June 26: Korach – Number 16:1-18:32
Summary: This Parasha reports another uprising – this one against Moses. Korach and his band of followers argue that Moses and Aaron are acting holier than the other Israelites and that they should share power. God agrees with Moses and the earth opens up and swallows Korach and his band. Then Moses organizes Aaron and his descendants as priests in the ancient Temple.
Lesson: I love magic shows. I realized even as a child that it was all an illusion. I would stare so carefully at the magician’s hands – it was so important to me to understand how it was done! In our Torah portion this week each of the chiefs on the twelve tribes brought a staff to Moses. The next morning Aaron’s staff had miraculously sprouted producing blossoms and almonds! Wow. How did they do it?!
Miraculous events are reported throughout the Torah. The ten plagues in Egypt! The splitting of the Red Sea! Manna falling from the heavens to feed the Israelites in the desert! Water flowing from a rock! And don’t forget the donkey that talks (coming soon in the Torah)! How are we modern Jews meant to understand these incidents that defy the laws of nature? Are we expected to accept such wonders based on our faith? Are we heretics if we reject as impossible what is written in the Torah?! How should we account for magic, for miracles?
Commentators on the Torah ask the same question. They too find it hard to believe in miracles. In the Mishnah the rabbis suggest that God “pre-programmed” each of these events when the world was created. With this understanding, a miracle isn’t magic, instead it’s actually a phenomenon planned by God when God created the world. The great rabbi Maimonides gives a completely different explanation. He argues that it's natural to wonder about the miracles that appear in the Torah. However we shouldn’t be overly concerned. They simply demonstrate God’s mysterious and wonderful power over all nature. Spinoza, the 17th century Jewish philosopher, rejects that miracles ever took place. He explains them as “ignorant prejudices of an ancient people” who believe that God intervenes in nature for their benefit. Modern scientists search for scientific explanations as a natural basis for ancient miracles. For many the splitting of the Red Sea can be explained as a result of tides or a great wind. Finally, Martin Buber, the 20th century philosopher and theologian writes: “it is irrelevant” ...if miracles took place. “What is vital is only that what happened was experienced [by the people], while it happened, as the act of God. The people saw in whatever it was they saw the wondrous power which God had wielded, and they had faith in God.” For Buber a miracle takes place in the eyes of the beholder.
A magic staff that sprouts blossoms and almonds? Just like our ancestors, it is natural for us to wonder about magic and miracles. We read about them with fascination, wondering about their meaning and sensing that they contain secrets we should try to understand. We will never know if they occurred because of an aberration of nature or as an act of God. Buber teaches us that our goal is to be aware of God’s presence in the world, to open our eyes to the potential of miracles around us. As Jews we actually don’t need to find a scientific or philosophical answer. Instead we can accept that what we experience every day is the miracle of God’s presence in the world. What is most important is not what we see with our own eyes but rather what we feel with our own hearts.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Don Goor