Korach: Worth Digging For

I don't know if you've noticed it by now, but the Torah is a pretty complicated book. It may do a lot of things, but it does NOT give you clear-cut scenarios with uncomplicated good guys and thoroughly evil bad guys. It forces us to ask questions, rethink stereotypes, and above all, consider the role of human beings in the creation, and maintenance, of the world. What are we here to do? How much CAN we do? And what does God expect of us? To make matters worse, none of the answers to these questions are spelled out explicitly in the verses of the Torah scroll; we have to dig deeper and find them for ourselves.

In this week's reading, we are taught a central lesson of human existence: communication. We

learn about how people engage with one another, and how to deal with conflict. But even this lesson isn't learned in a straight-forward manner; you have to delve into the text of our Torah portion. This week Moses faces a targeted rebellion, spearheaded by his cousin, Korach, who challenges Moses' right to lead the people. Surprisingly, God is more upset about the offense than Moses, and God threatens to wipe out all the dissenters. Moses and Aaron intercede on their behalf, but ultimately God follows through with the plan, and some of the rebels are consumed in fire while others are swallowed up by the earth (Yikes!).

Now here's what I find particularly fascinating. The very next chapter in the Bible tells us of a new rebellion. Unbelievable! Why do the people continue to defy God, and where do they get the chutzpah to keep challenging Moses as their

leader, especially since HE is the (only) one trying to convince God to spare them!?!? More importantly, I think this story teaches us an essential lesson about life; one that humanity needs to learn more now than ever before. Violence simply is NOT the solution. God annihilated the opposition, sending the people into a screaming panic... yet almost immediately after, they returned with more protests and more attacks.

Time and again we read about leaders of countries quashing rebellions

and oppressing their critics, yet the only thing it leads to is more opposition and more criticism. "We'll hit them so hard they'll think twice before attacking us again!" WRONG! It never works. Ultimately you are bound to lose that war. You cannot oppress people enough to make them ok with it, they will always rise up eventually. Moses tried to convince God that the rebels needed to be persuaded, not killed, but God would not listen. Even God - who can split seas, rain down plagues, and make manna fall from the sky for 40 years - cannot force people to love something they do not. And how exactly did killing them improve the situation??

Moses had the right idea. He advocated communication and empathy, and tried to bring the opposing factions together. Why does this approach seem so rare in the world today? Even when war is necessary, and people are forced to defend themselves, as we see in Israel, that must be a temporary solution. A reluctant, last-resort, highly unfortunate solution. Why? Because it never

solves anything. A demonstration of power does not really strike fear into the hearts of one's enemies. They are momentarily afraid... and then they commit themselves to becoming stronger, more lethal, and more numerous, so they can return and attack you yet again. And that cycle can only end in death.

No, there must be another way. Just as we must delve deep into the Torah to find answers, we

must explore even deeper into ourselves to find the essential answers to human existence. Violence is the easy answer; the primordial, barbaric, uncivilized answer that truly resolves nothing. We are better than that. Moses knew it, and God is constantly challenging us to discover this for ourselves. There's no time to waste, let us together start looking for better answers right now.