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.

Bamidbar: Replacement

Last weeks parsha concluded Vayikra (Leviticus). The last section of the parsha, hence the book, contains the prohibition of substitution. 

לֹ֣א יַחֲלִיפֶ֗נּוּ וְלֹֽא־יָמִ֥יר אֹת֛וֹ ט֥וֹב בְּרָ֖ע אוֹ־רַ֣ע בְּט֑וֹב וְאִם־הָמֵ֨ר יָמִ֤יר בְּהֵמָה֙ בִּבְהֵמָ֔ה וְהָֽיָה־ה֥וּא וּתְמוּרָת֖וֹ יִֽהְיֶה־קֹּֽדֶשׁ׃ 

One may not exchange or substitute another for it, either good for bad, or bad for good; if one does substitute one animal for another, the thing vowed and its substitute shall both be holy.

Howsoever an animal is sanctified, it can not shed that status. Whether the sanctified (kodesh) status was acquired through a conscious designation; or through chance ( like the 10th animal to pass under the staff is designated for the tithe, or the fristborn) the kodesh status is irrevocable. 

Yigdal (Exalted)  is a song , written in Rome in the 1300's, based upon Maimonides 13 principles of faith. It contains the line: 

לֹא יַחֲלִיף הָ ל וְלֹא יָמִיר דָּתוֹ, לְעוֹלָמִים לְזוּלָתוֹ: 

The Almighty will not exchange nor alter His Law. Never will He offer any alternative.

The use of yachalif ( exchange) and yamir  (substitution) clearly hearkens back to the quoted phrase on Vayikra. The phrasing implies that the same rule: No Substitutions applies to the Almighty.

Certainly, in 14th century Rome, this line was a rejection of Christianity ( and Islam), systems that claim attachment to the story of the Israelites. They claim that the old law is superseded.  They claim a far greater number of followers than does Judaism. I find this courageous statement in Yigdal inspirational. 

In our parsha we have (what appears to be) the Great Substitution. The Levites will replace the sanctified Firstborn. 

קַ֣ח אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֗ם תַּ֤חַת כׇּל־בְּכוֹר֙ בִּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאֶת־בֶּהֱמַ֥ת הַלְוִיִּ֖ם תַּ֣חַת בְּהֶמְתָּ֑ם וְהָיוּ־לִ֥י הַלְוִיִּ֖ם אֲנִ֥י יְ

Take the Levites in place of all the male first-born among the Israelite people, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine

True, the phrasing is different, but does this not amount to the same thing: substituting a Levite ( not yet designated kodesh ( holy)) for a firstborn: holy by virtue of birth order and their rescue from the plague in Egypt? 

Rashi comments om 3:21

לְפִי שֶׁהָיְתָה הָעֲבוֹדָה בַּבְּכוֹרוֹת, וּכְשֶׁחָטְאוּ בָעֵגֶל נִפְסְלוּ, וְהַלְוִיִּם שֶׁלֹּא עָבְדוּ עֲ"זָ נִבְחֲרוּ תַחְתֵּיהֶם 

 For originally the service (the priestly functions) was performed by the firstborn, but when they (the Israelites and among them their firstborn too) sinned by worshipping the golden calf they became disqualified, and the Levites who had not worshipped the idol were chosen in their stead 

The Levites were substituted for the firstborn who had already disqualified themselves. The Levites did not replace an occupied niche, they were filling a gap. This explanation has a small problem. The original exchange prohibition  said

 ט֥וֹב בְּרָ֖ע אוֹ־רַ֣ע בְּט֑וֹב

either good for bad, or bad for good;

I think that there is a level of bad that is disqualifying. The idol worship at Sinai was disqualifying. The Levites filled the gap. 

The idea that there is are disqualifying acts  removes some of the comfort of  Yigdal. Rejection of the people is possible. We can see the curses of Bechukothei opening before us.  But even that ends with the reassurance that the punishment will not last forever

We are left with the system established in the parsha. The Levites replace the firstborn as the Temple workers. I do not expect any changes. 

 Behar-Bechukothai: Time

The midrash quoted  by Rashi on the first verse of this week's reading  has become the cliche that expresses irrelevant juxtaposition. 

. מָה עִנְיַן שְׁמִטָּה אֵצֶל הַר סִינַי —  Mah inyan shmitah aytzel har Sinai

What has the matter of the Sabbatical year to do with Mount Sinai 

This could be translated as " What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?", the roughly equivalent American idiom. 

Rashi's answers this question: 

to teach regarding every Divine command (lit., Divine utterance) that was spoken to Moses that in every case they, their general rules and minute details originated at Sinai and that they were only repeated again in “the fields of Moab”.

Mentioning  Mount Sinai as the place of origin validates the law and its details. Taxes, rules regarding property use and real estate transfers can be written and/or twisted for  profit; they become a means to acquire wealth without labor or production. As the song, John Wesley Harding, goes: 

Some will rob you with a six gun,  Some with a fountain pen.

Robin Hood rescues the common folk from the impoverishing  conspiracy of the clever and the state. The Law, imposed by the Powerful upon the defenseless, is controlled by its enforcers. Welcome to the USA ( or the Soviet Union, or Sweden, etc.) Thus, Rashi addresses the problem of validating land laws that can lead to economic ruin, and are, therefore, subject to scrutiny and mistrust. The mistrust multiplies over time, as situations change.  

