Numbers 16:1-18:32
Samuel 11:14-12:22
There’s a lot to glean from this parshah. I think of the spies, which I have a lot to say about. Maybe I can get in early for next year. And how the going against Moses and G-d can relate to this. I think of Pinchas at the end of Balak, and his zealotry being his undoing and hurting others.
A quick, non exhaustive, recap. Korach, Moses’ cousin, led a rebellion of people against Moses. Korach was a Levite, and not just any old Levite, he was a rich, high powered one. He used this power to organize a group of 250 people to try and usurp power from Moses, saying that he, Korach, was appointed High Priest. To test this, they provide incense offerings. In response, G-d has flames consume the imposters offering incense while the earth opens up to engulf the masses of mutineers, then closes, swallowing them up.
The masses blame Moses and Aaron, a new plague breaks out, and the staves of the leaders of each of the 12 tribes are gathered. Of the 12 staves, Aaron’s blossoms and blooms, proving his status as high priest.
Finally, Hashem commands the best oil, wine, and grain; the first fruits; and various animals are to be given to G-d and then given to the priests.
Yeah, there’s a lot. And a lot I skipped over. But it gave me some questions.
First, there’s the instance of G-d taking out a mass of people who have been misled by someone in power. But not just someone in power — someone abusing it. Someone twisting their office into what it isn’t. We even have a commandment about this, one I think of often: shatnez. Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11 prohibit the mixing of wool and linen in the same garment, a prohibition which does not extend to the priestly robes.
While we’re not supposed to try and logic away mitzvot, we are still able to look at some deeper meanings. I have always looked at this commandment as twofold:
- Don’t assume a uniform or position you’re not a part of.
This means you don’t impersonate a role. If you’re not a priest, don’t wear a priest’s garments. If you’re not a cop, don’t wear a police uniform, except on Purim. If you’re not an expert, don’t bill yourself as one. - Stay within the lane of your duties, and only act as your office when you are on duty.
If you’re a priest, you only serve as a priest when it’s appropriate. If you’re a police officer, you honor the boundaries of your station. If you’re an expert, you offer only your scope of practice.
We saw people go outside this, drastically, in 2020. People with no epidemiology training, no medical training, no pharmacology knowledge, offered sham solutions to a worldwide pandemic. A celebrity doctor, Dr. Oz, who specialized in cardiology, made sweeping statements about public health. Statements which went against what 90% of experts in public health recommended. Celebrity after celebrity, podcast hosts, and TV personalities lied about patently fake benefits of a livestock antiparasitic treatment.
All this while the people in their uniforms were trying to save others. All while people acting within their scopes of practice died. Doctors, nurses, public health experts, fell by the score as people speaking outside their scope assisted a virus.
Secondly, I think of Phineas, in Pinchas, coming up in a few weeks in Number 25:11. Who ran people through with a spear to “avenge G-d’s name”. Some believe he saved the Israelite people through his action. Others believe he went too far.
It reminds me of Korach, who got some sort of bee in his bonnet and stepped way out of his station. Was it zealotry and passion, like Pinchas? Was it capitalizing on his fame and fortune, like Dr. Oz?
It also reminds me of the spies from last week. 12 of which were recruited, 2 which reported truth, 10 which reported fallacy. And why were their reports erroneous? Were they scared? Were they trying to be relevant? Were they reflecting the anxiety of the people who wanted them to go? Was Korach the embodiment of people filled with doubt? Did he feel like he was getting left behind?
I’m sure we can make arguments and debate for any of these stances, because Torah mirrors our very human condition of nuance and contradictions. We can enjoy something so intensely it becomes overwhelming and painful. We can derive pleasure from something which hurts us, as any hot sauce aficionado can attest to. We can get happy relief from an outpouring of sorrowful tears.
And this leads to my next thought. In my drash on Shemini, I spoke of the idea that even if something was distasteful to us, we are challenged to find something noteworthy or even good, in it.
