Friday, June 26, 4 Tammuz 6:00 PM Kabbalat Shabbat Services Please join Rabbi Plumb and Ellen Allard for a virtual "From Our Home to Yours"
Join us as we honor our newest members and welcome them to the Mishkan Tefila family!
Saturday, June 27, 5 Tammuz 9:30 - 10:30 AM Shabbat Morning Services Please join Rabbi Plumb, Cantor Ellen Band and Rose Spitzer reading Torah for a virtual "From Our Home to Yours"
The Parasha is Korah Numbers 16:1-3 The Haftarah is 1 Samuel 11:14-12:22
Please click here for the link to the new Conservative prayerbook, Siddur Lev Shalem: Shabbat Shaharit Siddur Lev Shalem The prayers will be the same as in our usual blue siddur, so feel free to use that instead if you wish.
We Remember: This week's upcoming Yahrzeit and Shloshim Observances
This week’s parasha, Parashat Korah, is about anger—the anger of a few Israelites, Moses’ response to it, and finally G!d’s anger. This week, in the Torah, we have what may have been the first protest demonstration.
The parasha begins with the following verses:
Korah is angry that Moses is the leader. He gathers a small band to protest Moses’ leadership. They say, ‘You have gone too far.’ The text says that Korah v’yakimu lifnei moshe, Korah raised himself before Moses; or in our parlance, Korah got right up in Moses’s face. I can imagine the scene—a small mob of angry protesters yelling at Moses and Aaron.
Moses at first tries to appease them, and listen, but he doesn’t know what to say or do. He turns to G!d. G!d then gets angry too. G!d unleashes that anger with terrible consequences by creating an earthquake that swallows the protesters.
None of the anger feels good in the parasha. Anger rarely feels good. However, there is another side to anger, according to Mussar. Anger can be useful and act as a positive force. Righteous anger, which demands change because of injustice, can be a powerful source of positive change. Anger can act like a carbon dioxide alarm, warning us that something is not right, something needs adjusting. It can help us realise that we need to have an honest conversation with someone who has hurt us, or we need to share our feelings or thoughts with a loved one in order to repair a broken relationship. Anger can be our internal alarm that can inspire us to make changes.
I have been comparing Korah and his demonstration with the Civil Rights Movement II demonstrations in our day. The biggest difference that I see is that Korah had no examples of grievances. He could not cite any times when Moses behaved badly as a leader. His anger was based on self-interest and jealousy. The Civil Rights Movement II demonstrations are mainly peaceful ones based on real data and personal experiences of inequality and injustice that have broken our society. This anger is positive. It is justified and hopefully it will bring change and eventual healing for our country. Honest conversations are taking place that have been needed for over one hundred years. The anger in our day may be earth-shattering, but I believe it will lead to repair and renewed life.
May our Shabbat be filled with honesty, hope and healing. May anger lead us to love. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Marcia Plumb
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
