29 Jun HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD A MAN AND HIS COUSIN DEBATE HOW TO TRANSFORM PEOPLE

All-Blue. The weekly

Torah portion of

Korach relates the

story of a man by the

name of Korach who

debates Moses and

ultimately leads a

mutiny against the

greatest Jewish

leader. “The entire community is holy, and

Hashem is within them,” Korach exclaims. “Why

do you raise yourselves over the congregation of

Hashem?” The Midrash specifies, in greater

detail, the nature of Korach’s arguments against

Moses. Just prior to the Korach debacle, at the

culmination of last week’s portion, the Torah

presents the commandment of tzitzis, or fringes,

which obligates the Jew to hang strings on each

edge of his four-cornered garments. One of the

strings on each corner, the Torah instructs, should

be of turquoise wool, known in Hebrew as

techeiles. Now, Korach dressed

two-hundred-and-fifty men who joined him in his

debate with Moses, with four-cornered garments

made completely of turquoise wool and then

confronted Moses with the following question:

Does a garment made completely of turquoise

wool still require a single turquoise thread in its

fringes? Moses’ answer was, yes. To which

Korach, who was attempting to demonstrate the

absurdity of Moses’ law, responded: If a single

strand of turquoise wool is enough for an entire

garment made of a different color, does it not

stand to reason that a garment of complete

turquoise should not require one more strand of

this wool? Then, the Midrash continues, Korach

approached Moses with another question: As we

know, a Jewish home requires a mezuzah, a piece

of parchment hanging on its doorpost, with the

writings of two short sections of the Bible

(Deuteronomy 6:4-10; 11:13-21) that discuss our

relationship with Hashem and our obligation to

follow His mitzvos. Now Korach asked Moses

the following question: If a home is filled with

many complete Torah scrolls, does it still require

a mezuzah on its doorpost? Again, Moses’

response was yes. Once again Korach dismissed

this verdict as absurd. A Torah scroll contains all

two-hundred-and-seventy-five sections of the

Pentateuch, while a mezuzah contains merely

two. If a single mezuzah suffices for an entire

home, would not many complete Torah scrolls in

a home suffice to create a “kosher” and holy

space? Do you really need another two portions

on the door post? This was the public debate that

took place in the desert between Korach and

Moses. What bothered Korach? But why did

Korach choose these two examples to

“demonstrate” that the laws presented by Moses

were illogical. He could have chosen myriads of

biblical mitzvos that apparently have no place in

logic. He could have, for example, scoffed at the

prohibition against eating cheeseburgers or

shrimp or horsemeat. He could have derided the

mitzvah of purifying a defiled person with the

ashes of a red heifer. He could have questioned

the mitzvah to blow a ram’s horn on Rosh

Hashanah, as opposed to playing a violin

or a chello? Why did Korach dissect and

analyze the nuances of the above two

particular mitzvos? There is another

aspect that requires reflection. From the

biblical description of Korach’s family

lineage, it is quite clear that he was no

simple rabble-rouser, craving the power or

fame of Moses. Korach was a member of

the holiest family of the Jewish people, a

man educated and molded by the sacred

souls and kindred spirits of the house of

Levi. He was Moses’ first cousin (their

fathers’ were brothers). Furthermore:

Joining Korach in his mutiny against

Moses were “two hundred and fifty men of Israel,

leaders of the community, of those regularly

called to assembly, men of renown,” the Torah

records. If Korach was simply an egotistical

trouble maker, he would not enjoy the

companionship of 250 Jewish spiritual leaders,

scholars and men of vision. One must conclude

that Korach’s debate with Moses was driven by a

powerfully sensible argument, logical enough to

persuade great leaders to join his rebellion. What

was the essence of Korach’s argument with

Moses? Drama vs. action Why does the Torah

instruct the Jew to insert into each of the fringes

one strand made of turquoise wool? The Talmud

explains, because this color reflects the heavens,

reminding the Jew of Hashem’s majesty and

presence. Now, Korach and Moses debated the

nature of spiritual leadership, how to impact and

inspire physical human beings to refine

their lives and to transform the world from a

material, selfish planet, into a place of

spiritual energy where the inherent spiritual

organic unity of the universe is exposed.

