Jewish religious values are, in some important ways, profoundly counter-cultural. The individual is important, as every human being is created in the Divine image and has infinite value. But, according to our tradition, the individual can live a meaningful and fulfilling life only in community. Jewish values reject the so-called “rugged individual”. That is why our sages disliked the nazarite, the person who takes on strict personal vows, and why there is no Jewish tradition of religious seekers who go off on their own. Life is lived in community. We see that in this week’s Torah portion when Korach challenges Moses for the leadership of the Israelites. Our portion begins, “Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself,… to rise up against Moses” (Numbers 16:1-2) Commenting on this verse, Rashi writes, “He betook himself on one side with the view of separating himself from out of the community so that he might raise a protest regarding the priesthood to which Moses had appointed his brother. This is what Onkelos means when he renders it by ואתפלג — “he separated himself” from the rest of the community in order to maintain dissension.” Separating oneself from the community, or placing yourself higher than others leads to discord and conflict. This echoes the statement of Hillel in Pirkei Avot (The Sayings of the Sages) 2:4, “Do not separate yourself from the community.” In community we find support, in our times of joy and in our times of sorrow. In community we find strength that we may lack, as it is said, We succeed together, but we each fail alone. In the Jewish view, success is communal. This goes against some basic American values and Ayn Rand would not agree, but it has served us well over our 3,000 year history and continues to serve us to this day.
Korach, Numbers 16:1-18:32, Parshat Hashavua for Shabbat, June 24, 2023
June 22, 2023 by tbhrich • Drashot
Jewish religious values are, in some important ways, profoundly counter-cultural. The individual is important, as every human being is created in the Divine image and has infinite value. But, according to our tradition, the individual can live a meaningful and fulfilling life only in community. Jewish values reject the so-called “rugged individual”. That is why our sages disliked the nazarite, the person who takes on strict personal vows, and why there is no Jewish tradition of religious seekers who go off on their own. Life is lived in community. We see that in this week’s Torah portion when Korach challenges Moses for the leadership of the Israelites. Our portion begins, “Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself,… to rise up against Moses” (Numbers 16:1-2) Commenting on this verse, Rashi writes, “He betook himself on one side with the view of separating himself from out of the community so that he might raise a protest regarding the priesthood to which Moses had appointed his brother. This is what Onkelos means when he renders it by ואתפלג — “he separated himself” from the rest of the community in order to maintain dissension.” Separating oneself from the community, or placing yourself higher than others leads to discord and conflict. This echoes the statement of Hillel in Pirkei Avot (The Sayings of the Sages) 2:4, “Do not separate yourself from the community.” In community we find support, in our times of joy and in our times of sorrow. In community we find strength that we may lack, as it is said, We succeed together, but we each fail alone. In the Jewish view, success is communal. This goes against some basic American values and Ayn Rand would not agree, but it has served us well over our 3,000 year history and continues to serve us to this day.