Parshas Korach
“Out of this World – to Die For?” (Insights from this week’s Portion: Korach)
By Jon Erlbaum
· This Week’s RRR (Relevant Religious Reference): “Three things
take a person out of this world: jealousy, lust, and honor-seeking” –
Pirkei Avos (Ethics of the Fathers), 4:21
· This Week’s SSC’s (Suitable Secular Citations):
o SSC #1: “I’ve spent most of my life walking under that hovering
cloud, jealousy, whose acid raindrops blurred my vision and burned holes
in my heart” – Astrid Alauda
o SSC #2: “… But clouds got in my way! I’ve looked at clouds
from both sides now…” – Joni Mitchell, also recorded by Judy
Collins
OUT OF THIS WORLD
“Out of this world”! Why do our Sages (who authored the “RRR quote”
above) opt for this language in describing the potential impact
of “jealousy, lust, and honor-seeking”? It’s safe to assume that they
weren’t using “out of this world” in accordance with the hippie slang, as
if to say that these drives take a person to a place that is “out of
sight, groovy, or psychedelic” (just as when the Sages use the
term “awesome”, they are generally referring to a somewhat different
concept). Perhaps they said it in the context of an uptown, high
society conversation: “dahling, these three things are absolutely out of
this world – simply to die for!” Also doubtful! But then again, “to die
for” may not be so far off…
I’VE LOOKED AT CLOUDS FROM BOTH SIDES NOW
Let’s hone in on the issue of jealousy: in what way does the phrase “out
of THIS WORLD” aptly characterize the experience of being jealous? Here
are a few possible ways to understand this linguistic phrase of choice:
Allowing our attitudes and behaviors to be driven by jealousy...
· ...Takes us away from being able to perceive the realities of
THIS WORLD clearly and objectively. We become so single-mindedly
consumed by our need to follow our drive for jealousy that we end up
losing access to our natural sensibilities and sensitivities. The
results? Becoming oblivious, inconsiderate, or even callously cruel to
others who interfere with our agenda!
o Example of the extreme: in “The Matrix”, the character
Siefer eventually justifies and pursues the betrayal of his allies. Rabbi
Nachum Amsel points out that leading up to the betrayal, there are three
telling scenes in which he is shown to exhibit jealousy, lust, and honor-
seeking respectively! From the perspective of our Sages, the resulting
betrayal would come as no surprise.
· ...Causes us to experience anguishing, death-like departures
from THIS WORLD , during which enjoyment of life all but disappears
and is replaced by an overshadowing disgust for living. As the Spanish
Writer Baltasar Gracian eloquently said, “The envious die not once,
but as oft as the envied win applause.” These experiences make the
jealous feel that they are living under a constant cloud (as in the “SSC”
quote above).
· ...Makes us believe we are above THIS WORLD. Speaking
of clouds, we can become so wrapped up in self-importance – so “elevated”
in our own minds – that we come to find our “head in the clouds”. And as
anyone who has passed through clouds by plane can tell you, you lose sight
of the world below as you’re in the midst of them.
TO DIE FOR
In this week’s Portion, a prominent member of the Jewish people, named
Korach, ultimately allows jealousy to take him out of the world in a
unique way that we haven’t discussed: the Torah testifies that the earth
miraculously swallowed him alive along with his followers. While Korach
was a great scholar with tremendous virtues, he coveted his Cousin Aaron’s
priestly position: and if he couldn’t occupy that position himself, he
wanted to make sure that no one did. So he constructed “cogent” arguments
as to why such leadership positions shouldn’t even exist. What was the
result? His jealousy proved so toxic that it became potent enough “to
die for”.
WHERE AM I NEEDED? AM I NEEDED
In Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avos), the great Sage Hillel
teaches us that “in a place where there are no leaders, strive to be a
leader”. Since statements in Pirkei Avos were composed using a
precise economy of language, we can derive logical inferences from them.
Thus, in the above quote, we can infer that in a place where there are
already leaders, we may not be needed as leaders, in which case we should
shun the spotlight instead. Therefore, we need to examine our
motivations and not just seek leadership for our own personal glory.
Similarly, in every day situations, we should generally avoid speaking
just to be noticed or to show off our brilliance!
But we can rest assured that even if we are not meant to be a leader of
one specific cause, every person born into this world must step up and be
a leader in some capacity. As Elizabeth O’Connor eloquently put
it, “Envy is a symptom of lack of appreciation of our own uniqueness and
self worth. Each of us has something to give that no one else has.”
Indeed, it is axiomatic in Jewish thought that every human being our
Creator placed into this world is sorely needed – it is only upon us to
figure out where and when to step up!
Have a
Wonderful Shabbos! Love, Jon & The Chevra
Text Copyright © 2009 by Jon Erlbaum and
Torah.org
