05 - Korach CBE
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<strong>Korach</strong> 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothbaum Page 1<br />
A storied and isolated tribal community. They have their own ways, their<br />
own laws, their own traditions and customs. They are chosen for a holy<br />
mission.<br />
And they are led by a forceful and charismatic leader.<br />
Until, one day, there is a revolt.<br />
A man well respected in the community decides the leader is not doing a<br />
good job. And creates a confrontation. And the confrontation creates<br />
calamity.<br />
Am I talking about this week’s Torah portion? Parashat <strong>Korach</strong>, in which<br />
<strong>Korach</strong> and his band of 250 machers come after Moses and his brother<br />
Aaron?<br />
Maybe.<br />
Or am I talking about the fictional kingdom that is the setting of both comic<br />
book and cinematic glory?<br />
The fictional kingdom of Wakanda, from Black Panther?<br />
Maybe.<br />
Now, for the record, I am by no stretch of anyone’s imagination a comic<br />
book or a superhero maven. At the end of the day, I don’t know an<br />
Avenger from a Ninja Turtle.<br />
But Anthony and I saw Black Panther. Twice.<br />
Once in 3-D.<br />
It was a total triumph. Not just the first wide-release, majority-black<br />
superhero movie, Black Panther was a lush meditation on colonialism,<br />
black empowerment, and leadership.<br />
But while I watched the film, it was in relation to that last topic —<br />
leadership, and challenges to leadership — that the rabbi in me couldn’t<br />
stop thinking about <strong>Korach</strong> and Moses.
<strong>Korach</strong> 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothbaum Page 2<br />
To keep your attention, let’s start with Black Panther. The title character,<br />
the leader of Wakanda, T’Challa, is a wise and benevolent leader. His<br />
nemesis is Erik Killmonger. Killmonger plans to forcibly<br />
dethrone T'Challa in order to accomplish his father's plan to seize control<br />
of the world.<br />
Now Killmonger says he wants to come to power to stop the oppression of<br />
people of African descent all across the world.<br />
But what does he actually do when — briefly — he takes control of<br />
Wakanda? He orders the burning of a wondrous plant called the “heartshaped<br />
herb” — which affords super-human strength to anyone who<br />
ingests it — so no one can use their powers against him.<br />
Killmonger says he wants to end the oppression of his people. What he<br />
really seems to want is more power.<br />
Which brings us to <strong>Korach</strong>. Like I said, in this week’s parashah, <strong>Korach</strong><br />
and his friends Dathan and Abiram join with a band of 250 machers — OK,<br />
the Torah calls them anshei shem, men of reknown — demand to know why<br />
Moses raises himself over the congregation.<br />
Kol ha-edah, kulam, k’dhoshim. “All the community,” they cry in a public<br />
display of indignation. “All of them are holy!” 1<br />
Like Killmonger, <strong>Korach</strong> seems to be standing for principle. Help the<br />
people. All the people.<br />
But the question of leadership, and who deserves it, is tricky.<br />
Sometimes would-be leaders give the right speeches. But sometimes<br />
actions show a person’s true colors.<br />
Killmonger says he wants to help his people. But what he really does is let<br />
his rage burn into a fire of destruction.<br />
Similarly, <strong>Korach</strong> and the rebels say the whole community is holy. But<br />
how do they do it? With a public showdown. And in doing so, they inject<br />
insecurity and anxiety into the community.<br />
1<br />
Numbers 16:3<br />
2<br />
Talmud, Shevuot 39a
<strong>Korach</strong> 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothbaum Page 3<br />
In fact, when Moses invites Dathan and Abiram, they refuse. Lo na’aleh!<br />
Most English translations quote the pair to mean, “We won’t come!”<br />
But lo na’aleh literally means “we won’t arise.” Na’aleh, like aliyah, “going<br />
up.” Or El Al, “to the heights.”<br />
The 15 th C. Portuguese Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel explains the curious verb.<br />
“Go back and tell Moses,” he imagines them telling the messenger, “that if<br />
