in spiritual leadership but I cannot go there. The rabbis taught that “from Moses (the one in the Torah) to Moses (Maimonides, the renowned medieval Jewish philosopher) there was no one like Moses. Can’t compare myself to him; but I found something that does inform who I am as a rabbi. What is the rebels claim? “You have gone too far!” they rally against Moses and Aaron, “For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is in their midst. Why then do you set yourselves above God’s congregation?” “All the community are holy!” What a noble thought -an egalitarian holiness, evenly distributed among the whole congregation. No need for someone to lead or someone else to follow. Noble but empty. A lie, if you wish. Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz identifies these lines as Korach’s demagoguery exposed. The claim that all are holy defies the Torah’s challenge for the community to ‘become holy’ in Leviticus 19. Kedoshim Tihyiu-You shall be holy is a future goal not a present boast (Etz Chayim). It is a challenge, and whenever one thinks to have met it, it is only to discover that there is yet a higher level to be attained. To believe that you ‘got it’ is to have lost it. Holiness is process not destination, something to strive for. When you got it, you lost it because an essential component in holiness is humility. To think that one has attained this stage is hubris.
I love my community and feel a part of it. I make no claim of holiness for you or for myself, but I am convinced that when we work together to strengthen values and sustain faith, when we pray and when we get our hands dirty, when we bring our means and talents to the task of strengthening a sense of responsible community we are responding to the challenge “you shall be holy.” and you and I know that we can always do better.
The sages taught that there are disagreements and struggles we take on that are L’shem Shamayim, for the sake of heaven and others that are lo l’shem shamayim, the opposite, not for the sake of heaven. Korach’s rebellion is the example they give of an argument that is made solely for the purpose of self-aggrandizement. When we as a community - professional, spiritual and lay leadership -argue and discuss, let us make sure that our disagreements always are l’shem shamayim, for the sake of heaven, utilizing the lessons of our tradition to challenge us and move us upward in holiness.
18 years… 36 years… not even a mark in the life of our people. So much work to do, so little time… Let us make the most of it as we build our Kehilah Kedoshah, our holy community.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz
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