June 27th: Korach
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
In the Land of Israel, the Reform-versus-Orthodox Debate is ubiquitous and can break out in the most unexpected of places. Whether in grocery checkout lines or cafes, all one has to mention is that one is a Reform Rabbi, and the debate is on—with total strangers getting very involved. In one case, all it took was studying Mishna bare headed in a laundromat. The owner insisted that a yarmulke should be worn when studying holy texts, and, after a vigorous discussion, the Reform rabbinical student was banned from the laundromat (and had to do laundry in the bathtub). It is worse for female Rabbis who have to deal with both the Reform-vs.-Orthodox debate and the fact that modern Hebrew lacks an accepted word for female rabbis.
For many of us, it is more convenient to avoid the debate and travel incognito. But there are times when one encounters ugly remarks about Reform Judaism that the temptation to argue is intense. To wit, here is an argument I did not have then and there—in an ultra-Orthodox synagogue near Jerusalem, but one that a more receptive audience may find interesting.
It was the week of Korach (Numbers 16), and the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Rabbi’s D’var Torah made a point of calling Korach the “original Reform Jew.” Korach, as you may remember, is the evil rebel who attempts to overthrow Moses but who is instead swallowed alive by an earthquake. Perhaps I should not have been surprised, but hearing the claim that Korach and Reform Jews “hate God and Judaism” was a shocking reconfiguration of the Biblical story.
As the Torah tells it, Korach is unhappy with the prominence of his cousins, Moses and Aaron, and mounts a rebellion claiming to be a champion of democracy and equal opportunity. He accuses them of taking unfair advantage of their leadership positions. “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the Lord is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the Lord’s congregation?” Though Korach already has high status as a Levite, he wants more, and he gathers some 250 followers for his rebellion.
Judging Korach’s true motivation is tricky. His words seem to be calling for equality, but he could be using democratic rhetoric to seize power. He could be striving for egalitarianism, or he could be, like George Orwell’s Napoleon the Pig, orchestrating a new regime where “all animals are equal, but some (like him!) are more equal than others.”
It is not a difficult decision for God—God Who knows Korach’s heart and Who squashes the rebellion with extreme prejudice. As Moses prophesies: “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 (Korach and his followers) 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 into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have spurned the Lord.” The Israelites do not have to wait long. “Scarcely had he finished speaking…when the ground under Korach and his followers burst asunder, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up…” (Numbers 16.28-32) Tradition takes a hint from God’s response and thus judges Korach as insincere and manipulative—as well as greedy, immodest, and bent on tyranny.
Many Orthodox people consider us Reform Jews “enemies of Judaism” because their official position is that every word of both the Written Torah (Bible) and the Oral Torah (Talmud) were given to Moses at Mount Sinai—and that every jot and tittle of Judaism is exactly the same today as it was back then. Even though the holy texts bely this party line, they persist in the belief that their Rabbis’ decrees are exactly what the Lord God wants them to do. We, however, know better. In the Liberal streams of Judaism—Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist, we know that Judaism has undergone a number of reformations and reformulations over the millennia, the most significant being the move from Biblical Judaism to Rabbinic/Talmudic Judaism. We know that whatever God said back then has been filtered through centuries of human thinking and religious creativity. We Liberal Jews love God and understand Jewish history for what it is: the continuing effort of an ancient and continuing people to approach, understand, and learn to live in a conscious relationship with the One God of the Universe.
I am not saying that the Orthodox do not love God, but their love for God is impossible to separate from their allegiance to Rabbinic authority. When confronted with some of Tradition’s problematic baggage—timebound and culture-bound thoughts and practices that are ungodly, Liberal Judaism helps Tradition improve itself, while Orthodox Judaism too often stands on Scriptural and Talmudic inerrancy and thus rejects out-of-hand new levels of holiness and wisdom. When beset with a choice between Rabbinic authority and making Judaism more holy, the Orthodox too often choose Rabbinic authority, and it is disappointing.
The real conflict is not between God and Reform Judaism; it is between the Orthodox approach to Jewish Tradition and the path of Jewish religious development that is clearly reflected in our most holy documents. We are not like Korach and do not deny God or God’s authority in the world. What we are is open-minded enough to perceive Judaism’s developmental process: that we Jews have worked and crafted our religion to get closer and closer to God.
An example of Tradition’s self-awareness and developmental dynamic is found in the Talmud (Menachot 29b). Even Moses’ words are not God’s final or definitive message.
“Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and drawing crowns on the letters of the Torah. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, why are You giving the Torah these additions? God said to him: There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name. He is destined to derive from each and every thorn of these crowns mounds upon mounds of halachot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, show him to me. God said to him: Turn around. Moses found himself at the end of the eighth row in Rabbi Akiva’s study hall and did not understand what they were saying. Moses’ strength waned, as he thought his Torah knowledge was deficient. When Rabbi Akiva arrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akiva said to them: It is a halachah transmitted to Moses from Sinai. When Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive.”