Korach 5773

Korach son of Izhar rebels against Moses, saying “The entire community is holy -- all of them -- and God is in their midst.  Why then do you raise yourselves above God’s congregation?”  (Numbers 16:3)  Korach appears to challenge Moses’ leadership on theological grounds.  Perhaps the struggle is interpersonal instead.  Is the issue one of good governance, or of ego?

The Vilna Gaon, the great Litvak scholar of the 1700s, wrote: "If the people are friends after the argument -- that is a sign that the argument was over the issue and not personal. If they are not friendly after the argument -- then something else was going on."

Arguments are inevitable.  We bump up against each other in the course of daily life.  Our perspectives clash with those held by others – even people we love.  We cannot always control our anger.  Rather than submit to it, however, we are well served by maintaining some distance from it.  We can reframe our experience of the emotion from “being angry” to “feeling anger.”  In the former, we are consumed by our emotions.  In the latter, they move through us:  here now, gone shortly.

It pays to be certain that our anger is serving us rather than the other way around.  That way, our relationships can stay healthy, and anger won’t swallow us whole.