
“Seize the Moment!"
Don't separate yourself from the community.
Don't stir discontent and divisiveness.
Don't create strife and rifts.
Don't be arrogant and egotistical.
Don't be jealous and self-serving.
Don't enter into a power struggle with God.
Korach and his followers, in response to their insurrection,
were miraculously swallowed alive by the ground.
Those who complained about what happened to Korach
were stricken with a plague.
"The plague had begun among the people.
Aaron placed incense and provided atonement for the people.
He stood between the dead and the living and
the plague was checked."
Aaron was able to avert the deathly plague from those not yet afflicted.
Rashi teaches us that
“Aaron seized the Angel of Death against its will.
The Angel said, ‘Leave me to do my mission’.
Aaron said, ‘Moses commanded me to prevent you’.
The Angel said, ‘I am the messenger of God, and
you are (only) the messenger of Moses’.
Aaron said, ‘Moses says nothing on his own accord,
rather, (he says matters only) through God.
If you do not believe me, behold Moses and God are at the Tent of Meeting, come with me and ask”.
Aaron stood between the dead and the living-
grabbed the Angel of Death and argued with him.
The Angel of Death is merely God's messenger
taking the living from this world at their appointed time.
Aaron insisted that the people should be given
more life because that was really God's will.
Aaron and Moses 'win' the dispute and the plague stopped.
Perhaps we too, are like Aaron, standing between the living and the dead.
We are all born with death as a reality, knowing that our time is limited.
We all live with loved ones who have preceded us into the grave.
That's our reality.
Our society seeks to deny that.
Let's live our lives more fully and with more energy
knowing that our time is limited.
It can be a very empowering and motivating truth.
It's a truth which can drive us to seize each moment and
to live life more fully.
Let's not sweat the small stuff.
Let's live our lives mindfully knowing that we too
stand between the dead and the living.
Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov
Elissa
Art by David Baruch Wolk
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