Korach

Numbers 16:1 to 18:32                                                                                   

Haftarah: 1 Samuel 11:14, 15 and 12:1 to 22

Psalm 32                                                                                                                            

Apostolic Writings/Newer Testament/B’rit HaChadashah: Galatians 2:11 to 21

This week’s notable anniversaries include:                                                                            Sunday 13th [1 Tammuz] marks the anniversary of the birth (in the year 1562 in the Hebrew calendar) and death (1452 in the Hebrew calendar) of Joseph. Tuesday [3 Tammuz] marks the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the 7th Rebbe of Lubavitch. He died on June 12th 1994 (3 Tammuz 5754).

This passage has the very sad story of Korach, who was a Priest.

The name Korach means, “bald”. This could be why the Torah says that being bald is not a sin (!)

Korach thought hew could not only out-wit Moses, but he could out-Bible The Almighty. This is not unusual for the enemy. He knows the text of the Bible quite well; however his downfall when it comes to the Bible is that He doesn’t know the One who authored it. We see the same tactic in Gen Eden – the Garden of Eden. In the successful attempt to cause Adam and Eve to sin the satan mis-quotes the words of The Almighty, and calls them in to question – “did He really say. . . .? You won’t surely die!” Whatever one’s position on the inspiration of the Bible, it must always be our bottom line in terms of what we should do and what we should avoid.

The “blossoming staff” of Aaron is not quite the same as the fairy-tale associated with my home-town of Glastonbury in Somerset. One of the many Glastonian legends is the ridiculous story that Joseph of Arimathea climbed to the top of a hill, stuck his staff in the ground and while he slept the staff blossomed. That story is highly unlikely to be true. It was, in all likelihood, invented by the monks at Glastonbury Abbey during the time when they invented the “King Arthur is buried here” stories. No, the account in the Torah is a factual account – otherwise it wouldn’t be in the Torah. After all, Torah Min HaShamayim – The Torah was given from the Heavens.

In our Haftarah reading we read about Samuel, who was himself descended from Korach. Under Samuel, the people decided they wanted a king “just like all of the other nations”. They were given Saul, a huge man. Sadly, what they wanted they got. They got a king who was indeed just like all of the other kings of the other nations. The Almighty was preparing them for the anointing of David, a man after HaShem’s own heart.

This week we are reminded that although we should strive to become more like our Moshia (Saviour) and our Moshiach (Messiah), we should also remember our place as humans.

True humility is knowing one’s place. Pride in this case dramatically came before a fall. Korach tried to tell The Almighty what to do!

Our Galatians passage tells us that we should walk the talk. . . . . The passage doesn’t teach that Kashrus (the verb meaning that animals, utensils and lives are clean) is wrong; it doesn’t teach that being Shomer Shabbat (keeping Sabbath) is wrong. It teaches us that inconsistency is wrong; hypocrisy is wrong.

It is not my place, or the place of CMJ (or any other Ministry) to make anyone’s dietary decisions. However, there must be consistency and constancy in our lives; otherwise people around us will see our hypocrisy for what it is. Making a mistake is forgivable. . .

So, as we make mistakes, we are assured that

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Shabbat Shalom!!