Korach: A recursive story

Recursive has come to mean more than repetitive.  Wikipedia give me: Recursion occurs when the definition of a concept or process depends on a simpler or previous version of itself.  Recent and current events reflect (and clarify) the core story of this week's parsha. 

Parshath Korach is a story of dissent. Korach, a Levite, challenges the authority of Moses and Aaron.  Korach claims that the entire community is holy. A group of 250 aristocrats assemble to assert their overlooked status. 

Fabrengen was a Jewish Renewal congregation in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington D.C.. The highlight of the Shabbath service there, was the Torah discussion. At Fabrengen, in 1983, when we discussed Korach, there was overwhelming support for the upstarts; very little  support for Moses.  I was confused and uncomfortable. 

But how could it not be so? The Fabrengen community, by its  founding principles, constituted a rebellion against the authority of the traditional. Fabrengen was democratic; respected the rights of women, minorities, non-Jews, alternative beliefs. Its philosophy attempted to correct the errors of antiquity.

Judaism is a club open to all, but with numerous passwords and secret handshakes that are best learned in childhood. I continue to believe this. I have always doubted this

Democracy is a value that opens the world. Every person has rights and a voice. All people are holy. We will all care for each other. Is that not what (our) Gd wants? 

Democracy has hidden secrets. We have lived through, and learned of, times when it has turned on itself. The powerful and the loud, and the clever can manipulate the vox populi, the  apparent will of the people. Plato was not a fan of democracy. Aristotle called it the rule of the downtrodden. Karl Marx voted against it. It elected Hitler (and others). It is not the ultimate value and it  needs constraints.

Populism is the caricature of democracy.  The will of "the people", sometimes an overwhelming majority, sometimes an empowered plurality, installs a government of resentment, using a redefinition of truth.  If it all works out,  the choice was a triumph of democracy. 

When I first learned about Korach and his band (third grade?), everything was clear and easy.  Korach and his band had an evil agenda.  They tried to seize power for their selfish motives.  Moses and Aaron, pure servants of Gd and the people, were the victims of slander and hate.  With the help of heaven, good prevailed. 

When I was a youth, with an evolving sense of justice,  aware of the oppression wielded by the powerful, the story became more disturbing.  Had the legitimate grievances of a segment of the people been demonized and ultimately discarded by overwhelming, superhuman forces.  Where was the free and fair election? 

Now I hold both views... and yet  more views. Events in the world are neither elected nor just.   History reveals the merits and errors of deeply held values; and shows how judgments change .  The "German People" overwhelmingly supported Hitler in the 1934 referendum (89.93%).  A majority of America once supported the war in VietNam. In  My Back Pages , Bob Dylan  wrote: 

Good and bad, I define these terms quite clear, no doubt, somehow

Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now

I do not  forsake the hope of understanding.  I am just not as disappointed anymore when I don't. 

The  people  had witnessed the debacle of the first tablets at Sinai. Moses,  appalled at the bacchanal that resulted from his prolonged absence, personally decided to break the tablets. There was an ensuing purifying civil war and plague.  Then, the  manna fatigue  was  chastised with the sickening slav birds.  The popular  terror generated by the scouts who returned from the Promised Land ( a plan supported by Moses)  culminated in the edict of 40 years of wandering. This Moshe administration, the deep state, clearly sacrificed the comfort and security of the people for some set of hard-to-understand, higher values. The structure needed change. Selfish values could not be put aside. A change of leadership was needed: Vote Korach!

In our world, the evolution of institutions has become visible. The greed that motivates power  is no longer  hidden. Pandering to coalitions that can influence elections is no longer a secret. Every base instinct is fair game. This political structure cannot last, but it is not likely to be replaced by another system that is more to my liking. 

There are practical advantages to having a small group make quick decisions. Ideas that I do not like can work out better than expected.  I would be more comfortable with rules and consistency. But the rules may not be  exactly what I like. The rules will always favor one group over another.  The system will all evolve.  Evolution is a force that I must try to  mold... and ultimately yield to. 

 

 Shelach: Crime and Punishment

Most of the narrative of the Torah is motivated by Gd's promise to Abraham. Gd would eventually bring Abraham's descendants, a great nation that would emerge from bondage in Egypt, to the land Abraham had explored, Canaan.  This week's parsha describes a crucial point in the process. Gd will now delay the entry into that land by 40 years. Over those four decades, the generations that left Egypt, and stood at Sinai, and witnessed the most overt miracles, would die out; their children would settle the Promised Land - a story told in another book. 

