CHOCHMAS NASHIM: EAU DE TOILETTE
By: Suri Davis
The numerical value of Korach is Rekach, a perfumer or spiced as in Song of Songs 5:13: “like a bed of spices are His words at Sinai, like towers of perfume,” and 8:2:…”to drink, I’d give You spiced libations, wines like pomegranate nectar.”
Perfume and spices are wonderful adornments to life, at the same time they hide nature, one’s natural odor, a food’s natural essence or blandness or gaminess. It appears to enhance, and it does, but it can’t change the essence to what it is added.
What was the nature of Korach, he rebelled against G-d’s choice for a leader, his jealousy and search for honor were hidden by the story he told himself, which was that he wanted to serve G-d on the same level as Moshe/Moses.
The stories we tell ourselves, the prism through which we experience life.
We who are learning daf yomi, are completing the 122 daf of Masechet Yevamot, about which there are many opinions by those learning it. On the one hand, when a married man dies childless, all that he has worked for materially, and more importantly spiritually, dies with him. The purpose of Yivum, where the man’s brother marries his surviving wife, is to maintain His name, spiritually in religion. It helps the widow by marrying her and providing for her sustenance and support, but the kavanah/intent is to keep the dead brother’s spirit alive. A motif throughout the Masechet is kavanah, whether the brother in law desires the sister in law and this is his chance to have her as an additional wife, or whether he marries his sister-in-law for the purpose of saving his brother’s soul. Of course, thrown into the equation is that the surviving brother takes his dead brothers assets as a physical/material incentive. Intent, pure, or what we tell ourselves.Deuteronomy 25:5
So it is that Roe v. Wade is overturned after decades of legal precedence. The question of what is a constitutionally protected fundament right is fluid. Generally, the path the question of fundamental right travels is that it passes through the states first. When the government in each state determines that its residents feel strongly about a right, the state government pass it into law. When many or most states pass a law based on the will of its citizens, AND THE POTUS agrees with the position and presses for it in court, the court may then determine that it is constitutionally protected fundamental right, and then gets the stamp approval that under Article 14 of the constitution, it becomes a fundamental right.
Amendment 14: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
I might be wrong, but I believe this is the first time in the history of our country that the Supreme Court labelled a right as a fundamental right under Amendment 14, and then took away the right, and the privilege. The Supreme Court feels that the right to an abortion is not fundamental and should never have been fundamental and constitutionally protected, nevertheless, at one point in time in 1973 there was a majority of learned justices on the Supreme Court who felt it was.
Precedence has been broken in the past, as when Brown v. The Board of Education overturned decades of precedence in Plessey v. Ferguson, that was to expand the rights of black individuals, not to lilmit them. Taking away the status of protected privilege from a fundamental right is setting dangerous precedence in our democracy.
As to abortion in Judaism see Exodus 21:22: “If men shall fight and collide with a pregnant woman and she miscarries, but there will be no fatality[the baby miscarries, but the mother is okay], he shall surely be punished [the difference between value of the woman as a slave in the market who is pregnant and whose new master will then have two slaves for the price of one, and the value of a woman who is not pregnant and therefore worth less]. The Stone Chumash with commentary by Rabbi Nosson Scherman, states the following: “ Causing the death of a fetus is not a capital offense, but the person responsible must pay damages [for the loss of value of the pregnant woman].
Agudath Israel came out with the following announcement:
Agudath Israel of America Welcomes Supreme Court Overruling Roe v. Wade
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States overruled Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. Agudath Israel of America welcomes this historic development.
Agudath Israel has long been on record as opposing Roe v. Wade’s legalization of abortion on demand. Informed by the teaching of Jewish law that fetal life is entitled to significant protection, with termination of pregnancy authorized only under certain extraordinary circumstances, we are deeply troubled by the staggering number of pregnancies in the United States that end in abortion.
We do not seek to impose our religious beliefs on the broader American society. We are of the view, however, that society, through its laws, should promote a social ethic that affirms the supreme value of life. Allowing abortion on demand, in contrast, promotes a social ethic that devalues life.
To be sure, there are certain extraordinary circumstances where our faith teaches that a woman should terminate her pregnancy. Agudath Israel fully supports her right to abortion in such situations, both as a matter of constitutional free exercise and moral principle. However, it must be reiterated that these cases are indeed extraordinary, rare exceptions to the rule that fetal life is entitled to protection.
We pray that today’s ruling will inspire all Americans to appreciate the moral magnitude of the abortion issue, and to embrace a culture that celebrates life.
Want to reduce unwanted pregnancies, throw rapists in jail forever, force men who cant afford to maintain their children to have vasectomies, force all men who father children to support them with a federal seizure of any income the father earns from work, unemployment, federal support programs and force all health insurers to pay for contraceptives, and of course, education, education, education and planned parenthood. You defund planned parenthood and then wonder why there is an increase in abortions? Really?
So we have Korach who told himself that his rebellion was really for the sake of heaven, we have those who perform the mitzvah of yibum questioning their intentions in either performing the process of yibum for the sake of their brothers’ souls, or refusing to do so for the name of their departed brother. We have a Supreme Court who tells itself that overturning precedence and snatching a fundamental right of women to self-determination, as preserving the law as set forth by the Founders of the Constitution.
Perfume and spices are lovely, but not when they permit those who use it to hide from the rotten truth of themselves. We don’t only talk about Korach the man, we couple him with his adah, his personal group over whom he had influence and who influenced and supported him. As we celebrate July 4th, independence and liberty, let’s be vigilant to ensure that all are given the opportunity of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
May your shabbatot be sweet and spicy externally and internally. Have a peaceful and joyous one.
-Suri