Korach believed that you must impress

upon the heart the stirring drama, depth,

vision, and mystique of Torah’s vision of

the world. You need to shake people up and

overwhelm them with the majesty, grace

and splendor of Hashemliness. Let their

entire “garment,” their entire identity,

become all-turquoise. Let them melt away

completely and become fully enveloped by

the “blue light” of heaven. Moses disagreed.

He said that to move people, to let their

spirits soar, is splendid, but never enough.

For inspiration to leave a lasting impact, it

must find expression in individual and

particular actions, words and thoughts. If

you wish to make a real transformation in

people’s lives, it is not enough to generate a

dramatic momentum, to make them cry,

laugh and dance, to get their souls in fire

and their minds aglow with inspiration.

That will last for a few hours or days, then it

might vanish. You must give them a single

tangible act through which they can connect

to Hashem and bring His morality into the

world. You need to inspire people to make

one strand of their lives blue. The future of

Judaism This was no mere argument about

how to deliver a transformative speech. It

was an argument about what should

become the great emphasis of Judaism.

According to Korach, Judaism was about

awakening a passion to revolutionize the

universe. But Moses learnt from Hashem

that in order to accomplish this goal, the

primary focus of Judaism needed to be on

individual daily behavior, changing the

world one mitzvah at a time. Korach’s

message seemed logical. If we can electrify

a soul with a passion for making the world

a Hashemly place, is the individual mitzvah

ultimately relevant? If we can turn a person

into being all-blue, isn’t a single strand of

blue truly insignificant? Let us talk about

changing people and changing the world, not

about small individual acts! Ultimately Korach

felt, that Moses was misrepresenting Hashem’s

true intent in the world. By putting so much focus

on mitzvos, Moses was stifling the spiritual

creativity to be found in the souls of Israel. Moses

was robbing the community from its grandeur.

“The entire community is holy, and Hashem is

within them,” Korach exclaims. “Why do you

raise yourselves over the congregation of

Hashem?” The Rvolutionary and the Leader

Korach was a spiritual revolutionary, but Moses

was a leader, a shepherd to his flock. Moses, to be

sure, deeply identified with Korach’s message. If

anybody understood the value of impassioned

idealism, it was Moses, a man who left everything

behind in his quest for truth. But a leader is not an

individual lofty soul; a leader is a collective soul,

a person who encompasses within his own heart

an entire nation, from the highest to the lowest,

and who is deeply in-tune with the reality of the

human condition. Moses knew that a message that

inspires boundless awe and excitement, but that

does not demand individual life changes, will not

have a lasting impact in the long run. As the fiery

inspiration dies down, as the coals dim their glow,

black ashes are left behind. When the concert is

over, and the lights go off, what remains from all

of the ecstasy? An empty heart. When an

idealistic spirit speaks of transforming the

universe and lifting all of humanity to heaven, but

fails to invest much focus on building the daily

infrastructure that will harness their passionate

energy, at the end, he might fall very low, perhaps

even become swallowed by the abyss. This

indeed occurred to Korach and his men, as

discussed in the continuation of the Torah

portion, as it continued to happen to many a social

revolutionary in our own times. Has this not been

the story of so many artists of the “flower

generation,” who raised people up to the heavens

and then saw themselves and followers end up in

the abyss? Securing Continuity The lesson in our

lives is clear. We all struggle with the question of

Jewish continuity. Many Jewish activists and

leaders created programs which inspire Jewish

passion, Jewish awareness, tikun olam (healing

the world), the love of peace, the love of Israel.

These are all beautiful, noble and idealistic

missions, but they do not always create lasting

change. Passion and excitement without tangible

deeds on a daily basis are powerful but not

everlasting. The blue cloak is good but what we

need most is a single strand of blue. Our youth

needs to be taught the value and nobility of the

performance of a single mitzvah on a daily basis.

When the ideals of Judaism—the infinite dignity

of the human spirit, the inherent unity of the

universe, the presence of a living, loving

Hashem—are translated into daily deeds, we call

mitzvos, they don’t remain abstract celestial

reflections, that can vanish momentarily, but

rather become tangible and eternal realities in

people’s lives.