This week’s Parshah, Parshat Korach, contains the unfortunate saga of Korach’s rebellion; the gist of the story related by the Torah is how Korach was able to cobble together a loose group of disgruntled, jealous individuals, and launch a coup whose stated aim was denying that Moshe was the chosen emissary of G-d to deliver the Torah to the Jewish People [See Talmud Yerushalmi, Sanhedrin Chap. 10. Para. 1]. Ultimately, Korach and his cohort fail spectacularly, and are swallowed by the earth while yet alive–Korach and his primary followers are not even given the privilege or decency to have a place of burial.
We can glean from this incident the significance of comprehending that the Torah was given through Moshe, by the direct orders of G-d; Rambam, in his list of 13 necessary ideals that must be upheld by anyone who wants to consider themselves a believing Jew, writes [Principle 7]:
“I believe with complete faith that the prophecy of our teacher, Moses, may he rest in peace, was true, and that he was the father of all prophets, —of those who preceded him, and of those who followed him.”
The sentiment presented by the above comment of the Rambam could not be more blatant; to be a valid representative of authentic Jewry, one cannot deny the above Principle—hence, one who wishes to portray a “Jewish” response to a historical or current event, must be aware of, and concede to, the above point. Ergo, the author finds it laughable that “scholars” such as the commentators Dave Smith or Norman Finkelstein [among others], will offer their opinions denigrating the morality of Israel’s actions during our Nation’s current conflict with Hamas, and will receive a certain “validation” of their views, because those views are presented under the veneer of said scholars having been born to Jewish parents. For while the Halachic identity of an individual may be dependent on his\her mother having been Jewish [see Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, para. 8], in no way does that allow said individual to then present his\her viewpoints as the “Jewish perspective.”
Echoing this sentiment, King David tells his son Solomon, just before his passing [Kings I, Chap. 2, Vers. 3-4]:
“Keep the charge of the ETERNAL your God, walking in God’s ways and following God’s laws, commandments, rules, and admonitions as recorded in the Teaching of Moses, in order that you may succeed in whatever you undertake and wherever you turn.
Then GOD will fulfill the promise that was made concerning me: ‘If your descendants are scrupulous in their conduct, and walk before Me faithfully, with all their heart and soul, your line on the throne of Israel shall never end!’”
Hence, Solomon’s instructions are to firmly follow the Torah of G-d, as recorded by Moshe, and only then is he promised an eternal chain of descendants who will rule over all of Israel. Clearly, King David portrays the necessity of following the laws of the Torah as a prerequisite of achieving a lasting legacy within the Nation of Israel, and as evidenced by the annihilation of Korach and his followers, those who deny these ideals are guaranteed extinction.
It is thus sadly ironic, that amongst left-leaning “Jewish” groups, in a bid to maintain membership quotas, rather than move closer to authentic, traditional, and Rabbinic Judaism, these groups have chosen to veer in the other direction. ReformJudaism.Org writes:
“Reform Judaism has made a commitment to welcoming interfaith couples…If you identify as interfaith…you belong in our movement…If your Jewish kids enjoy celebrating with their extended family on Diwali, Easter or Ramadan, you belong.”
A movement that chooses to sanction celebrations of other religions, as well as intermarriage, has chosen the path of Korach, and denial of the Torah of G-d and Moshe; the ending of such a movement is guaranteed to be a complete lack of legacy within Judaism [much as the Sadducees and the Karaites]. We can only hope and pray that the Jewish Neshamot currently engaged with these movements will eventually find their way back to genuine Judaism.
Dedicated in memory of Refael Ben Tirtza, HY”D.