Moments Kozlowski 100th O n April 26, 2020, Marvin Kozlowski celebrated his 100th birthday. Given the circumstances, he was surrounded by his family in a less conven- tional way — via video conference. His wife, Edith; children, Jay (the late Linda) (Renee), Ruthie and Joe (Jill); grandchil- dren, Rachel, Anna (Bryan), David, Julia, Max and Ben; and great-grandchild, Elliot, look forward to putting on a true party for Marvin very soon. A resident of West Bloomfield, Marvin has packed a ton of life into his 100 years. After surviving the Holocaust, he and Edith reconnected in the States and were married in 1950. Together, they created a beautiful family and instilled their values in its members. The family looks forward to celebrating more simchahs together. Sevy-Mizrachi D uring these unusual times, we have a mitzvah to announce. Michael Sevy, son of Cathy and Robert Beau Sevy of West Bloomfield, and Estie Mizrachi, daughter of Caroline and Simon Mizrachi of Boca Raton, Fla., were married on March 22, 2020. They were married on the terrace at B’ nai Torah Congregation with social distancing being observed. The ecstatic couple reside and work in Miami, Fla. Babyov-Safran T he intermediate days of Passover were filled with happiness as we celebrated our freedom and redemption and we commemorated our new lives post slavery. Our beautiful tradition teaches that one’ s “cup should overflow.” So it is with immense gratitude, excitement and pure happiness that we share that our cup is indeed overflowing with joy and extraordinary enthusiasm. Esther Babyov and Hy Safran are blessed to announce that they are engaged to be married. The kallah (bride) is the daughter of Rabbi Sander and Sarah Babayov. The chattan (groom) is the son of Diane Steinman and Jim Safran. The couple intend to celebrate their marriage this summer and will then reside together in Greater Detroit as active members of our Jewish community. 18 | APRIL 30 • 2020 I n this week’ s story, we discern two ideological positions. Both were antithetical to everything Moses stood for. Keep these two things in mind:. First, the command- ment to wear ritual fringes on four-cornered garments (tzitzit), serves as an introduction to and eventual rebuttal of the movements that Korach, and Datan and Aviram represent. Secondly, Moses’ announcement that the entire generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, was condemned to die in the desert made the Hebrews ripe for rebellion. Korach uses the argu- ment of “equality in holi- ness” against Moses and Aaron: “Why must you set yourselves up to be on a higher plane than the congrega- tion of the Lord?” Korach rejects the unique status of Aaron and his sons as Kohanim. He would also deny any distinction in holiness between different lands, refusing to recognize the special sanctity of the Land of Israel. Korach rejects the priesthood and the idea that the entire “des- ert-generation” must be pun- ished for their refusal to conquer the Land of Israel. Korach’ s view: These are false claims instituted by Moses rather than reflections of the true will and word of God. Korach justifies the Israelites’ desire to remain in the desert precisely because of the desert’ s holiness. Moses is willing to call Korach’ s bluff. He instructs him to take 250 men the next day and to provide each of them with a firepan and incense for a special “priestly” offering to see whose offering would be accept- able to God. The Divine decision was not long in coming: “ A fire came down from God and it consumed the men who were offering the incense, ” including Korach himself. God wants us to establish a nation-state and to take responsibility to perfect an imperfect world, with all the challenges that entails. This is the message of the ritual fringes. When we gaze upon them, we must remember our true mis- sion: to enter history, to risk impurity by taking up the challenges of the real world and to assume our responsibility to become a “sacred nation and king- dom of priest-teachers” to the world. Datan and Aviram had a different agenda. They never wanted to leave Egypt in the first place; but unlike Korach, the last thing they want is to remain behind in the desert. They would love to assimilate. They believe that this desert fiasco jus- tifies their earlier opposition. They, too, are punished by God, who causes the earth for which their materialistic spirits yearned so mightily to swallow them up alive. Because of their passion for physical pleasures, they never learn to look properly upon the ritual fringes. They saw neither the royal blue of their majestic ancestry nor the sap- phire blue of the Divine presence in the world summoning us to His service. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel. Parshat Acharey Mot/ Kedoshim: Leviticus 16:1-20:27; Amos 9:7-15. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Spirit torah portion What Is Holiness?