I can’t help but read Korach and think of some of the most distasteful people I’ve met. JVP. A group so vile, so hateful, and so misguided that their name, Jewish Voice for Peace, would be laughable if it wasn’t so horrific.
I even personally know a local member, someone who used to work for Federation. Someone who I was proud to call my friend. Now someone who refuses to acknowledge my existence, going so far as to have a note in her file at my work that she will work with anyone except me.
These people have been compared to the Kapos of World War II. But I think they’re worse. They sell us out not under threat of their own death, but for social status and acceptance of other Jew haters. They are openly aligned in their deeds, statements, and values of David Duke, the former grand wizard of the KKK.
I’ve personally run into these people. I’ve personally been threatened by these people. And I’ve personally held them accountable. They ran a campaign trying to get me fired from my work. They sent me death threats. They filled my inbox and voicemail with such disgusting hate and vitriol that it went from threats to their own confessions.
Most of these people are, indeed, not even Jews. They’re just a group called Jewish Voice for Peace. A group not even run by Jews. Rather, they’re a group which has tokenized about 5-10% of Jews and pretended they speak for all of us. These 5-10% of Jews supposedly believe Israel shouldn’t exist, they believe in the lie that is the nakba, and they protest in favor of Hamas.
These are the commandments I see them violating.
They violate their station as Jews by calling for the destruction of our community. They use the phrase “as a Jew” to give false legitimacy to hate speech against Jews. To undermine Jewish safety in the United States, Israel, and abroad. We are supposed to be a tribe. After all, the very word “tribe” was coined to describe us, our religion, and our people. To throw your family under the bus for social status is abhorrent.
They help others impersonate us and don a uniform they don’t have a right to. We already have groups like “Jews For Jesus” and the “Messianic Judaism” movement donning false robes of Judaism. They bolster these claims of people aligned under “Jewish Voice for Peace” as talking for all Jews. In fact, I have personally confronted them. One of them was so bold as to say “I love Jews and support Jews, but Zionists should die.” She said this to my face after a city council meeting, while holding a Jewish Voice for Peace sign.
They have a zealotry which hurts our community and which blinds them to endanger everyone around them. Much like Pinchas and the spear, they give into their blind cause more than the process which protects us all.
And, like the spies, they report on falsehoods. They report lies. They espouse propaganda given by the Qatari government through Al Jazeera. They parrot lies from UNRWA, the ICC, and blindly antisemitic governments like South Africa. They use these lies to keep people from doing what they should be doing. Instead of working to build peaceful coalitions dedicated to the betterment of everyone, these sick lies only serve to dehumanize Jews and infantilize Palestinians.
Which brings me to my last point. And this truly is the hardest task for me. It’s what I struggle with daily, hourly even. It’s the struggle I have when I read these reports and see these news stories.
We’re challenged to find something noteworthy, or even good, in which is otherwise unsuitable for us.
How can I do this? What good can I find in Jews allowing themselves to be taken and used like this? In this blind self hatred and social flagellation? It’s a question I’d love an answer for. Perhaps it’s a misguided quest for power that would have them swallowed by the earth in another time. Perhaps the misguidedness just shows the passion we have as a people, the drive for change that we are always stoking. Even if it’s in the wrong direction, maybe we need to admire that intensity while we still are horrified at their message.
I truly have no answers for this, just as I have no clear answer for Pinchas, the spies, or Korach. What I do know is that these members of our tribe are hurting us and, are likely, themselves hurting. They’re misguided and they’ve gone down a path that is horrific. And while my first instinct is to rage at them, deep down my heart just aches for them. It aches for the fervor they could have for our tribe and family. It aches for the peace they could help promote. It aches for the knowledge and philosophy they ignore.
Normally I like to have a clear message for Shabbat. I think it’s important to have a clear message of hope or action for our day of rest. That said, I honestly don’t know what kind of message I can have when our own people are taken by lies, are hurting us, and are liable to be swallowed up by the earth.
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