Rabbi Janine's Messages

Dear Community, 

When is it ok to challenge authority? 

When is a leader qualified to have full authority and when does he become a dictator? 

How do we know a leader keeps the community front and center of their work and when a leader cloaks self-interest in their decisions? 

What makes one person a martyr and another a traitor? 

These are the questions that come up each year when we reach Parshat Korach, this week’s Torah portion. We witness in this week’s parsha a power struggle  ending with hundreds of people dying. Korach and his men try to take power from Moses but Gd’s continued preference of Moses is shown when Korach and his people are literally swallowed up by the earth. Quite a dramatic statement from Gd. 

Korach represents in our Torah a leader who cloaks his own power hungry self interests in the language of democracy- he first approaches Moses saying, if we a holy people and all of us are holy, why should you Moses by above us? Why can’t we also communicate with Gd? 

Whenever I read Korach’s challenge to Moses I am struck by how much his argument makes sense to me. Our Torah states in Exodus, “You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Korach knows this and he quotes this line saying, “You Moses have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the Lord is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourself above the Lord’s congregation?” 

According to Torah and Jewish tradition, Korach is the enemy of Moses. Korach is punished for his brazenness in challenging Moses’ authority (and ultimately Gd’s choice of appointing Moses as head of the people), and yet it still is alarming how much Korach’s argument at least on the surface makes complete sense! If anything, isn’t Korach’s argument more in line with our democratic, American values? If everyone is holy, shouldn’t everyone have a shot to be the leader? Would the ancient Israelites have considered holding elections? If Moses was our leader, would we consider it ourselves?

But Korach is not the hero of our story. It helps to be reminded of what makes Moses an exceptional leader in the first place and why Korach’s challenge is such an affront to Gd. 

Here is a list of some of the positive traits Moses possesses: humility, a reluctance to be a leader, protectiveness of the Israelites even when Gd wants to destroy them, and perhaps most important of all, Gd chose Moses to lead. 

Here is a list of what we know about Korach: that he has the chutzpah to challenge Moses.
Ok, maybe we only really know one thing about Korach, because afterwards he dies a horrific death with hundreds of his followers. What we do know is that our rabbinic tradition uses Korach as a foil, someone in stark contrast to Moses’ character. Where Moses is selfless, we are supposed to see Korach as selfish. Where Moses is Gd’s servant, we are supposed to see Korach as acting outside of Gd’s will. Where Moses’ actions are out of love for Gd and the Israelites, we are supposed to see Korach’s actions as rooted in personal ambition.

You may be thinking, ok, well, Korach was killed, end of story right? Why should we continue to focus on one of the minor villains in our collective history?

We continue to focus on Korach because we can all relate to him. All of us have a little bit of Korach inside of us. Some of us have a little bit of Korach and a lot of Moses, others a little Moses and unfortunately a lot of Korach. This Torah portion can serve as an annual reminder to be more like Moses. To access the parts of ourselves that reflect Moses’ best characteristics. 

When we tap into our inner Moses, when we recall our faith and our humility in whatever role we find ourselves in, whether as a leader or as a member of the group, we can move in the world as better people. When we act out of fear and selfishness we channel Korach and often make rash decisions we regret later. When faced with a decision, ask yourself, “Am I responding with my inner Korach or my inner Moses?”  

Sometimes it can feel like the world is run by Korachs. Our challenge is not to join in that power hungry rush to the top. In times of hardship and stress, when faced with a choice, may we all notice the Korach within us and choose to embody Moses instead. 

Shabbat Shalom, 

​​​​​​​Rabbi Janine Jankovitz