Dvar for June 25
Korach
The Torah portion this week is one of the most confusing in the entire Torah. Its words are clear and the narrative is straightforward. So what’s the problem? First, let’s go over the text a bit.
Korach is a priest and, as a priest, is already in a privileged position in the nascent Jewish community. Together with 250 chieftans, also privileged, he approaches Moses and demands that they be elevated to an even higher position. They tell Moses, ‘You are too big for your britches! Everyone is holy. Why do you hold yourself out above everyone else?’
Moses can’t believe what he is hearing and so, humbly, he bows to Korach and they have a contest saying that, in the morning, God will choose who will lead the people. Not surprisingly, Moses won.
So what’s so difficult about this story? We can probably all agree that Korach was right about the whole community being holy. But he wanted more than just to tell Moses what Moses already knew. Of the course the whole community was holy. After all, didn’t Moses repeat God’s words, “You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy.” It is a refrain that happens again and again in the Torah. So what was Korach’s real problem?
Although the text does not tell us, we can get a pretty good insight. Korach forgot that being a leader of a community requires humility and the ability to listen and consider. Had Korach approached Moses in a non-threatening way and merely spoke about his concerns, dollars to donuts the story would not have made it into the Torah. Korach was itching for a fight. Moses gave him humility and the opportunity to walk away. Korach stood firm and even when Moses bowed to Korach, Korach didn’t get the message. It is clear that Korach would not bow to Moses. His arrogance was off the charts.
Winston Churchill was a master of the one line witty put down. He described his political opponent Clem Attlee as “a modest man who has much to be modest about” and “a sheep in sheep’s clothing.”
This is very clever jibe but it reflects something important. Just as Churchill saw in Attlee, Moses saw in Korach. There was the arrogance and arrogance is the pride of self-importance. It is thinking of yourself as more important or more able than you are. It is often accompanied by showing contempt or disregard for others.
Of course, a story like this is instructive for us only if we can apply it to our own situation. And, not surprisingly, as we at Shir Shalom begin our journey together, it is story worth listening to.
Our congregation doesn’t have Moses nor does it have a Korach. Ours is a community with no one person in charge and making all the big decisions. Each of us has a voice. And that is the most important thing to remember. Each of us a voice.
In the coming year, you will have more than a few opportunities to use your voice and to make yourself heard as Shir Shalom embarks on a journey setting out its visions for the kind of temple it wants to be, the kind of community it wants to be, and then, ultimately, finding the perfect rabbi to lead and help you make it all happen.
But as the search committee begins its holy work and reaches out to the entire congregation, keep in mind the lesson of Korach. Each voice is valid. Each member of the community is holy. But no one voice can or should override anyone else’s.
There is a Hasidic story about a tailor who sewed a suit for a prince. The first time, the tailor believed himself to be the greatest tailor in all the land when he made the suit. And he told the prince how good a tailor he was and how the suit was made by the best tailor in all the land. The prince rejected the suit. Though it was technically perfect, there was something wrong with it. It was spiritually imperfect to the point of being unwearable. He told the tailor to try again.
The second time, the tailor approached the task with humility, and the suit was beautiful, evoking awe and admiration. The result of a holy task rests so firmly on the way it is approached.
The prince, though not explicitly stating the issue, hinted at it. The tailor, perplexed, sought guidance from his Rebbe, Rabbi Yerachmiel. The Rebbe instructed him to take the suit apart, resew it exactly as before, and return it to the prince.
Initially, the tailor was skeptical. He questioned how resewing the same garment could produce a different result. However, he followed the Rebbe’s instructions, and when he presented the suit to the prince the second time, the prince was delighted, praising its beauty and offering the tailor more work.
The Rebbe explained that the difference between the two suits was not in the material or the stitching, but in the spirit with which they were made. The first suit was sewn with arrogance and pride, while the second was sewn with humility and a broken heart. The first suit, despite its technical perfection, was spiritually repulsive, while the second, infused with humility, radiated beauty and grace.
Shir Shalom is neither the prince nor the tailor. We are actually both as we venture into these unknown waters of the rabbi search. And before we begin, we must search ourselves and consider what makes us tick. And then we must come together to listen and speak, to challenge and compromise and to approach each other as holy members of the same community.
There will undoubtedly be disagreements. But the warning Korach has given us is that we must never put our own selves, our history, our name or any other characteristic above anyone else in our community. The dividends for knowing each person in our community is holy is a dividend Korach never understood. And what is that dividend? It is a community build on mutual respect and love with each person knowing the other is the most important person in the congregation.
Temple Shir Shalom is a congregation of diverse and beautiful people. What we have here is the chance to continue to build something that is a beacon what a congregation can be and ought to be. Korach was right about one thing: all the community is holy and this year I know that our holiness, our respect, and our love will extend to everyone who walks through our doors and everyone who shares in the vision of a temple based on humility and the ability of one another not just to hear one another, but to truly listen.
Shabbat Shalom
