05 - Korach CBE

Recommendations

Info

Korach 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothbaum Page 2 To keep your attention, let’s start with Black Panther. The title character, the leader of Wakanda, T’Challa, is a wise and benevolent leader. His nemesis is Erik Killmonger. Killmonger plans to forcibly dethrone T'Challa in order to accomplish his father's plan to seize control of the world. Now Killmonger says he wants to come to power to stop the oppression of people of African descent all across the world. But what does he actually do when — briefly — he takes control of Wakanda? He orders the burning of a wondrous plant called the “heartshaped herb” — which affords super-human strength to anyone who ingests it — so no one can use their powers against him. Killmonger says he wants to end the oppression of his people. What he really seems to want is more power. Which brings us to Korach. Like I said, in this week’s parashah, Korach and his friends Dathan and Abiram join with a band of 250 machers — OK, the Torah calls them anshei shem, men of reknown — demand to know why Moses raises himself over the congregation. Kol ha-edah, kulam, k’dhoshim. “All the community,” they cry in a public display of indignation. “All of them are holy!” 1 Like Killmonger, Korach seems to be standing for principle. Help the people. All the people. But the question of leadership, and who deserves it, is tricky. Sometimes would-be leaders give the right speeches. But sometimes actions show a person’s true colors. Killmonger says he wants to help his people. But what he really does is let his rage burn into a fire of destruction. Similarly, Korach and the rebels say the whole community is holy. But how do they do it? With a public showdown. And in doing so, they inject insecurity and anxiety into the community. 1 Numbers 16:3 2 Talmud, Shevuot 39a
Korach 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothbaum Page 3 In fact, when Moses invites Dathan and Abiram, they refuse. Lo na’aleh! Most English translations quote the pair to mean, “We won’t come!” But lo na’aleh literally means “we won’t arise.” Na’aleh, like aliyah, “going up.” Or El Al, “to the heights.” The 15 th C. Portuguese Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel explains the curious verb. “Go back and tell Moses,” he imagines them telling the messenger, “that if he had summoned us with a pledge of some high appointment, or the promise of a boon that we would receive upon our arrival in the land of Israel” — then and only then — “we would have come to him.” By now, the problem is clear. Like Killmonger, Korach and his band pretend to want justice, but their actions indicate that what they most want is power. They claim to stand for holy community. But, given the chance, the both corrupt the community and compromise its holiness. Perhaps you can tell as much from their names. Killmonger chooses his name for, well, obvious reasons. In the Torah, Abiram sounds like Avraham, “father of multitudes,” but means “my father is exalted” — exalted, perhaps in his private desires, above yours and mine. Datan is related to dat, “law,” maybe using the rule of law to defeat the rule of love. Korach’s name is related to karach, the Biblical word for baldness. Korach’s supposedly principled demand is, perhaps, merely a bald-faced attempt to accrue prestige and power for himself. All of this, of course, is tragic. Tragic because of the destruction that these rebellions cause. Tragic because, while we are distracted by infighting, we are ignoring our true enemies. As I was writing this drash, I was informed of the anti-Jewish graffiti that had been found at A-B high school. God forbid we are distracted by Korach when Amalek is around the corner. But there’s more. These stories are even more tragic than we might think at first blush because both Killmonger and Korach actually have a point.
Page 1: Korach 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothb
Page 5: Korach 5778 — Rabbi Michael Rothb

05 - Korach CBE

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?