On the Heels of Desparation

Since I didn’t write this last week, I’ve had several days to process more thoughts about Parashat Korach, including reactions to dvarim from others. With that in mind, this week, as so many before and after, across the world we are bogged down in the realities of communal wrongdoing, communal stagnation, communal lack of action and complacency, and communal confusion. Unsurprisingly, the elements of this week’s parsha dealing with the community were most potent as I read and reflected.

The portrayal of G!d in this story always resonates with me – the anger and disappointment, fueled seemingly by the actions of a small group of people, yet below the surface resonates the parsha from the week before, the communal refusal to continue the journey and enter the land of Canaan.

Mixed with the community’s action (and previous inaction) comes another question, one with far-reaching implications as we continue to live in societies that have leaders, governors, rulers, etc. In Parashat Korach, G!d’s ire and the ensuing punishment are a reaction against the uprising of a communal group against the leadership of Aaron and Moses. While the brothers were, as we are constantly reminded, appointed by G!d, the questions presented by this chain of events have been used to tame necessary protests against government by certain religious leaders and followers in the centuries since our ancestors lived.

Certainly today, but also in every historical era, communal anguish and despair is felt as deeply as communal joy and promise – as a result of years and generations where decisions and actions bring about future realities. Living through intense historical periods reminds us individually and as a present community how much is out of our control. Our reaction is often to assert control when and where we can, but the larger problems remain lingering and a yoke around the necks of people in today’s community.

At every level currently, we are experiencing deep hurt, isolation and alienation, fear and loss, and need for strengthened and new communities. While I can’t say that I drew many conclusions to help us understand the narratives of Parashat Korach, the communal pain and fear resonated with me as I considered current events. The past couple parshiyot, and the past few years, have given us a reason to sit with the unknown and blank space to seek creative responses and new inroads to hope. These weeks of Torah reading remind me that the times providing far less answers than there are questions present the impetus for growth, and the withering away of old ways and thoughts that no longer serve the community.