he had summoned us with a pledge of some high appointment, or the<br />
promise of a boon that we would receive upon our arrival in the land of<br />
Israel” — then and only then — “we would have come to him.”<br />
By now, the problem is clear. Like Killmonger, <strong>Korach</strong> and his band<br />
pretend to want justice, but their actions indicate that what they most want<br />
is power.<br />
They claim to stand for holy community. But, given the chance, the both<br />
corrupt the community and compromise its holiness.<br />
Perhaps you can tell as much from their names. Killmonger chooses his<br />
name for, well, obvious reasons. In the Torah, Abiram sounds like<br />
Avraham, “father of multitudes,” but means “my father is exalted” —<br />
exalted, perhaps in his private desires, above yours and mine. Datan is<br />
related to dat, “law,” maybe using the rule of law to defeat the rule of love.<br />
<strong>Korach</strong>’s name is related to karach, the Biblical word for baldness.<br />
<strong>Korach</strong>’s supposedly principled demand is, perhaps, merely a bald-faced<br />
attempt to accrue prestige and power for himself.<br />
All of this, of course, is tragic. Tragic because of the destruction that these<br />
rebellions cause. Tragic because, while we are distracted by infighting, we<br />
are ignoring our true enemies. As I was writing this drash, I was informed<br />
of the anti-Jewish graffiti that had been found at A-B high school.<br />
God forbid we are distracted by <strong>Korach</strong> when Amalek is around the<br />
corner.<br />
But there’s more. These stories are even more tragic than we might think at<br />
first blush because both Killmonger and <strong>Korach</strong> actually have a point.
<strong>Korach</strong> 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothbaum Page 4<br />
Killmonger is right, in that his country of origin should be helping those in<br />
the African diaspora. Like it says in Talmud (in reference to Jews), kol<br />
Yisrael areivim zeh lazeh. “All Jews are responsible, one to another.” 2<br />
<strong>Korach</strong> too is right. All of Israel is holy. That message is as important<br />
today as it ever was, especially given the infighting that we see in too much<br />
of the Jewish community.<br />
Imagine if Killmonger had spoken directly to T’Challa to plead for his<br />
people? Imagine if <strong>Korach</strong> and his band had shared with Moses their<br />
concerns? Imagine if, instead of public blaming and shaming, they had<br />
approached Moses respectfully — and privately.<br />
Imagine what they could have achieved together.<br />
For those of us who live in community and care about community, who<br />
serve on boards or who care about people who serve, there’s a powerful<br />
cautionary tale here.<br />
You can have a good point, and still make it in a bad way.<br />
As a rabbi, it’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way.<br />
Making yourself an extremist doesn’t make you more right. And<br />
martyrdom doesn’t make holiness.<br />
Wow, but sometimes it sure feels that way. In the moment, it’s more<br />
gratifying to rage, to draw lines in the sand and howl into the night.<br />
What’s harder is to sit with people we know, and be curious about our<br />
complicated selves.<br />
What’s harder is to lean into the harsh edges of our differences.<br />
What’s harder is to stay in community — even when it’s not the exact<br />
community of our dreams.<br />
But maybe it’s time to take the advice of the Minnesoter rebbe, Nobel-prize<br />
winner Bob Dylan:<br />
2<br />
Talmud, Shevuot 39a
<strong>Korach</strong> 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothbaum Page 5<br />
“I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.”<br />
Yes, all of this is harder. But it’s more loving. And more holy. And, from<br />
my experience, usually more effective.<br />
It’s a great blessing to continue growing this community with all of you.<br />
May we learn the hard-earned lessons of Killmonger and <strong>Korach</strong> —<br />
refusing to let our differences alienate us from each other.<br />
May we instead open our space, and our hearts, to the power and potential<br />
of our people, arguing together and listening together and loving each<br />
other together. And building a truly holy community.<br />
Together.