Korach and kamp

These past two weeks, I have been working at the summer camp here at B'nai Jehudah. Called Machane Yehudah, camp yehudah, we have spent two weeks learning about Jewish values and people, exploring Judaism and having a blast. We've separated into families, learned about Israeli cities, and even drawn with chalk on the cement.

My morning responsibility was leading the Religious Leadership kibbutz job. Although not entirely sure what our plan would be, I slowly recognized that if I simply led the kids, we could look anywhere to explore Judaism. Our intention was to discover where we found God and how we experienced God. Most importantly, we were doing different activities to see how we connected to God through each one. We traced our bodies outside, we did havdallah and meditated, we celebrated Shabbat with the preschool. We fingerpainted with preschoolers and ran around in the rain, jumping in puddles. We walked outside, discovering our most Godly places outdoors and asked different people how they felt about God. No matter what we were discussing, we always felt or found God somewhere. We always had fun.

But unfortunately, there are people in this world who do not find God. Our explorations led us to believe that we can always find God if we search for God. Yet we know that some simply don't care enough to do so, or do not believe that there is a chance of them finding God. This week's Torah portion, Korach, seems to be a similar justification for this. If we ignore God's warnings that we see in our everyday lives, we will be punished. Just as God punished Korach, Datan and Abiram, swallowing them and the 250 dissenters against Moses and Aaron in a giant hole in the ground, God finds ways to punish us. God may not go to such extremes as swallowing people in the ground nowadays (unless you think tsunamis and other natural disasters are God's wrath-I absolutely do NOT), but God finds ways. We simply need to discover those ways. However, a better method is not to bring wrath upon ourselves at all, instead being good and walking in God's ways.

These past two weeks have helped me understand that God can be found in so many things, even if I wasn't aware or am not considering God at a particular moment. I've found God in the blue jay on my morning run, in the smile on a 5th graders face when I complimented her. In the rain during our kickball game or making a girl enjoy her Hebrew tutoring and actually start smiling and talking instead of moping. God was in all those places. Instead of being against God and attempting to fight others, we should work to make the world a better place and find our own connection to God.

May this week bring ways of feeling and finding God, of experiencing God. May you discover that it is better/more holy to come closer to God then to distance yourself from God (by distancing yourself from other people). May this week be filled with contentment and peace. Amen.

Shabbat shalom.

Emor: consequences...

Having spent the past week learning at Midrasht Nishmat in Jerusalem, there are numerous stories and tales I could share. Yet, many of the most interesting do not relate to the parsha or have already fled from my awareness with the next joke or deep thought. Not to mention the fact that almost all of them have no relationship to the parsha this week, emor.

In analyzing the parsha, we come across a timeline of the holidays and how we should observe them as sacred time. The conclusion of the parsha is not on sacred time, rather on sacred action and how we should act towards those around us/towards God. There is a man who is the son of an Israeli mother and an Egyptian father who gets in a skirmish with a on Israelite man. Vayikra 24:11 has the man with the Israelite mother blaspheming the name of God. Here we get the question of sacred action and consequences for not acting appropriately.

The man is brought to Moses for punishment, who is consequently told by God that the necessary action to take is to take the man out of the camp, have all who heard the man blaspheme put their hands on his heads, and then the congregation stone him. A rather harsh action, but this is one of the most awful things one can do (according to some), and so needs appropriate repercussions. Next, we get the saying our parents often use as basis  for punishment: an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, etc.

So what is this all about? First, we must realize what we are saying. A awareness of our mouths and how we interact with others is imperative for continual well being in the world. It also allows us to feel more holy, as we are more conscientious and therefore more in tune with what we say and are thinking.

Second, acknowledgment of the consequences of our actions is paramount to continual success in the world. Without consequences, every action we do holds little or no weight. However, when we are aware of what we are doing and how it might affect others, we become more holy, or at least more whole as a person.

Lastly, this parsha demonstrates the importance of community. None of these consequences or even the actions themselves can occur in a bubble, with no one else around. Of course, alone we cannot curse another or have a punishment that deserves its action (especially if we sin against another). Yet, many times the community is the body which passes judgement on us and therefore necessary for maintaining equilibrium.

Shabbat shalom