For Life Do Us Part
Whilst the annual reading of the impropriety of Korach and his followers never gets any easier to understand, there seems to be an unsettling familiarity with his actions. Rashi on the curious phrase used to introduce the narrative, Vayikach and he took, brings the translation of Onklos who employs the following term; ואתפלג v’etpaleg “he separated himself” from the rest of the community. Pilug to break up, to divide ( in order to conquer). Ominously, a charedi sect that continues to make the headlines through their despicable behavior, proudly call themselves Peleg Yerushalmi, publicizing their primary if not exclusive goal (of Korach too), to divide, spin lies, and bring dissension that desecrates rather than honors God’s name.
As the story develops there appears to be a reciprocal exchange, as the terrifying punishment looms those who are deemed innocent are instructed to separate themselves, God speaks to Moses and Aaron to say…16:21
הִבָּ֣דְל֔וּ מִתּ֖וֹךְ הָעֵדָ֣ה הַזֹּ֑את וַאֲכַלֶּ֥ה אֹתָ֖ם כְּרָֽגַע׃
“Stand back from this community so that I may annihilate them in an instant!”
It is a horrifying and yet baffling directive. The romance of Havdala is alarmingly distinguished. To borrow the words of Leonard Cohen;
Who by Fire who by water
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time…
…And who shall I say is calling?
Who exactly is the guilty party, the community, decreed to be annihilated? Additionally, what is the intention of the (superfluous) term karega, right now? Not less perplexing, can God not make the distinction alone?
That whole generation was destined to die in the desert as a result of the sin of the spies, so surely חייב מיתה פטור… One who is already liable, is exempt from additional punishments. Perhaps that is the implication of karega, right now, they will not die over the next forty years, rather immediately. But why the alarming directive to move out of the line of fire. Has God lost the ability to make that distinction? It summons the pleas of Abraham over Sodom, Bereishit 18:23-25;…”Will you really destroy the righteous with the wicked? … Similarly, it evokes the perplexity around the killing of the first borns of Egypt, and the “protection” required for (first) children of Israel.
If this was not enough the scenario is almost repeated word for word a chapter later, as the people once again rally against Moses and Aaron with the claim; “You two have brought death upon God’s people!” This time God obscurely speaks to Moses, and not Aaron, 17:10;
הֵרֹ֗מּוּ מִתּוֹךְ֙ הָעֵדָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את וַאֲכַלֶּ֥ה אֹתָ֖ם כְּרָ֑גַע …
“Remove yourselves from this community, so that I may annihilate them in an instant…”
The word Hibodlu has been replaced by Heiromu, but the terrifying abrupt intent is identical. One wonders what are the people and God attempting to achieve that has not already been attained. Is it a desperate nothing or perhaps everything to lose strategy?
Even when things appear to be predetermined in this case in an extreme manner, life must be pursued. The possibility of failure never absolves one of the responsibility to act. This dual strategy was famously articulated by Ben Gurion, relating to the British Mandate’s limitations on Jewish Immigration in 1939; “We must assist the British in the war as if there were no White Paper, and we must resist the White Paper as if there were no war”
The capacity to live within these dual, competing, even conflicting realities was the crucial attribute bestowed upon that generation in the desert but all the more importantly to their descendants who would make that desert bloom.
Bringing these insights into our realities amid [F]laws being passed in the Knesset where too many that have made taking rather than giving their sole purpose, it is high time For Life Must We Part.
