Musing – Why Should We Rise Above the Conflict?

Hebraic Musing – Why Should We Rise Above the Conflict?

Many, many years ago while I was still a heathen, we were in a cocktail lounge with a bunch of guys and my friend who was at tackle for his college football team made a comment about an attractive lady walking by. Her husband behind her took offense and there was about to be a confrontation between that short husband and my oversize friend; but I was sitting precariously between the two of them – a short guy and big friend.  We realized afterward that the “little guy” was Stan Mikita, a famous hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Imagine my surprise to hear Rabbi Eckstein referencing Stan Mikita to illustrate a Torah principle!  “Stan Mikita is a retired professional ice hockey player who was widely regarded as the best center from the 1960s.  Mikita was notorious for getting into a lot of fights during games, and as a consequence, spending a lot of time in the penalty box.  He stopped, however, when his eight-year-old daughter innocently asked him a very grown-up question: ‘How can you score any goals when you’re always in the penalty box?’”

In Numbers 16:1-2&31-33 “Korah … and certain Reubenites — Dathan and Abiram, …— became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.”    This is commonly known as Korah’s rebellion; and the result was “…the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions.  They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.” NIV

If nothing else, the message about the rebellion against Moses and Aaron is that fighting is bad for everyone. Certainly, there are times to stand up for what’s right and even to fight for it, but that’s not the kind of fighting that that took place here in Numbers 16.  This rebellion was led by egotistical and jealous leaders with unjustifiable ulterior motives.

There is a special Hebrew term used for such quarrels – machloket – and when the Hebrew letters are scrambled differently, they spell chelek mavet, meaning “partial death.”  Those quarrels, gripes and fights are a kind of death and in the case of Korah and his followers that fighting resulted literally in death.  Korah’s rebellion not only led to his death, but also the death of his 250 followers and another 15,000 Israelites who died from the after-effects of the rebellion.  Can such petty fighting be likened to secondhand smoke?  It pollutes the air and harms innocent people.

Still, the ones who hurt most from engaging in such fighting are the aggressors themselves.  Moses reached out to Dathan and Abiram, Korah’s co-supporters, and extended his hand in peace.  Yet, the response of Dathan and Abiram was: “We will not come!”  They were so wrapped up in their egos and personal issues that they were unwilling to give peace a chance.  With those words, they literally sealed their own fate. When they rebuffed Moses, they became destined to descend into the pit, never to ascend again.

Summary – It might seem like we are acting weak and lowering ourselves when we step away from a fight or when we try to make amends.  But the truth is that when it’s appropriate to reach out in fellowship and forgiveness, we only rise higher.  So many people allow their pride to get in the way; they think they are securing their high position by refusing to yield to another.  But as we learn from studying Korah’s rebellion, when we are prideful, we ultimately fall; yet when we humble ourselves as Moses did, we will only rise higher.

Point to ponder

How often do let our egos and personal issues trump God’s plan?

How can we fulfill God‘s purpose for our lives if we are always in the penalty box?

♫ “Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord.  And He shall lift you up (higher and higher) ….” ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      July 10, 2018

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note – Inspired by and excerpted from Rabbi Eckstein’s “Rise Above the Conflict” – June 13, 2018