Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

Parshat Korach deals with dispute and division within the Jewish community. Korach , Datan, Aviram, and their cohorts have aligned themselves against Moses and Aaron. The nation is divided into competing factions.

A small almost unnoticed detail explains how Moses tried to avert the conflict.

"Moses sent for Datan and Aviram . . . But they said 'we will not come' (Numbers 16:12)."

Rashi comments, "Here we see the greatness of Moses' soul. He set aside his own dignity and his feelings of resentment toward those who spoke ill of him and took the initiative to heal this breach in the community."

Another commentary suggests, based on a close reading of the Hebrew, that Moses was willing to go down to the place of his critics without asking them to go to his place.

In our personal and professional lives, we are confronted by those who speak ill of us. Like Moses, are we able to rise above personal anguish, approach the person we feel has wronged us, and try to repair the breach in the relationship? We may not succeed. In his case, Moses was unsuccessful. Datan and Aviram refused to meet him. But try we must, as Moses attempted.

If one is unable to at least hear and understand the view of another, how does one maintain or restore Shalom in one's situation?

Rabbi Howard Morrison