Is Envy destroying your life?
“Let me not be included in your council, let my being not be counted in his assembly.” (Bereshit 49:6)
This verse refers to the words that Yaakov prophesied on his deathbed, which according to the sages of Israel in Bamidbar Rabbah 18 refers to the advice of the spies who went to the land of Canaan to explore it. On the other hand, the portion that states, “and may not my honor be associated with his assembly,” refers to Korach along with his assembly.
Parashat Korach is a continuation of the previous portion, Shelach Lecha, which issued the decree by GOD that they would wander forty years in the desert and not enter the Promised Land. This was due to Israel’s lack of trust in the Eternal when they questioned His promise that they would enter and conquer Canaan.
Korach challenged Moshe’s leadership, questioned Aaron’s granting of the Kehunah (priesthood), and invited like-minded people (Dathan and Abiram) along with 250 men, to rebel against the leadership put into place by the Eternal. After Moshe tried unsuccessfully to change their mind, he ordered them to offer Ketoret (incense) the following day to demonstrate if they were worthy of the priesthood. This resulted in the earth swallowing the mutineers alive, and a fire consuming those offering unauthorized incense.
Then, a plague appeared and was stopped thanks to Aaron’s incense offering. God later confirmed Aaron’s priesthood when his rod bloomed and produced almonds. Ultimately, God commanded that the kohanim (priests) be given a terumah (heave offering) from each harvest of grain, wine, and oil, as well as from all the firstborn of sheep, cattle, and other specific gifts.
To this point, Korach had not appeared in the Torah, although he was Moshe’s first cousin. If we examine his lineage, we see that he descended from Kehat, the most important family of the Levites. He had been designated as one of the bearers of the Divine presence since they carried the Aron (ark). Furthermore, he was a very learned, educated man and a born leader. According to the Midrash, he also left Egypt with great wealth (Sanhedrin 110a) that required 300 mules to transport. However, our portion begins with the following premise: “…And they detached themselves from the congregation.”
In reviewing Shelach Lecha, we see that the ten princes created a social revolt, indirectly calling Moshe into question before the people. We read in 14:2 “And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and The whole congregation said to them: “I wish we had died in the land of Egypt, or I wish we had died in this desert!” …. jump to verse 14:4 “And each man said to his companion, ‘Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt’.” As a result of this social upheaval, caused by hysteria and collective fear, God indicates in 14:33-35 “and your children will wander in the desert for forty years, and they will bear your guilt until your corpses fall in the desert… … I, the Eternal, have spoken – I will do this to all this perverse congregation that has gathered against Me. In this desert, they will waste away, and in it, they will die.”
What is the principal reason that Korach regarded himself as a leader capable of “overcoming” the Divine decree? He saw himself as the one who was capable of leading Israel to the Promised Land, of re-establishing the priesthood for beck and call, so that he could enjoy the wealth that he acquired from Egypt in the land of Canaan. After all, he was a wealthy Levite and a leader from a noble family. The Midrash says that the Ruach HaKodesh came to him and he had a vision that from his seed would come the prophet Shmuel and composers of various Psalms that would be sung in the temple. He fully saw himself as a leader superior to Moshe.
So, when we read that “…his heart was detached from him (Vayikach)”, there was a split in his personality. According to Sanhedrin 109b, Korach purchased (Lakach) a poor acquisition, since by his actions he expelled himself from this world. Referring to the ordinances dictated by Moshe, Bamidbar 18 (in the Midrashim) teaches us that he thought: “This was not commanded to you, but you are inventing it from your heart.” I quote verbatim from the midrash: “Vayikach is nothing other than an expression of division.” Job 15:12 says, “How your heart has carried you (Yikachacha)…”. The word Vayikach brings the idea of accepting, taking, buying, bringing, getting, mixing, receiving, seizing, sending for, earning, and using, among other meanings. If we think about it, when Korach allows his thoughts to take control of his actions and life, he causes an uprising and division.
