In the Place We Are Right – Parashat Korach
On Shabbat, a missile hit my childhood neighborhood in Haifa. Worried from New York, we checked in the extended family WhatsApp group that everyone is safe. After everyone confirmed and even expressed their opinions about the events, an inflammatory video was posted to the group. My brother, on his way back from reserve duty, asked to avoid political messages, to keep the group for updates and to keep in touch.
"The place we are right is hard and trampled," in his arrogance Korach forgot the poetry of Yehuda Amichai. He was convinced that justice was with him; it was his right to demand spiritual equality and challenge the religious hierarchy of Moses and Aaron. He is their firstborn cousin, from the honored and wealthy Levites, one of the bearers of the ark and an expert in sacred work. He voices his arguments in a condescending tone before all the people.
Moses is stunned, falls on his face, at a loss and disbelief . A family feud is the worst of all. No one prepared him for this.
Even if there is justice and truth in his words, Korach's selfish demands and his pride stand in his way. "His eye misled him," the Midrash tells us. God is angry and intervenes. Korach, Dathan and Abiram sons of the tribe of Reuben and two hundred and fifty rebels who joined him are swallowed by the earth.
But this is only the beginning of the story. Although on the surface God's attitude toward the rebellion and uprising is uncompromising, his subsequent actions testify to forgiveness and doubts. For him, the hole in the ground, the destruction and ruin are an opportunity for “tikun” and growth. He does not hesitate to examine the event and question his actions. "And you will hear a whisper in the place where there was a house," Amichai tells him. God listens and leaves Korach's sons alive.
.
"And the sons of Korach did not die"…, a moment before their death, the Torah emphasizes to us, God has mercy on them. "A place was fortified for them in hell and they sat on it and sang," say The Sanhedrin, and Rashi tells that they were saved because it was "a high place that where they could not go deep." Standing on the threshold of the abyss, they become eternal poets and merit to write eleven songs of the Book of Psalms. "Like a hind crying for water, my soul cries for you, O god;” they sing in pain and longing. "Even the bird found a home, and the sparrow a nest for herself…" from the depth of the Earth rises poetry that will help the nation generation to grow and emerge generation after generation from ashes and ruins.
The essence of thier poetry is identical to the actions of another descendant of Korach, Samuel the prophet. "Equal to Moses and Aaron togethr" says the Midrash about Samuel's spiritual power and leadership, a determined opponent of the institution of kingship and faithful to his conscience. Like the sons of Korach, he will rise from the abyss at the request of King Saul, on one hand will guide the desperate king and on the other, will deliver him in the name of god the bitter truth about his fate.
The poetry of the Sons of Korach and Samuel's gentle and wise determination are a testimony to the nature of “the tikun” that takes place after a fall, one that comes in the wake of a bold but failed attempt to change reality. A demand for change in general, and for change in social order in particular, if its source is in pride, excessive self-confidence, jealousy and the sin of arrogance, is doomed to failure. True change originates from a world of doubts, listening and love. “The tikun” will come from a courageous place of regret and taking responsibility, of faith in the power of truth and spiritual heritage. The beauty of the fall is that it is not an end, but a phase, an opportunity and a necessity on the path to inevitable “tikun”.
Usually, the generation that follows a fall will finds itself, through no fault of its own, in a low and unexpected place. The fall it inherited will not suppress within it the urge for change, the desire to ask difficult questions and the will to challenge conventions from a place of acceptance and loving, complete faith. From the depths of reality will rise a new and young generation that will find its way with tolerance and courage. "Doubt and love make the world soft, like a mole, like a plow," whispers them the poet. With humility and responsibility they will turn the wounded earth into a flurishing furrow of growth.
On Friday evening, another missile hit Haifa. We confirmed again there were no casualties. In the extended family WhatsApp group, my cousin wrote that this time it was really close and asked to share with us lyrics of a song about the skies. The melody is also beautiful, she added, it won't leave my heart.
Written by Ran Oron is an Israeli architect who has lived in NY for over 20 years.
