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Friday June 14, 2002

When you truly serve God, you will love your neighbor

Rabbi Amy Eilberg

Korach

Numbers 16:1-18:32

I Samuel 11:14-12:22

A funny thing happened as I studied Parashat Korach this week. Turning over a number of commentaries in my head, I found myself on my way to a meeting that I dreaded. I anticipated that the meeting would be conflictual, that my concerns would not be respectfully heard and that I might respond badly. The night before the meeting, I prayed for help. I asked to be able to approach the meeting in the spirit of the rabbinic teaching; "Let all your actions be for the sake of heaven." I prayed not to get caught up in the struggle to get my own way but only to be of service in the best way possible.

An amazing thing happened: The meeting went far better than I could have guessed. I felt that my concerns really were addressed, and that I was able to contribute in a productive way. In fact, to my great surprise, I actually had a wonderful time. That night, when I told my husband about the experience, he grinned and said, "It's obvious. This is about your prayer." I knew he was right.

This week's parashah tells of Korach's effort to challenge the authority of Moshe as leader of the people. Many commentators have noticed a peculiarity in the language of the text: "And Korach took to rise up against Moses" (Numbers 16:1-2).

Several commentators find in the language "Korach took" a hint at the essence of Korach's offense: His initiative was rooted in his own ego needs and his own desire for personal power, not in the common good. From this tradition of commentary flows the Mishnah's understanding that the rebellion of Korach was the paradigmatic example of a conflict that is not leshem shamayim, "for the sake of heaven."

The Sefat Emet takes this traditional commentary on Korach's character many steps further, weaving it into a grand teaching on holy living. He writes: "The world is in fact called the 'world of separation' -- one where each creature looks out for itself. That is why it is 'all strife.'...Whoever truly serves God properly, in order that God's will be fulfilled in the world, and acts only for the sake of heaven, can be jealous of no person. What is any single human being that his deeds should be accepted above? It is only through the entire community of Israel [we might say, 'of humanity'] that God's will is fulfilled in the world. So everyone has to give his portion thoroughly over to the community. Once you do that, you see that there is no difference between you and your fellow."

For the Sefat Emet, as for the commentators before him, Korach's "sins" were ambition, selfishness, and disregard for the needs of the community. This, says the Chassidic master, tends to be the way of the world: every person for him/herself. From this stems the suffering of our lives. But the Sefat Emet recognizes that there is another way of living -- more connected, more whole and more holy.

He continues: "Scripture teaches: 'Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord' (Leviticus 19:18), and the Sages said: 'This is the basic rule of Torah.' Rashi interprets 'your neighbor' to refer to God. This means that when you serve God for God's own sake, you naturally love your neighbor, one who serves God just as you do. This is the basic rule of Torah: 'your neighbor' as God and your real neighbor -- it is all one'"(from "The Language of Truth," translated and interpreted by Arthur Green, Page 243-4).

In this profound teaching, the Sefat Emet places awareness of the Divine at the center of the fundamental principle of life, "Love your neighbor as yourself." He teaches that when we approach life with the awareness of that which is beyond us, we will automatically recognize the Divine in every person, all of us part of the same seamless Unity. Seeing the face of the Divine in our neighbor, we can hardly fail to treasure the other's desires as deeply as our own. Then, the desire for self-advancement will melt into commitment to the common good.

May the story of Korach serve us as the rabbis hoped it would, clarifying the possibility of living our lives "for the sake of heaven," seeing the face of the Divine in all.

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