Korach, Community, and Life’s Lessons

     Community.  The mega word of our faith.  We all know what it can do for us, both the positive things and the negative things.  And in these times, community has a whole new meaning – we are part of a global community, a local community, a virtual community.  With Facebook, Twitter, texting, and other social networks, our communities are larger and more diverse than ever before. 

     Some deride Facebook, and what is doing to our cultural fabric.  But for me, Facebook is another way of community living.  It can be used for good and for the not so good.  Let’s look at this week’s Torah portion, when Korach and his followers were looking to plan a mutiny around the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

Imagine if you will…..

Korach’s Facebook page:  Status:  “Please join me in showing Moses that he and Aaron have gone too far.  Rise up!” 

Korach gets 250  “likes” on his status. 

Wall to Wall between Moses and Korah:  All the community is holy, all of them, and God is in their midst.  Why then do you raise yourself above the God’s community?

Moses posts on Korach’s wall:  Isn’t it enough that God has set you apart as Levites and given you access to him and to the Mishkan?  Now you want more?

Through his Facebook page, Korah was able to assemble 250 people to join him in a rebellion.  In Torah time, it looks like it took no time at all.  Between verses 2 and 19, the forces were rallied, the people were in place at the front of the ohel moed, the tent of Meeting, and they were ready to rumble. 

But in real time, how long do you think it would have taken to prepare for this? 

Technology has given us the tools to be able to accomplish in literally split seconds what before this decade would have taken us days or even weeks to do.

     This is a blessing and a curse.  One strike of a send key and you have done your work.  Lashon Hara has never been this easy. 

     But community it is nonetheless.  And our virtual community can often provide the same things a flesh and blood community can do, sometimes in tandem when necessary.

     This week our southern Jewish community experienced a terrible tragedy.  It does not matter  that we all were not physically present during this tragedy.  The effect has been like ripples in the water - concentric circles beginning with all the teenagers who were on the river that day, emanating outward to points unknown. A horrible accident occurs in Tennessee, and within moments, people in several states, and I can say, countries, are experiencing grief, shock,  profound sadness, and countless other emotions that are too numerous to name here. 

     This event on the Ocoee river during a rafting trip by Camp Ramah Darom’s Gesher age division, changed many people’s lives forever.  A horrific accident where a 16 year old boy has drowned, has transformed many of us, particularly the Ramah Darom community, and our own children, and has raised the concept of community to new heights.

     What ensued after the tragedy was an outpouring of love and support within the structure of camp.  Camp has had no practice in this (thankfully). What is ingrained in our tradition, what we want all of our children to learn, was brought to life and action in full throttle in the mountains of North Georgia. 

     The amount of support, love, and counseling that has gone on there over the course of this week amid the sadness and grief has been phenomenal.  Support system is part of the camp structure.  Different activities which served as outlets for the teens were put into place, overseen by caring staff, who also had to deal with their own grief and shock.  Other Ramah camps offered beautiful letters of support, former staff people rallied to their side, and came up to camp to mourn and support and offer condolences. 

     We as parents were dealing with our own emotions at home, unable to hug our own children during this heartbreaking time.   But what got us through this was the knowledge that our children were in the best possible environment and with the best possible people to deal with what they were going through.  This is community.  When our kids come out on the other side of this, they will have experienced the most profound community building.

     The parents of Andrew Silvershein z”l, through their grief, also see the beauty of our Ramah community.  They have set up a memorial scholarship fund in his honor, because they too know, what this community can do to our youth, and for our youth.

     Taking advantage of community for not so savory reasons will still go on, as it did in this week’s Torah portion.  But taking advantage of community in the way I have experienced this week, in the face of this terrible tragedy – this is what we need to teach our children and each other.

Shabbat Shalom.