Parshas Korach

This week's Torah portion is Parshas Korach, named after the famous instigator, and cousin of Moshe and Aharon, who challenged the High Priesthood of Aharon by inciting a rebellion within the Jewish camp. Given this, we must ask a very obvious question: why would a portion in the Torah be named after Korach, an evil man who revolted against the leadership of the Jewish people? Seemingly, he should be among those who names we never mention, or only in conjunction with the ubiquitous saying, "yimach shemo" (lit. 'his name should be erased"). It must, therefore, be that there is a great lesson we can learn out from this portion and from the man after whom it is named. To find this lesson, we do not even have to look very far. On the very first verse of the parsha, which reads, "Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi took [himself to one side] along with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben. They confronted Moses together with two hundred and fifty men from the children of Israel, chieftains of the congregation, representatives of the assembly, men of repute" (Numbers 16:1-2), Rashi, the famous Torah commentator, tells us that there is a very "beautiful" Midrash (homilectical teaching) on this verse. In other words, before Rashi tells us ANYTHING else about Korach, he first tells us that there is something beautiful that we can find about him (the word "midrash" is etymologically related to the word for search). The lesson here is clear, that any Jew, even a Jew like Korach, who rebelled against the rock and foundation of the whole Jewish people has something beautiful in him which we must look for and find; how much more so any of the simple Jews which we know, about whom it is written, "they are filled with good deeds like a pomegranate with seeds". Therefore, it is so necessary night now, especially this week of Parshas Korach, where we learn once again about the terrible consequences of machlokes, of disagreements, that we make every effort to always overcome our differences and find the beautiful in our brothers and sisters. In the merit of this, we should all go up to Yerushalayim together immediately to the Beis haMikdash!

Parshas Shelach

BS"D

This week is Parshas Shelach, literally "send", from the verse which reads, "The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Send out for yourself men who will scout the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father's tribe; each one shall be a chieftain in their midst" (Numbers 13:1-2). This tells the story of the infamous "spies", whom the Jewish people sent to scout out the Land of Israel before they would conquer and inherit the land, according to Divine Command. As the story goes, the spies had deceitful intentions, and brought back such a horrifying report of the land and its inhabitants, that the Jewish people cried and begged that they should die in the desert, or return to the slavery of Egypt, rather than attempt to conquer the Land of Israel. For the 40 days which the spies toured the Land, the Jewish people were punished with 40 years of wandering in the Desert. While many commentators point out that even to send scouts in the first place displayed a lack of faith in Hashem, who had assured them that this was a good land, "flowing with milk and honey", in truth, we see other examples in the Torah where Moshe, and others sent scouts before a Divinely commanded invasion. Not only that, but seemingly this would be the only logical course of action, given the maxim that "one should not rely on miracles", but rather an individual must do everything within his power to assure the success of a mitzvah (for example, buying food for shabbos, and cooking it, inviting guests, etc. this all does not just happen on its own!); how much more such, such an important mitzvah as conquering the Land of Israel. Surely part of the command was that they should formulate a battle plan, and know, at the very least, which is the best path to enter the land. In the end, however, the spies did more that was asked of them; in addition to scouting the Land, they gave their opinion about the feasibility of achieving the goal, this despite the Divine assurances of their success. As such, they overstepped their bounds, and were duly punished.
Each of us too, has a Land of Israel which we must conquer. This includes our physical bodies, and our animal souls, and our immediate surroundings, which we are charged to turn into "a land of desire, flowing with milk and honey" though the keeping and performance of Torah and Mitzvos. Doing so, we must certainly plan and consider the best course of action, and even scout out the opposition, but along the way it may lead us to doubts about the possibility of achieving such a goal. "How can I keep shabbos? I'll have to turn off my cell phone and computer for an entire day! Keep kashrus? I'll need new dishes, and it's more expensive anyway. Tefillin? Isn't this just an archaic superstition?!" For this, the Torah gives us the story of the spies, that we should see the disastrous results of taking our eye off the prize, and forgetting the contract and the promise which Hashem made for us, and the testimony of countless generations, and the guidance of our leaders, that the land is "very very good", and the assurances of our success. With this faith we will immediately go up to the Land of Israel, to Jerusalem, and to the Holy Temple!