I’ve been in classes on Zoom seven hours a day all week, and I’m pretty tired. It’s my last summer intensive before I get my rabbinical ordination!

One class I’m taking is about how to argue “Jewishly” according to the system we inherited from our rabbinic tradition.

We’re supposed to do it the way the rabbis supposedly did when they disagreed with each other; state the other’s opinion first, always in a respectful manner; make sure your children marry each other so there will always be peace.

Ahhh, how lovely.

And a little Hollywood, wouldn’t you say?

Maybe you know what happens in this week’s parsha; a man named Korach leads a rebellion against Moses, challenging him with, “You are too much—now you’ve gone too far.”

Korach’s complaint is that Moses has appointed his brother Aaron as high priest. (Korach wants to be high priest.)

Of course, it’s not Moses who made Aaron priest, but God.

Moses answers Korach with the same retort: “You are too much—now you have gone too far.”

God is furious with Korach; you don’t challenge God’s choice.

But another complaint comes from Korach’s main supporters, Abiram and Dathan; Moses, having led them from slavery in Egypt, brought them all "out of the land of milk and honey”--not out of misery--to die in the desert.

Still, Moses makes an attempt to argue God out of killing Korach and his 250 men.

Unsuccessful, Moses informs Korach that what is about to happen is not from “his own heart,” but from God’s. Just then, Korach and his men are swallowed up by the earth.

But God is not done, and sets a plague upon the thousands more followers of Korach.

This time, Moses stops the plague from spreading by standing in the middle of the crowd with his brother Aaron.

Moses is shown to be so very just and fair and respectful of his opponents.

All of it feels a little Hollywood to me.

With all the terrible things we are being slammed with daily, it’s easy to imagine a version of the past that wasn’t as bad as now.

I struggle constantly to remind myself not to whitewash any of it because, let’s be real; it was never a Hollywood picture. I can easily name a whole bunch of wars and plenty of other terrible things just from my lifetime.

But I take Moses’ statement about his heart as a personal challenge;

What’s in my heart?

Have I been angry enough at times over the past two years that I’ve wondered if the world might not be better off if all “our enemies” died in this current plague?

I challenge you to come up with a blessing for us all because I’m just too tired right now.

And I’ll say Amen.