** This Dvar is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Chana Haddas
Ressler, who (still) inspires me to read and explore **
Welcome to another short, practical Lelamed Weekly Dvar. Please stay safe
and healthy.
In this week's Parsha, Korach and his horde argue for more power, are
exposed as selfish and evil, and are subsequently punished (16:1-35). The
very next day, the Jewish people complain about the recent deaths, G-d asks
Moshe and Aaron to step aside as He kills everyone, and sends a plague to
complete His will (17:10). Instead of moving away, not only do Moshe and
Aaron stay and fall on their faces in prayer, but Moshe then sends Aaron to
stand amid the plague with incense to stop the epidemic, which works.
Although there are many anomalies in this story, the most striking is how
Moshe and Aaron were able to disobey a direct order from G-d to move away,
and how Aaron has the power to stop a plague with incense that just a day
earlier caused the death of Korach and his 250 followers.
Rabbi David Fohrman points out that when G-d tells Moshe and Aaron to stand
aside, it wasn't a command so much as a prerequisite: If Moshe and Aaron
step aside, G-d will destroy the people and start over. If they don't step
away, then it can't happen. In fact, it was so clear to them that it was
their choice that when Moshe saw that the plague had begun to kill people,
he sent Aaron to stop it with the very incense that was used to validate
Moshe's righteousness the day before.
The message in this narrative is that we do have the power to effect
change, despite what seems to be overwhelming odds. Prayer is a way to
manifest what we value and cherish, just as Moshe and Aaron conveyed their
continued faith in the Jewish people through their own prayers and actions.
Our prayers and actions express our convictions and can effect change in
the world.
Quotation of the week:
"Action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is
merely daydreaming, but vision with action can change the world." = Nelson
Mandela
** This Dvar is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Chana Haddas
Ressler, who (still) inspires me to read and explore **
Welcome to another short, practical Lelamed Weekly Dvar. Please stay safe
and healthy.
_______________________________________________
In this week's Parsha, Korach and his horde argue for more power, are
exposed as selfish and evil, and are subsequently punished (16:1-35). The
very next day, the Jewish people complain about the recent deaths, G-d asks
Moshe and Aaron to step aside as He kills everyone, and sends a plague to
complete His will (17:10). Instead of moving away, not only do Moshe and
Aaron stay and fall on their faces in prayer, but Moshe then sends Aaron to
stand amid the plague with incense to stop the epidemic, which works.
Although there are many anomalies in this story, the most striking is how
Moshe and Aaron were able to disobey a direct order from G-d to move away,
and how Aaron has the power to stop a plague with incense that just a day
earlier caused the death of Korach and his 250 followers.
Rabbi David Fohrman points out that when G-d tells Moshe and Aaron to stand
aside, it wasn't a command so much as a prerequisite: If Moshe and Aaron
step aside, G-d will destroy the people and start over. If they don't step
away, then it can't happen. In fact, it was so clear to them that it was
their choice that when Moshe saw that the plague had begun to kill people,
he sent Aaron to stop it with the very incense that was used to validate
Moshe's righteousness the day before.
The message in this narrative is that we do have the power to effect
change, despite what seems to be overwhelming odds. Prayer is a way to
manifest what we value and cherish, just as Moshe and Aaron conveyed their
continued faith in the Jewish people through their own prayers and actions.
Our prayers and actions express our convictions and can effect change in
the world.
_______________________________________________
Quotation of the week:
"Action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is
merely daydreaming, but vision with action can change the world." = Nelson
Mandela
