וַיִּקַּ֣ח קֹ֔רַח

“And Korach led”

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As a little boy in Hebrew school, Judaism was simple. God was good, the Jews were good, and everyone else was suspect at best. Moses was good, and anybody who fought him was bad.

In this week’s parsha, bad people are fighting with Moses:

Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth — descendants of Reuben — to rise up against Moses, together with certain other Israelites, two hundred and fifty of them: chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute. (Numbers 16:1)

These are no village idiots. These are big men of the community, coming to take Moses down. The problem? They think Moses is raising himself above them. Such a big shot! Talks to God! Who does he think he is? We had it better in Egypt!

Moses’ answer? A bake-off. Everyone makes an offering, God picks the favorite. Unsurprisingly, God sides with Moses:

… the ground under them burst asunder, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korah’s people and all their possessions. They went down alive into Sheol, with all that belonged to them; the earth closed over them and they vanished from the midst of the congregation. (Numbers 16:31)

So dramatic! The next day, the people blame Moses for Korach’s death. God gets mad and threatens to kill everyone, but Moses and Aaron beg God to let the people live. Still, God sends a plague and kills 14,700 people – just to make sure everyone knows who is really in charge.

God puts the Levites permanently in charge of the temple, and tells the rest of the Israelites that they will have to bring them offerings forever, but – notably – that Levites can never own property.

End scene.

There is a branch of philosophy known as phenomenology, which deals with the question of experience: the “what is it like” to be a person, or a tree, or a bat. Judaism is loaded with phenomenological ideas: that during the Passover seder, we should imagine that we ourselves were being personally led out of Egypt; the idea of kavanah, or intention, in prayer.

What is it like to be an Israelite?

As a little boy in Hebrew school, the phenomenology of Bamidbar was lost on me. The constant infighting among the Israelites was nothing more than good Moses, Aaron, and God trying to organize a rowdy, petulant, spiritually deficient, and morally questionable mob.

As an adult, the picture became more complex.

What is it like to be an Israelite?

Imagine: your community is navigating an uncertain and hostile world, managing internal dissent while trying to remain united against enemies both real and imagined. People present themselves as leaders, claiming special insight and moral authority. You feel as though you’re constantly being put back in line, threatened with punishment and exclusion, whenever you try to speak out.

Hard to imagine, I know.

For the last several years, Rabbi Dan has been running a weekly Nevi’im group, where we read ancient books of prophecy. The story is always the same: the Israelites turned away from God, to worship idols and sleep with Canaanites. A brave prophet (these terms applied only in retrospect) emerges to right the Jews’ wayward path. Rinse and repeat, generation after generation.

Is our time any different?

It’s easy to feel disconnected as a Jew these days. Infighting seems more like a rule and less like an exception… and not every Jewish community is as well-adjusted as this one (laughs). Between the militant nationalists on the right and the neo-pagans on the left, it can be hard to remember what the point of any of this is.

The joke, of course, is that feeling alienated from your God while half the nation makes war and the other half worships Ishtar is one of the most classical Jewish experiences.

What is it like to be an Israelite?

I submit to this kehilah that, by-and-large, it is just like this. It’s never not been like this. The experience we are having today is the same experience that the ancient Israelites had, watching Korach challenge Moses, unable to decide who was right and who was wrong. This is the Jewish experience. This is it.

Nobody has the answers, and everybody is confused. In Korach, God came down from on high to settle the dispute. Today we get no such clarity. Instead, we have process – discussion, debate, and a quest for understanding. Eilu v’eilu divrei Elohim chayim – both these words and these words are the words of the living God.

So: what is it like to be an Israelite? It is living with questions, instead of following someone with easy answers. It is thousands of years of refusing to be told what to do, of sticking with it, of staying in the game – and sometimes, admitting that you’re wrong.

In the end, Korach was right about one thing: all of the community is holy. He just thought it meant that someone had to win.

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This dvar was delivered in-person at the Korbanot Shabbat gathering in Bushwick, NYC on 4 Tammuz 5786