Dear Friends;

 

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

 

 

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

 

 

Korach, Datan and Aviram, and 250 leaders of Israel rebel against the authority of Moshe and Aharon. The rebellion results in their being swallowed by the earth. Many resent their death and blame Moshe. G-d’s “anger” is manifest by a plague that besets the nation, and many thousands died. Moshe intercedes once again for the people. He instructs Aharon to atone for them and the plague stops. Then G-d commands that staffs of all the tribes, be placed in the Mishkan. In the morning the staff of Levi, bearing Aharon’s name, sprouts, buds, blossoms and yields ripe almonds which proves that Levi’s tribe is chosen for priesthood and verifies Aharon’s position as the High Priest.

The specific duties of the levi’im and kohanim are stated. The kohanim were not to be landowners, but were to receive their sustenance from the tithes and other mandated gifts brought by the people to the Mishkan.

 

 

“ Dvar Torah “

 

 

In this week’s Parsha, Moses and Aaron’s leaderships were challenged by a group of distinguished and G-d fearing people. The story goes as follows:

Korach, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi separated himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth – descendants of Reuben – to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, leaders of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “It is too much for you! For all the community are holy, all of them, and Hashem is in their midst. Why then do you elevate yourself above the Lord’s congregation?”

At first Moses tried to reason with them but was unable to succeed. So, he decided to have a contest for the leadership. Moshe said to Korach, ” tomorrow, let each man take his fire-pan and you shall place incense on them and you shall bring your fire-pans before Hashem, 250 fire-pans, and yours and Aaron’s. ” And G-d shall decide who is the chosen one!

So they took – each man his fire pan – and they placed the fire and incense on them, and they stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, with Moses and Aaron, and the glory of Hashem appeared to the entire assembly.

However, just before the contest, Moshe was exceedingly distressed by the disrespectful attitude of Dathan and Abiram who said to him, “Why did you bring us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to cause us to die in the desert?” In turn, Moses said to the Lord, “Do not accept the offering [of Korach and his cohorts]. I have not taken a donkey from a single one of them, and I have not harmed a single one of them.”

Hashem tells Moses to tell the people to distance themselves from the tents of Korach, Dathan and Abiram. Moses relates the message and adds this statement: “By this you shall know that it was the Lord who sent me to do all these things; that they are not of my own devising: if these men die as all men do, if their lot be the common fate of all mankind, it was not the Lord who sent me. But if the Lord brings about something unheard of, so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive to the pit, you shall know that these men have provoked the Lord.”  No sooner had he finished speaking, than the ground opened up and swallowed the rebels.

Well, we all would think that the previous paragraph was the end of story. The miracle Moses predicted, happened. Heaven had answered his call in the most dramatic way. He had been proven right and Korach and his followers were wrong. Now, people would believe in Moshe and Aaron and would respect them wholeheartedly. End of revolution. End of story.

But surprisingly, the story does not end here. The next day, the whole Israelites community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the people of Hashem,” they said. Before, Moses had just over 250 people rebel against him, and now, he has the whole congregation against him!

This time, it is G-d himself who intervenes. He tells Moses to take twelve staffs, one for each tribe, and deposit them overnight in the Tent of Meeting. The next morning, the staff bearing the name of Aaron and the tribe of Levi had sprouted, budded, blossomed and borne almonds. Only then did the rebellion end.

The question that comes to mind is as follows. Why did the great miracle of the ground opening up and swallowing Moses opponents not secure his position and end the conflict? Why was the gentle miracle of the dead wood that came to life again, gave flowers and bear fruits, more impressive in the eyes of the people which brought an end to the rebellion?!

Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks gives an interesting answer. He says that the use of force never ends a conflict. It merely adds grievance to injury. Even the miracle of the ground opening up and swallowing his opponents did not secure for Moses the justification he sought. Force never ends conflict, not even when the force is miraculous. In this case, what ended the conflict was the quiet, gentle miracle that showed that Aaron was the true emissary of the God. Flower is a sign of peace, which brings tranquility to the people, and that’s what people needed to come to their senses and accept the fact that Moshe and Aaron were their true leaders!

Yes my friends, in Judaism, conflict resolution is not done by force, but rather, it’s done by pleasantness and peace. To end a war, people need to see peace and harmony in the horizon. Killing and suffering doesn’t bring an end to the conflict — It creates hatred. And hatred ignites the use of force.

Remember that a piece of wood blossoming and giving flowers had more power than ground opening up and swallowing the people alive. So try to get your spouse flowers once in awhile —— you’ll never know what great powers would it have?!

 

Shabbat Shalom, Chodesh Tov & Regards;

Martin