Thank you for coming to my bar mitzvah. We have just read
Parsha Korah. Korah is a pretty dramatic and violent parsha. It is about a man
named Korah, who was the grandson of Levi, the son of Yacov. Korah was upset
when Moshe placed Aharon as the Cohen Gadol, serving the highest position in
the Mishcan, or tabernacle. The tabernacle held the lochot, or tablets. Korah
was mad because he felt as a Levi, or Levite he should be in charge of the
Mishcan. He was so mad that he created a rebellion against Moshe. He had 250
men on his side of the rebellion.
The way he went about the rebellion was to badmouth Moshe, and
make him look foolish and corrupt in front of bene yisroel. He also used his
words to convince Bene Yisrael to go against Moshe. As an example of using his
words, he said, “Why have you made yourself and Aharon holier than the
rest of us. We are all holy”.
The Midrash tells us that Korah was power hungry and that he
didn’t actually care about the people’s holiness, but only cared about his own
power and glory.
In response Moshe asks Korah, “Is it not enough for you
that G-d has given you access to perform special duty in the tabernacle, yet
you seek the priesthood too?” Moshe tells Korah that Hashem would decide
who would be in charge of the tabernacle. He tells Korah and Aharon that they
can each offer fire and incense and G-d will choose who will be the high
priest. Moshe gave a warning to Korah’s followers that there would be a price
to pay if they didn’t separate themselves for Korah. The next day when Korah
offered fire and incense, the earth swallowed him, and the fire of Hashem
incinerated his followers. I told you this was violent, I would give it at
least PG-13. One could ask was the punishment to harsh? That’s not
exactly what I planned on talking about today, but I’m open at Kiddush for
debate.
There are 2 subjects I did want to talk about today. First I
want to talk about jealousy of others. Korah was jealous of Moshe’s leadership.
Even though Korah had special responsibilities in the Mishcan, he wasn’t going
to be happy unless he was the number one guy. It is very easy to look and see
what other people have, and be envious rather than to be happy with what you
have.
I’m sure we’ve all been jealous of a friend who has
something we don’t. This Parsha tells us that jealousy is one of the worst
character traits that someone can have, and therefore people should try to
resist being jealous. Although I have been envious of others for example,
friends who have video games I don’t have, or if someone else gets picked for a
prize or role that I wanted, (or if they have a dog-- ahem Dad). But then I
remember how lucky I am to have a great home, a wonderful family, all four
healthy, happy grandparents, lots of friends, my guitar, all my belongings, and
many other things that I have to be grateful for. I still would like the puppy
though.
The other thing I want to talk about is rebelling against
authority. When Korah is rebelling against Moshe, he is rebelling against
Hashem’s judgment. Now as kids my age are starting to become adults we
are starting to question authority. I mean why should parents be in
charge when they can’t even use half the apps on their own phones?
This parsha teaches us the importance of respecting
authority. Moshe was like a parent to Bene Yisrael. He brought them Hashem’s
messages and gave them advice and watched over them –just like our parents
teach us, give us advice and watch over us. This is not to say that there
is never a time that it is ok to challenge authority but you need to think
through your actions and your words especially when the authority is your
parent or someone like a parent, the way Moshe was to Bene Israel. You need to
show special respect even if you want to be in charge yourself. From Korah we
learn both the importance of appreciating what you have, and respecting
authority.
In honor of my bar mitzvah I did two mitzvah projects. When
I was younger, we would sometimes visit senior residents and sing songs in
their Shabbat Service. This year, I was in then show Suessical at BCDS, I
thought it would be nice to share a couple of songs with the senior citizens,
at the Stamford Attria to show respect, and entertain them. Thank Mr. Cahr and
my cast members who helped me.
My other mitzvah project was washing cars to raise money for
the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL tries to reduce anti-Semitism, to stop the
bad talk about Israel, and to fight bullying and all prejudice. Korah would be
one of the ADL’s biggest targets. We raised $424 for the ADL. I’d like to thank
all my friends who dragged their parents and helping to wash their parent’s
cars, and a special shout out to Dayne Kats, and Matthew Greenbaum, and Evan,
my little brother for all their help.
No comments:
Post a Comment