Here is how the Tanach explains the problems associated with Korach: first Mishlei 18:23 says: “The poor speak with supplications, but the rich answer with impudence.” That is, the wealth that was given to him became the bane of his existence. Second, Korach’s wife is said to have greatly influenced his behavior. Third, it made room in his heart for envy. According to the APA, envy is “a negative emotion of discontent and resentment generated by the desire for possessions, attributes, qualities, or the achievements of another person (the target of envy).” We read in the Ten Commandments, our code of life: “…you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his field, his slave, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Devarim 5:18). It is interesting that in both Devarim and Shemot the word “Lo Tachmod” appears but in Devarim, the word “Lo Titave” is added, i.e., you shall not desire. Desire and greed were the cause of Korach’s demise. When there are no boundaries, these negative emotions of desire occur. In the case of Korach, he coveted and desired the position of Moshe’s leadership.
Envy is a little fox that destroys families, companies, and entire nations and is socially accepted, minimized because it is supposedly not as bad as other “sins”, and is disguised as competitiveness. It is fed through social media and other media (“I have it versus you don’t have it”); it is disguised as a social struggle. In my country, the majority of people on the left were communists and were supposedly fighting against social inequalities, when they came to power their envy and greed were revealed although they had presented themselves to the people as those who fought for social justice. How do I know? They became what they fought against in the 80’s, forgetting the poor, the widow and the orphan. Finally, envy is a sin that implies lashon harah, i.e., it needs to be spread, and that is why it looks for other envious people to speak against people, usually leaders, bringing dissension and lawsuits.
Did you know that the camp of the children of Kehat (Korach) was positioned next to Dathan and Abiram, the children of Reuben?
The most ironic thing about envy is that it is an illusion. I have to remind myself that everything I wanted from others in the past, and I fought to have (toys, education, house, vehicle, shoes, etc.), when I finally got them, I realized that it was just vanity, something empty, and didn’t make me feel better, rather I realized how much time I had wasted by not being grateful and happy with my portion in life. Kohelet 4:4 says, “And I saw all the work and all the excellence of work, which is the envy of a man for his friend; This is also vanity and frustration.” Shouldn’t getting from another supposed to bring us a sense of satisfaction? In the end, the fruit is frustration, that feeling, “What’s next?”, what will motivate me now?
So how do we fight this negative feeling of envy so that it doesn’t eat away at us? Mishlei 14:29 says “But envy is a rottenness of the bones.” I believe he observed the following in the same portion: First, Rav-lachem! רַב־לָכֶם֒ Enough is enough! Yes, dare to tell yourself: Enough of this feeling! It’s enough. You’ve already gone too far! Stopping this feeling takes self-criticism. The wise say that envy is comparable to water; it has no limits, knows no bounds, and adapts to any place. To contain water, you must set limits, and build barriers. Sometimes we don’t need to deal with envy, we simply need to nip it in the bud.
Second, resolve your own or others’ past situations. Dathan and Abiram were descendants of Jacob and Leah. They carried within their DNA, so to speak, that feeling that his mother was “the unloved one” and that Reuben had lost his birthright to Yosef, the firstborn of his beloved Rachel. Let us be wise, let us be grateful that everything we are now, is due to our past experiences, good or bad. Constantly living in the past will not make us better people.
Third, listen, pray, speak and act throughout your day. Although we can apply it to dealing with anyone else who is envious, I must also apply it when envy comes out of me. I must listen to myself, and when I do, I can think and say: “What am I saying”? I pray that when this feeling comes up in me, I remember to speak to the Eternal and ask him to remove this feeling from within me. Speak…it says that Moshe spoke to them (between verses 5 and 16) and tried to dissuade them from this foolishness. Honestly, it is good to talk to yourself, maintain an internal dialogue and question why we feel any negative feelings towards another person. Sometimes falling asleep (leaving things for tomorrow as Moshe stopped guessing) helps to reformat ourselves. Act during the light of day, so we can see that what we are doing or thinking is wrong. If Korach and his followers had repented when the Eternal said, “Depart from the surroundings of Korach,” the love of the Eternal and the love of Moshe would have acted, and perhaps they would not have been consumed.
We read that unfortunately until their last breath, these people remained firm in their stubbornness, foolishness and envy. The final consequence was death for them, their families, and the total loss of their property.
I close with the words of Mishlei 23:17 -18, “Do not envy sinners in your heart but be in the fear of God at all times. Because then you will have a future, and your hope will never fail.” May the Eternal grant us a future and hope and may the fear of Him be before us at all times.
Shabbat Shalom
Mauricio Quintero