Dear Friends,
Some Torah portions are very difficult to read. Some are difficult because they address universal problems – infidelity or violence.
And, some are difficult because they raise a timely upset, they pierce a painful boil.
Such is the case with this week’s portion, Korach. In our parasha, we encounter the rebellion of Korach, who with 250 other Israelites, formed a band and led an uprising against Moses and Aaron, questioning their legitimacy as the people’s leaders. And, the rebellion became violent, initially with violent language, and then the terrible deaths of all the insurrectionists.
Essentially, this was not only the greatest threat to Moses and his leadership in the desert, but it was the greatest threat to our nascent Jewish enterprise. And, though it was led by Korach and a few others, what makes this instructive, and difficult, is that it was a populist assault on our then-duly selected leaders, challenging their legitimacy.
Sound familiar?
January 6 was not a novel experience. It had happened before – in Torah, in Munich in 1923 in Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch, in the 1990’s in Serbia and Romania, and elsewhere. In fact, historians indicate that such events are becoming more frequent – appearing not only in Eastern Europe and third world nations, but here in the United States, this year.
What is particularly scary, and is demonstrated in Torah, is that it is not difficult to build a righteous, indignant mob, and threaten a legitimately selected leader. Zealotry is contagious, and is difficult to quell. Today, with the internet, it is self-propagating. Moreover, populism when conjoined with zealotry, Torah shows, is not based on reason or rationality, but on pure emotion and passion, which again make it difficult to defeat. It took God stepping in to prevent the usurpation and perhaps deaths of Moses and Aaron.
If Korah and his minions could pull off a revolt and nearly come close to success, and have it memorialized in the Book of Numbers, read across the Jewish world this Shabbat, then clearly we should learn the portion’s lessons, and guard against populist violence. There are other ways to change legitimate leadership – like votes or recalls – not uprisings.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Some Torah portions are very difficult to read. Some are difficult because they address universal problems – infidelity or violence.
And, some are difficult because they raise a timely upset, they pierce a painful boil.
Such is the case with this week’s portion, Korach. In our parasha, we encounter the rebellion of Korach, who with 250 other Israelites, formed a band and led an uprising against Moses and Aaron, questioning their legitimacy as the people’s leaders. And, the rebellion became violent, initially with violent language, and then the terrible deaths of all the insurrectionists.
Essentially, this was not only the greatest threat to Moses and his leadership in the desert, but it was the greatest threat to our nascent Jewish enterprise. And, though it was led by Korach and a few others, what makes this instructive, and difficult, is that it was a populist assault on our then-duly selected leaders, challenging their legitimacy.
Sound familiar?
January 6 was not a novel experience. It had happened before – in Torah, in Munich in 1923 in Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch, in the 1990’s in Serbia and Romania, and elsewhere. In fact, historians indicate that such events are becoming more frequent – appearing not only in Eastern Europe and third world nations, but here in the United States, this year.
What is particularly scary, and is demonstrated in Torah, is that it is not difficult to build a righteous, indignant mob, and threaten a legitimately selected leader. Zealotry is contagious, and is difficult to quell. Today, with the internet, it is self-propagating. Moreover, populism when conjoined with zealotry, Torah shows, is not based on reason or rationality, but on pure emotion and passion, which again make it difficult to defeat. It took God stepping in to prevent the usurpation and perhaps deaths of Moses and Aaron.
If Korah and his minions could pull off a revolt and nearly come close to success, and have it memorialized in the Book of Numbers, read across the Jewish world this Shabbat, then clearly we should learn the portion’s lessons, and guard against populist violence. There are other ways to change legitimate leadership – like votes or recalls – not uprisings.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
