Last night I
spoke about the nature of the rebellion of Korach. Korach, a Levite, along with a following from
among the various tribes, 250 in all, stood up to Moses and Aaron. He and his followers demanded of the two
brothers: All the people in the community are
holy, and God is with them. Why are you setting yourselves above God's
congregation? (Numbers 16:3) The reaction of Moses was very telling: He threw himself on his face. (ibid,
ibid vs 14)
Rabbi
Lord Jonathan Sacks correctly characterises the rebels, not as demo-crats, but
dema-gogues. This, because they
did not have a valid complaint about the quality of Moses’ leadership. Rather, they were simply jealous and wanted
to be in charge themselves. It’s one
thing to challenge someone else’s leadership by offering a different
vision. It’s quite another to challenge
the elected leader simply because you’d rather be in charge yourself. If so with regard to democratically-elected
leaders, how much more so with the leader elected by God Himself?
Moses,
inspired by God, issued a counter challenge:
the duel of the fire-pans. He and
the rebels would each offer fire to God.
The one whose offering was accepted would prevail. The one whose was not, would be swallowed up alive
by the earth. Korach and his followers
lost. The fire decided the fates of the
respective sides. Korach and his band
were destroyed by their fire.
Now
the people Israel were frightened beyond imagination. They had seen firsthand the power of
God. But they still didn’t get
it. They set upon Moses,
accusing: You have killed God’s
people! (ibid, 17:6) Moses had prevailed against the rebellion
because of God’s acceptance of his fire.
But the people still pointed the accusing finger at him. And as a result, God sent down a plague that
began to kill the people who stood against Moses.
And
Moses’ reaction? It was not to stand
back and let the plague kill the people Israel.
It was to order Aaron to offer fire in their midst. Since Aaron was the chosen high priest, his
fire was certainly valid. As the smoke
and flame wafted heavenward from the midst of the people, the plague stopped. The people Israel were saved by Aaron’s
fire.
We
can see that leading the people Israel was not an easy job. Not then.
And not now either. And our
scriptures do not whitewash the matter. Again and again, the Torah lays bare the
people’s sin. Our neighbours sometimes
use our own scriptures, our own sacred account of events thousands of years
ago, to show us in a poor light. To show
us as hardly deserving our status as the ‘chosen’ people. To show us as unworthy of God’s blessing. And even though we see our neighbours as
hardly the valid judges of good and evil given their own history, in a
very real sense they are right. We are
unworthy of God’s blessing. In the
Torah as in our history since. We screw
up again and again. We spurn our
birthright. We squander our inheritance. Because we behave in the way of the am-ha-aretz,
the unworthy, we are unworthy. We
should be a Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of God’s Name. Often, people look at us and instead see a Hillul
Hashem, a desecration of God’s Name.
By
being common, by being average, we abdicate our role. Perhaps it is difficult to blame us. It is difficult to be set apart for God’s
service. More than difficult. It is a burden that, apparently, many Jews simply
cannot bear. And yet, Moses bore his unique
burden, the burden of leadership. He not
only stood up to God as advocate for the people when they turned against Him. He did so, knowing that he would not be
leading the people into the Promised Land.
That he, Moses, would die within sight of the goal, the fulfilment of
the dream. Given the repeated onslaughts,
the senseless challenges to his leadership, one wonders how Moses was able to
continue.
The
alien fire that destroyed, and the authorised fire that saved, remind us of the
challenges that we weather when we seek to do God’s work. Every person who has sought to serve God,
starting with Abraham, was tested and had to endure and prevail in these tests
if he was going to succeed in effecting a Kiddush Hashem. Life is never easy, but how much
more so when one stands up for an ideal that others mock and revile? The ‘fire’ of testing is like the fire in the
forge that separates the strong alloys from the weak dross. Leadership poses its own unique tests, which
all who endeavour to serve God must survive.
Everyone
in this room today seeks to identify with the people Israel, the people of God. Some of you are Jews. Some of you seek to be Jews. Some of you seek to somehow connect yourself
with what you see as the Jews’ calling. But
it isn’t easy. The temptation to apply
the values of secular life, to our sacred calling, are tremendous. They are too much for some of us to bear. Some of us, whilst seeking the forms of
Jewish religion, completely miss its essence. The road to heaven is a minefield with so
many obstacles conspiring to trip us up.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. So many of us want to do good, but we are so
unfamiliar with our Torah that we are clueless.
I
know what you’re thinking: Rabbi,
where’s the comfort in all this? I
know, I know…I’ve barely uttered a comforting word this morning. Am I here to discourage you? I’m I here to make you lose heart? No.
The comfort comes when we learn to listen to the Still, Small Voice. Not to the Siren’s Song. The latter will only cause us to die as, our
ship smashed upon the rocks, we drown in the turbulent sea. For former will show us the way through. But it is easier to hear the Siren’s Song. Far easier.
It’s harder to hear the Still, Small Voice.
That’s
why Shabbat, a true observance of Shabbat, is considered the most important
commandment. It is the first thing that
we teach aspiring converts. If we can
truly manage to calm ourselves down for a day, if we can truly manage to filter
out the world and the Siren Song, then the Still, Small Voice will call out to
us across our serenity. It’s hard work
to slow down to the point where we can hear it.
Harder for some, than for others.
But difficult for all. Yet so
necessary. That’s why the Kabbalists,
the mystics of medieval Spain and the Land of Israel, developed such elaborate
systems of visualising the Holy. Of
quieting themselves down to apprehend the Holy.
Because they realised that they would be able to truly hear the Still,
Small Voice only when the managed to filter out much of the world. And only if they could hear that
voice, could they heed that voice.
So
one kind of fire, destroyed Korach and his band. And another kind of fire, saved the people
Israel. And an entirely different kind
of fire will save us. The
challenges of Torah redeem us as nothing else can. And make no mistake, not everyone listening
to, or reading this, will rise to the challenge. Many will continue to seek things according
to the values of the world. And great
will be their loss.
We
are the people Israel. Yis-ra-eyl. He who will strive with God. And that striving is for the purpose of,
ultimately, walking together in harmony.
Great is the reward of being able to walk in that way with God. But it isn’t easy. It wasn’t for Moses and his ancient people. It isn’t for us. Not easy.
But supremely worthwhile. Shabbat
shalom.
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