Thursday 19 June 2014

Can there be a Modern Day Korach?


Could it be that in this day and age we have people whose inspiration is Korach? And whose role models resemble Datan vaAviram?

Take for example Rabbi "Mered". A born rebel by nature, his main purpose in studying Torah is to show how everyone - especially rabbis - are wrong. The more wrong rabbis, the merrier!

Here are some telltale signs of the Modern Korach..

A. He looks to defy the establishment in general, the rabbinical establishment in particular

B. He shows up the "Moshe Rabbeinus" of his day with twisted or specious arguments, standing the simple understanding on its head

C. He posits that Torah is truly an egalitarian document by echoing "ki chol ho'eidah kullam Q'doshim ..."

D. He defends his minority point of view by arguing "So too were Koleiv and Yehoshu'a only a minority report". As if to say being a minority means he's correct somehow. Nd
While that's true that Koleiv-Yehoshua were indeed a minority - unlike Rabbi Mered - they did it to buttress Moshe Rabbeinu, not to defy him.

E. He will attempt to trump the authority of all rabbis by arguing from "higher authorities"

F He is continually stirring up machloqet.

G He will fail to see himself in any of his own attacks. IOW he lacks the introspection to see that he does the very things he attacks.

I. He holds platitudes such as "honesty" over the heads of his targets, yet isn't above cherry-picking
sources to further his own agenda.

If you run into some-one who fits this description you have found a Neo-Korach. For the mystically- minded maybe you've met Korach's "gilgul"

Disclaimer: while I myself have not met anyone who fits this description, it's possible that a composite made up of several people's characteristics would indeed resemble this portrait.

KT
RRW