Yoni Goldstein: Jewish law tells us how to deal with Avi Lewis - National Post
Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) Loading account options Sign In Manage Account Close account menu Manage Account Sign Out Loading subscription options Subscribefor $0.50/week New Democratic Party leader Avi Lewis speaks during a press conference in the foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (HYUNGCHEOL PARK / Postmedia) By Yoni Goldstein, Special to National Post September 29, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Last Updated: September 29, 2026 at 7:05 p.m. The Jews were well into their desert journey when Korach, a member of the privileged Levite clan, openly questioned Moses’ leadership. Two-hundred-and-fifty people, a tiny fraction of the nation that then comprised hundreds of thousands of adults, sided with him. Korach and his leadership group refused Moses’s summons, accusing him of leading the Jews out of Egypt for his own glory. Suddenly, God caused the earth to open up, and Korach and his family were swallowed alive. The 250 admirers were consumed by fire.
The biblical story of Korach presents a stark lesson in how Jews think about internal dissent, when it escalates to become a threat to the continued viability of the community itself. It is indeed an extreme consequence for eliciting communal harm, but then Jewish law is fairly clear on the subject: when a Jew endangers the Jewish community, the community is obligated to stop them.
Such is the case with NDP Leader Avi Lewis. Critics have accused him of laying blame for the deaths in Gaza at the feet of all Jews in a pre-Yom Kippur social media message. “Tonight Yom Kippur begins,” he wrote. “It’s a time of atonement — a time to grieve those who have been lost, a time to acknowledge and take responsibility for harms we have caused, individually and collectively.”
Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.
You must be logged in to join the discussion.
I counted new measures worth $137 billion over the next five years. We can argue their merits, but they are being paid for with borrowed money
Find a news archive service — your local public library will help — and search something like ‘home invasions Toronto.’ You'll find they didn’t used to happen