 In last week's parsha, there was a transition in the style of the narrative. The book of Bamidbar ( Numbers) had begun with a census, followed by a description of tribal assignments for the defensive array  and Levitical assignments for the transport of the Temple. The enduring significance of these details is esoteric.  Now we are in a section of the Torah that tells stories that carry palpable complex, eternal messaging.

The story of the spies is the context of the diaspora Jew. It contains the reason(s) for the diaspora and comes to shame the wealthy Jew who remains in the diaspora. The story encompasses much more. 

This week's chapter chooses to start with Gd's permission, possibly instruction, to Moshe to send the spies:

שְׁלַח־לְךָ֣

"send for yourself"

In the Deuteronomy, Dvarim, the next book of the Torah, Moshe  tells a back story: 

וַתִּקְרְב֣וּן אֵלַי֮ כֻּלְּכֶם֒ וַתֹּאמְר֗וּ נִשְׁלְחָ֤ה אֲנָשִׁים֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ־לָ֖נוּ אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְיָשִׁ֤בוּ אֹתָ֙נוּ֙ דָּבָ֔ר אֶת־הַדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נַעֲלֶה־בָּ֔הּ וְאֵת֙ הֶֽעָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָבֹ֖א אֲלֵיהֶֽן׃ 

Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send agents ahead to reconnoiter the land for us and bring back word on the route we shall follow and the cities we shall come to.”

The spy idea was an acceptance of public demand. It seemed harmless. It was practical. It made sense. Moshe underestimated the power of propaganda: the available versions of truth, the range of interpretation and manipulation. 

I would have thought that the reaction to the spies needed correction by education. A death sentence to a generation seems excessive. Even the golden calf, an act of idolatry 40 days after the people heard of its prohibition directly from Heaven, had a less severe (immediate) punishment. 

The popular rebellion catalyzed by the report of the spies was very different. The people were declaring their own defeat inevitable. The punishment  is expressed as a fulfillment of the people's vision:

 וְטַ֨פְּכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם לָבַ֣ז יִהְיֶ֑ה וְהֵבֵיאתִ֣י אֹתָ֔ם וְיָֽדְעוּ֙ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר מְאַסְתֶּ֖ם בָּֽהּ׃ 

Your children who, you said, would be carried off—these will I allow to enter; they shall know the land that you have rejected.

The pronouncement of the punishment: the first diaspora: the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, is followed by passages that describe the meal (grain) offering and (wine) libation rituals. These were parts of the sacrificial rite that could only be performed once a land was settled.  They required ingredients that were not available in the desert. The service would be incomplete until the land was settled  making grain and oil and wine available. The expiation might not be obtained until then. 

The next passage describes the offerings given for expiation from error. It is a reassurance that mistakes do not necessitate severe, potentially lethal punishment, there is a road back. 

 But the person that acts presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, that person dishonours the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 

Forgiveness begins with the admission of error. The presumptuous, the defiant, do not have this option. 

There is a spectrum of defiance. The tzitzit, the fringes, that end the parsha, the paragraph repeated  ( at least) twice daily in the prayer service as a reminder  that our Gd brought our people out of bondage in Egypt, are a deterrent from the road of temptation that leads to rebellion. 

The warriors who rose to try to conquer the land after the 40 year exile had been pronounced demonstrated another kind of desperate, nothing to lose, defiance. Moshe tells them they are in error. Their adventure ends in defeat. But their story is told... to be interpreted by the generations that follow. 

Bihaalothecha: follow

Today, the state of Israel launched a 'pre-emptive' attack on the Islamic  Republic of Iran. The top generals and nuclear scientists  were targeted along with facilities involved in the production of nuclear  weapons. 

I am planning a trip  to Israel  in about 2 weeks  to meet a new grandchild. Shoshana and Micha are expecting  a baby in 2 weeks. Last night, they had to leave  their home and stay with friends so that they  would  have faster and easier access to a bomb shelter. They were following a government directive  that anticipated an Iranian counterstrike. L

American  press coverage of the events quickly evolved from shock and horror, fear of the Iranian counterstrike, to admiration  for the efficacy and presumed precision  of the Israeli actions. Prime Minister  Netanyahu, in his perfect (native) American  English  explained the motivation  for the attack. Iran has threatened to annihilate Israel  for decades. Israel could not allow the development of a weapon that could actualize that (religiously  motivated, hence irrational) plan. As the child of holocaust  victim/survivors, I accept  the Prime  minister's explanation, mostly  because  I recognize  my ignorance of the true nature of the threats and motivations involved. To a degree, I must trust the politically battered government of Israel. I do what I must.

