Numbers Cycle 7 Korach

Korach

Please understand that I have very little online access these days…I’m in  a cabin on an island in Northern Washington…I have with me God in Search of Man by Heschel and The Koren Siddur with commentary by Rabbi Jonathon Sacks.

 A common way to interpret the Korach/Moses archetypal dichotomy is this: Moses is always the societal leader. Korach is always the societal rebel.

Let’s expand on this interpretation: Moses is always the leader and therefore he is closest to God. Korach is always the rebel and therefore he is the human shadow. 

I don’t completely agree with this interpretation.

First, Moses and Korach bring out through their very conflict the synthesis of human physical/emotional error (and therefore the need for conscious self-restraint and responsibility) and spiritual power (and with it the accompanying yearning). In Genesis the synthesis created from the same dichotomy is ordered and in-flow. In the human world though such a dichotomy creates conflict.  The two men together therefore set the sparks of continual creation and transformation (and synthesis) but it is painful, The question is how we (here now) can use the conflict to accelerate creation in a way that promotes peace.

Therefore, contrary to what it seems, neither man is absolute good or evil.  Nether alone can attain the final divine goal. So even if Moses is the societal leader in a specific (present) circumstance and Korach is the rebel, without that electric demanding painful dramatic rub and grit there isn’t any light to take us to the next level beyond our very human form.

Next, if we get beyond superficial definitions based on societal hierarchy we can easily see that the archetypal Moses is one who can be a container and transmitter for God. He might be the homeless man on the street corner. He might be the teacher, the child, the river guide, the pilot, the passenger. Moses can show up in the garb of just about anyone. Of course, one might think it’s the Torah-norm for Moses to be the rabbi or the school principal or the senator or the president. But it just doesn’t hold true now and never really did. I will get to that soon.

 Looking at the other side of the coin, in this day and age where there are still men held in jail for the non violent crime of drug-use (now deemed legal in two states) well are they really the archetypal Korach? What kind of rebellion is symbolized by Korach? Is someone correct to line up the disgruntled trustee with Korach simply because he or she is expressing a need to lead the people away from one in charge? I don’t think so. The one in charge, in fact, could easily be the Korach archetype in that situation. 

Heschel, in his book God in Search of Man refers to the dangerous power of man.  By inferring that God can be the archetypal Moses and the people are the archetypal Korach, he underlines the overwhelming necessity of the Moses voice, the one that raises us above the Korach of our very human making.

The Bible, speaking in the name of Being that combines justice with omnipotence, is the never-ending outcry of “No” to humanity. In the midst of our applauding the feats of civilization, the Bible flings itself like a knife slashing our complacency, reminding us that God, too, has a voice in history.

The question now becomes one of discernment. If the leader is not always our de-facto Moses then how do we find Moses, the one who reflects Torah? I don’t know. I think though that in order to continually re-create ourselves we must keep looking. To underline this necessity I want to describe a recent experience I had in Jerusalem. 

I was actually in Ein Kerem.  I had wandered into the church where John the Baptist had been born. Knowing little of Christian iconography I asked the monk to explain. I told him I was Jewish. 

Ah, he said, this is the exact place of the birth of John the Baptist, this statue is his mother and this is his father.

The monk kept pointing. I was amazed by his same radiant smile.

This, he explained, is the Byzantium crypt, and this is the representation of Jesus and Mary.

I nodded.

And this, he said, is a painting when John the Baptist was a baby.

He walked to the other side of the church. I tripped after him.

And this, he said, is when he got his head chopped off.

The monk held the same smile.

I gasped. There in the painting a Roman was chopping off the head of the saint. And who was looking on and not doing anything about it?  The Jews. 

 The monk immediately noticed my look of consternation then stared at the painting himself. He turned to face me, still with the same smile.

Dangerous times, I said. The monk nodded with his smile.

As I left the church I thought about it. In my mind,  the Jews in the painting were watching the event as if trying to figure out who was Moses and who was Korach. The problem was they/we still haven’t figured it out and if we/they have, it hasn’t really been expressed. This is dangerous.  Just staring (whether that painter was correct or not) is dangerous.

Sooner or later (according to Heschel) we need to stop just watching and stop taking our souls for granted as we look on at (now) the new sources that so completely chop off the head of the divine other, whether he be (in our religious construct) the holiest or simply as holy a sight as we can bare given present limitations. 

This is a complicated matter. I could very well be wrong but this is what I think: The Moses/Korach dichotomy is a necessity of Torah. Only when we can raise it beyond strict interpretation can we deal with Korach himself. Only then can we release the dichotomy, accept it, and continue the release enough to synthesize all the pieces and manifest compassion and Peace.