Hamas War

Sunday, June 26, 2011

The "Goldene Medina" and the Sinful Words of Dotan and Aviram (Parshat Korach)

The term "Die Goldene Medina" is Yiddish for "the Golden Land" and refers to America. 

This past Shabbat was Parshat Shavua, Torah Portion of the Week, Korach in which we read something similar:
Numbers Chapter 16 בְּמִדְבַּר
יב וַיִּשְׁלַח מֹשֶׁה, לִקְרֹא לְדָתָן וְלַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב; וַיֹּאמְרוּ, לֹא נַעֲלֶה. 12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said: 'We will not come up;
יג הַמְעַט, כִּי הֶעֱלִיתָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ, לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ, בַּמִּדְבָּר: כִּי-תִשְׂתָּרֵר עָלֵינוּ, גַּם-הִשְׂתָּרֵר. 13 is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but thou must needs make thyself also a prince over us?
יד אַף לֹא אֶל-אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ, הֲבִיאֹתָנוּ, וַתִּתֶּן-לָנוּ, נַחֲלַת שָׂדֶה וָכָרֶם; הַעֵינֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים הָהֵם, תְּנַקֵּר--לֹא נַעֲלֶה. 14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards; wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.'
When Dotan and Aviram called Egypt, where the Jewish People had been slaves to Pharaoh, "a land flowing with milk and honey," a term G-d uses for the Holy Land, it's a very serious sin.  No doubt that today's Jewish worship of diaspora life is a continuation of that very sin.

Genesis Chapter 12 בְּרֵאשִׁית
א וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. 1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee.

Life here in the Land G-d sent us to may not always be dull and easy, but:
  • Life out of the Holy Land isn't alway that good, safe, affluent either,
  • and the more Jews here, the better it will be.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You say, when Datan and Aviram called Egypt
"a land flowing with milk and honey,"
they committed "a very serious sin."

Says who?
They did not get punished for that!
You are making up your own rules!
They got punished for being partners
with Korah - period.

Noise Blockers and Other Remedies said...

Shavua Tov - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnEux295TF0&feature=related

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
These are three articles that support the blog post:
http://www.kby.org/english/torat-yavneh/view.asp?id=3800

http://www.kolel.org/pages/5765/korach.html

http://www.ouisrael.org/tidbits/detail/Lead-Tidbit-Bamidbar111/

Please note that the first of the articles is translated from Hebrew and from a yeshiva in Israel, the second is from a learning center that, from looking at its site, although it is based in Canada, highly values Hebrew and Israel, and the third is from the OU Center in Jerusalem. Perhaps "anonymous" has been learning from sources based in the Diaspora that choose to ignore the centrality of Israel in a Jew's life? I would imagine that a search for commentary in Hebrew would yield even more material.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
I tried to comment earlier, but I think the comment has gotten lost in cyberspace.
These are three articles that back up the article:

http://www.kby.org/english/torat-yavneh/view.asp?id=3800

http://www.kolel.org/pages/5765/korach.html

http://www.ouisrael.org/tidbits/detail/Lead-Tidbit-Bamidbar111/


I could probably find more in Hebrew. Scholars who write in English are quite often non-Zionist or even anti-Zionist. I think it's worthy of note that the first article is translated from Hebrew and from a yeshiva in Israel, the second is from an organization that although is based in Canada, from the looks of its website, highly values Israel and Hebrew and the third is from the OU Center of Jerusalem. Perhaps only sources that recognize the centrality of Israel in a Jew's life recognize the full extent of Datan and Aviram's sin?

Batya said...

a, no surprise you don't have the guts to identify yourself in any way. As Hadassa's sources prove, you're totally wrong.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
Batya, perhaps we should be more critical of a's teachers than of a. He/she is probably relying on what he/she learned from trusted rabbis and other teachers, who didn't teach much about Israel, possibly because they were afraid of losing their jobs, due to the anger of parents whose children chose to live in Israel.

Batya said...

Hadassa, good point. I would never ask a chutz la'Aretz rabbi a question about aliyah.