Rashi also alludes to the fields of Moab. This is the place where covenant between Gd and Israel is reviewed, just before the entry into the Promised Land, where  all these laws will soon apply.  The regulations stated in this week's readings will not apply for 40 years. They are agricultural rules given to nomads. 

In the context of the story, the population at Sinai did not know that they would wander in the desert for 40 years. The 40 year odyssey was decreed based upon subsequent events. The tribes at Sinai believed they would be entering the Promised Land in days or weeks. But when we read this chapter, we know what will happen; Rashi reminds us. By the time the Israelites actually stand on the Plains of Moab, these rules, that appear dangerously deranged ( as evidenced by the reassurances that surround them:

וְכִ֣י תֹאמְר֔וּ מַה־נֹּאכַ֖ל בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑ת הֵ֚ן לֹ֣א נִזְרָ֔ע וְלֹ֥א נֶאֱסֹ֖ף אֶת־תְּבוּאָתֵֽנוּ׃ 

And should you ask, “What are we to eat in the seventh year, if we may neither sow nor gather in our crops?”), 

These rule are stale ( hence questionable) memories. Another meaning  of 

מָה עִנְיַן שְׁמִטָּה אֵצֶל הַר סִינַי —  Mah inyan shmitah aytzel har Sinai

What has the matter of the Sabbatical year to do with Mount Sinai. 

These laws are being given outside of their time. 

The Zionist resettlement  of the land makes this question more acute. These rules are ancient: pre-fertilizers, pre- market, pre-Feudal. Their age raises questions of applicability.  Kohanim ( the priestly class) cannot be identified reliably; the ancestral provenance of the land is long lost. Yet, there are attempts to apply these laws with various clever interpretations and workarounds. 

In modern times, the answer to : Mah inyan shmitah aytzel har Sinai  evolves into defining the relationship between those that have land, grain, food, money - and those who do not. The laws obligates those with wealth to provide for the downtrodden. The law obligates respect and care for the land. 

In a sense, if there is no mores shmitah, no more Sabbatical year, there is no more Sinai, no more belief in the Divinty of the Law. For a people exiled for millennia, binding agricultural law to Sinai, and the communication from Gd that it represents, is strange and tenuous. It my lifetime, it has had interesting consequences. 

Emor: Down to Earth 

Most of  Vayikra, Leviticus, Torath Kohanim, the third (mid) book of the Torah, deals with the temple service and the sanctity that it demands.  The rituals were a way to communicate, in a language that humans would never understand, with the invisible Gd ( whom they would never understand). The temple was the place where the earth met the Other. Making the temple a guest house for Gd  required that it be "clean" in a sense that is invisible to humans; it had to be free of Tumah, "ritual impurity". Tumah is a kind of filth that is imperceptible to  humans, but is malodorous and grotesque to the guest we are inviting. To the blind people, who lack a sense of smell, the preparations translate into an abstract set of rules. 

Emor starts by confronting the funeral. The death of  parents and other close relatives is inevitable  on earth. The meaning of such events from Heaven's perspective are  unknown. Contact with the dead is clearly a tumah; it contaminates, it is ugly and smelly and loud in the Heavenly sensorium. The Kohanim, the Temple priests who performed the rite, could not be tainted by this stuff.  Emor begins with compromise. There are some relatives that are so close that the earthly customs can override the obligation to purity that is placed upon the Kohanim.  It is a reminder that the Temple is not only a place where where Heaven meets earth; it is also where Earth meets Heaven. 

The set of ideas that give rise to the Temple and its service stem from Abraham. The idea that the world has a creator begins with Adam and Eve. A single creator, to whom humans can somehow relate, is an idea that Abraham spreads. A Gd that intervenes ( sometimes) in human events  on a mass scale is revealed in the Exodus from Egypt.

 At Mt Sinai, that Gd announces Gd's singularity and unity. Then the temple is built, in full recognition of the total lack of comprehension surrounding it. Immediately after the inauguration of the Temple, Nadav and Avihu, Aaron's first two sons, die because of an erroneously performed service. This is the ultimate demonstration of human ignorance in the face of the Holy. This is the middle of the Torah.

In the ancient world, understanding the world  meant knowing the songs that told of creation and "why" things were  the way they are. The most brilliant of the Ancients combined observations and rules and generated new, untested ideas. The idea of unity, that the principles that  govern the precisely moving and predictable stars also govern motion on earth, gave rise to our science, the new monotheism. As the tools derived from these advances improved, we came to quantum mechanics, which dispelled the idea that we humans can understand the world. Now we build temples to that mystery: colliders, nuclear power power plants, fusion devices. 

The end of the parsha, the story of the half breed blasphemer, mashed with the Code of Hamurabi (an eye for an eye), can be seen as another example of the difficulty with understanding the world. The youth(?) with the Egyptian father infuses the story with possibility of cultural clash. The Egyptians had the code of Hamurabi; so did the Hebrews; but the interpretations were  different. With a  literal interpretation these are cruel, sadistic laws. The  jarring repetition of the Code in this story is an opportunity to learn the Jewish interpretation: Compensation must be as complete and equal as possible; and that eliminates a literal interpretation. Rather the compensation must be monetary. 

מִשְׁפַּ֤ט אֶחָד֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם כַּגֵּ֥ר כָּאֶזְרָ֖ח יִהְיֶ֑ה כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְ

You shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lrd your Gd

For the present, one of the most important lessons of the Temple purity is how to handle the inscrutable: just follow the rules ( the math). For me, the reminder to realize when I do not understand is very important. Unfortunately, if I look deeply, it is all the time.