I had intended  to write about how this week’s parsha humanized Moses. That will need to wait for another  time.  This is a moment when leadership  is abstract, without  consideration of personality. 

The parsha contains a pair of verses that condoned off from the rest of the Torah.  They are the prayers Moses pronounced when the ark journeyed forward and the hope expressed  when the ark rested. These verses  are recited when the Torah is removed and replaced into the ark in Synagogue. They add to the centrality and mystery of the Torah service. The ark, especially  the open ark,  looks like a communication gateway to the Almighty.  

 The wilderness  between Egypt and Canaan was (is) a treacherous desert. Unguided crossing  is deadly. Moses  asks Hobab, his father-in-law to join  the  Israelites  and "be their eyes" as they cross  the deserts.  Moses asks Hobab, an experienced  wilderness  man, to be a guide. He refuses to join 

Once the travels begin, it is the  people who joined, the asafsof, who instigate  discord. This is the  sin of disloyalty.  These people will not tolerate hardship .  There is nostalgia for Egypt and the slave food. How can you live on manna  pancakes?

These murmurings  bring Divine punishments that are mitigated by Moses.  Moses' leadership is questioned.( It is questioned so much that he begins to doubt himself.) It is Moses's  interventions that stop the  Divine retribution.

Ultimately, the Israelites  are guided by a cloud. A supernatural  force shows them when to travel  and when to rest. This arrangement  clashes  with Moses's  prayer: 'Arise Gd and scatter your enemies'. Is this  an appropriate  request?  Does  Gd need to be asked  to scatter the enemies  and make them flee?

Prayer  always contains the question  of who is the beneficiary. We  presumed (on the basis  of little  or no evidence) that Gd does  not get anything out of it. Were the prayers of Moses  self reassurance? That may have been an element. 

But these prayers were public. ויאמר משה. The people, always on the edge of dissatisfaction  were reminded about  the silent absence  of terrible troubles; battles avoided by Divine  guidance. Moses  was  also praying that the enemy within, the enemy of dissatisfaction  and nostalgia, would disperse.

In the current situation, we will see what  happens. I pray that it will benefit from true  Divine guidance with an optimal  outcome. 

Naso: Sota

An appealing aspect of Rabbinic Torah Judaism is the deep analytic process. The close reading of the text, and its placement into the context of the tradition uncovers assumptions that deserve to be questioned and are frequently found to be wrong. 

The central core of this week's Torah portion deals with assertions of individuality. The sota, the wayward, is a spouse accused of possible infidelity. From a modern perspective, the ritual consisted of series of steps that would always exonerate a woman, unless she confessed.

According to the Talmud, before a woman could be brought to the ritual, her husband would need to warn her, in front of two valid witnesses, that she may not isolate with a particular man - the presumed paramour. She would then need to be seen going into seclusion with that individual by a witness ( or two, it is  a controversy).  Once the husband is aware of the episode of post-warning seclusion, physical contact between the couple is forbidden, until the issue is resolved. Suspicion is not enough, there must be formal eyewitness testimony  for the ritual to proceed. The sota ritual is an alternative to wife-beating. ( I cannot guarantee that it was always used that way, but at least, the alternative was made available)

The accused wife is then brought to the Temple for the rite. Now (not before) she is offered an oath of exoneration. She can swear that she has not behaved in manner that could have allowed her lover to impregnate her. This vow of fidelity was not part of the stated agreement with her spouse when they married. Although fidelity was assumed, it was not a stated condition until now. Jewish marriage is not a set of vows, it is a contract within a context. The  fidelity  requirement is not stated. Now, during the challenge of the sotah ritual, the accused takes a vow of informed consent. 

This is legal informed consent. The ritual cannot proceed unless she agrees. She agrees that she may suffer physical consequences and public shame if she has, indeed, strayed. The sota contract, specifying the punishment for violating the tradition and transgressing the oath is written. And the words, including the ineffable  Name of Gd ( the great enforcer of oaths and traditions), are scraped into a slurry of water and Temple dust. She must drink this liquor, which she vowed to do. She is then exonerated.

The probability that the beverage of words and dust would harm a person, in the absence of miraculous intervention [or foul play] is infinitesimal. The natural course would be exoneration. 

Am I trying to legitimize an ugly, misogynous, paternalizing  section of the Torah? Yes! of course! 

Sometimes it takes a drama to save a relationship.  Compare Madam Bovary and Anna Karenina with the sota.