[This first appeared on my Livejournal on 13/6/2007]
Shlach Lecha centres on the sin of the spies. Many commentators identify a lack of self-esteem as the root-cause of the sin that delayed entry to the Promised Land for a generation. In the desert, the Jews had spirituality on tap, as it were. They were fed miraculously by manna, they had water from a miraculous well, their clothes didn’t wear out and God’s presence was indicated by the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. In such a situation it is not hard to be religious. God is, after all, clearly visible all around.
However, on entering into the land of Israel, they would return to ordinary life. God’s presence would once again be hidden, and it would be their role to use the physical world to find Him. They would have to live an ethical life, because that is the only way to find God, the Source of morality. They would have to take responsibility for their actions. The generation of the exodus, who had grown up in slavery, had no confidence in their ability to do this. As a result, they had to live out their lives in the wilderness.
During Korach’s rebellion, Datan and Aviram, two of the ringleaders of the rebellion, referred to Egypt as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (16.13). Egypt, where they had been enslaved and nearly wiped out! There is a tradition that they had become wealthy leaders there, and that’s not completely impossible to imagine. After all, in slave societies occasionally a slave can gain the favour of his master and be rewarded, even freed. However, such traditions need not be accepted literally, and at any rate the pshat (literal) meaning of the text does not give us such information. From the text alone, I would suggest their nostalgia for Egypt is not despite, but because of the slavery. The passage of Korach’s rebellion comes shortly after the sin of the spies because at least some of the rebels had the same motives as before.
For a slave, there is no link between cause and effect. Everything is according to the whims of the master. Rules, punishments and rewards are arbitrary. The slave has no responsibility, he just does as he’s told. This is the type of religion that Datan and Aviram wanted. They complained of not being given the promised “land flowing with milk and honey… an inheritance of field and vineyard”. Their view of religion was as slavery to a different, more powerful master. They expected victory and material prosperity. Suddenly they were being told that religion is really about ethical responsibility and building a just society – and they didn’t want anything to do with it. They’d rather give up the responsibility even if it cost them the material blessings.
Perhaps Korach seemed like the solution to this because, according to the Midrash, he mocked the laws of tzitzit and mezuzah, laws which are about bringing spirituality into the mundane through vision and cognition, seeing the spiritual meaning within a simple physical object. This may have indicated he too wanted to avoid the ethical responsibility that is needed to live a moral life. I think Korach’s personal motives were complicated, and that may not have been what he actually thought, but Datan and Aviram may have thought he did based on what he said.
Shlach Lecha centres on the sin of the spies. Many commentators identify a lack of self-esteem as the root-cause of the sin that delayed entry to the Promised Land for a generation. In the desert, the Jews had spirituality on tap, as it were. They were fed miraculously by manna, they had water from a miraculous well, their clothes didn’t wear out and God’s presence was indicated by the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. In such a situation it is not hard to be religious. God is, after all, clearly visible all around.
However, on entering into the land of Israel, they would return to ordinary life. God’s presence would once again be hidden, and it would be their role to use the physical world to find Him. They would have to live an ethical life, because that is the only way to find God, the Source of morality. They would have to take responsibility for their actions. The generation of the exodus, who had grown up in slavery, had no confidence in their ability to do this. As a result, they had to live out their lives in the wilderness.
During Korach’s rebellion, Datan and Aviram, two of the ringleaders of the rebellion, referred to Egypt as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (16.13). Egypt, where they had been enslaved and nearly wiped out! There is a tradition that they had become wealthy leaders there, and that’s not completely impossible to imagine. After all, in slave societies occasionally a slave can gain the favour of his master and be rewarded, even freed. However, such traditions need not be accepted literally, and at any rate the pshat (literal) meaning of the text does not give us such information. From the text alone, I would suggest their nostalgia for Egypt is not despite, but because of the slavery. The passage of Korach’s rebellion comes shortly after the sin of the spies because at least some of the rebels had the same motives as before.
For a slave, there is no link between cause and effect. Everything is according to the whims of the master. Rules, punishments and rewards are arbitrary. The slave has no responsibility, he just does as he’s told. This is the type of religion that Datan and Aviram wanted. They complained of not being given the promised “land flowing with milk and honey… an inheritance of field and vineyard”. Their view of religion was as slavery to a different, more powerful master. They expected victory and material prosperity. Suddenly they were being told that religion is really about ethical responsibility and building a just society – and they didn’t want anything to do with it. They’d rather give up the responsibility even if it cost them the material blessings.
Perhaps Korach seemed like the solution to this because, according to the Midrash, he mocked the laws of tzitzit and mezuzah, laws which are about bringing spirituality into the mundane through vision and cognition, seeing the spiritual meaning within a simple physical object. This may have indicated he too wanted to avoid the ethical responsibility that is needed to live a moral life. I think Korach’s personal motives were complicated, and that may not have been what he actually thought, but Datan and Aviram may have thought he did based on what he said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment