Yakov Naftali Ben Rachel Devorah
Gilad Michael Ben Batgalim and
Eyal Ben Iris Tshura, come home.... but can our prayers really make a difference?? Of course we have been taught to pray in situations of struggle and challenge and its not really a real question... of course prayer helps, but looking in this weeks Torah reading we see an amazing thing.
After Korach and company are destroyed for rebelling against Moshe and Aharon, the entire community of Israel (the survivors ) is outraged by their punishment and come to accuse Moshe and Aharon for causing the death of Hashem's people...this rebellion causes Hashem further anger and He declares that "He will wipe them all out in an instant" and indeed a plague is launched that has deadly effect..... it is at this point that Moshe instructs Aharon to take a fire pan with incense on it and go and make an atonement for the people...
We read how with his burning fire pan, Aharon makes atonement for the people, 'he stood (literally) between the dead and the living and the epidemic was halted .(17:13)
In the Rashi we read that "Aharon seized the angel of death himself and stopped him, despite himself...".. this is amazing...Rashi continues to explain how they argue, the Angel of death claiming to be carrying out Hashem's instructions, which should trump the intensions of Aharon who is acting on behalf of Moshe... but when they return together to confront Moshe who is at the entrance to the Ohel Moed, (the special place where Hashem and Moshe would engage) we see that Aharon and Moshe are indeed victorious in convincing the angel of death, because the plague does in fact get stopped!!
Proof indeed of the efficacy of human initiative, or prayer!!
Its an amazing story....
Thanks to Rabbi David Fohrman, you can watch his video explanation of this on his website:www.alphabeta.org or go direct to the link for this weeks parsha
http://www.alephbeta.org/course/lecture/korach-can-we-influence-god
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