Parshat Korach: Engulf and Devour - Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair

in 1820 the ratio between the income of the top and bottom 20% of the world's population was 3 to 1 by 1991 it was 86 to 1 a study by the world Institute for development economics research at United Nations University reports that the richest 1 percent of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000 and the three richest people in the world possessed more financial assets than the lowest forty eight nations combined never in the field of human history has so much been owned by so few the problem is for the mega riches what do you do with all that money where in this world can you get a bang for your mega dollars there's an old story that tells of a super-rich father who wanted to make the glitziest Bar Mitzvah of all time so he called up NASA in Houston and asked how much it would cost to make a Bar Mitzvah on the moon when he heard the answer he said no problem the sky is not the limit and so it was that a select party of 25 invitees was ferried to the moon for the most exclusive Bar Mitzvah in history on his return one of the lucky invitees was asked by a friend what it was like to go to a mitzvah on the moon the other replied was okay but somehow there was no atmosphere I have a friend whose job it is to concierge parties for the fantabulously rich he told me once that he booked Stevie Wonder to play at a private party for no more than six people fee 1.25 million dollars cab analysis of course Stevie's take-home stipend in addition to that there was the private jet transport super luxury housing for Stevie and the band and of course food lots of food total somewhere between five and six million dollars my friend said the lunacy reached its limit with an Arab sheikh who heat concierge this Arab Sheikh when he came to New York City everything had to be gold the limousine had to be gold that taps in the bathroom at to be gold the gold had to be gold gold everywhere the crowning lunacy was the sheiks fantasy to fish with a golden fishing rod for goldfish in the Hudson River now I'm not sure the last time a goldfish was sighted in the murky Hudson but it was probably when Little Jimmy got fed up with his prize that he won at the fair and flushed it down the toilet undeterred my friend the concierge secured a large 75 foot yacht painted it gold of course and then have a couple of thousand live goldfish flown down from Maine in tanks as the yacht made its stately progress up the fetid waters of the Hudson a team of scuba divers swimming underneath the yacht released the little fishes it seems that madness has no limits and the more money you have the madder you become in this week's Pasha it starts and Cora took this sentence doesn't have an object he doesn't say what karach took rather Cora was so invested in the desire to take that despite his enormous wisdom status and wealth he staged a totally self-seeking rebellion against ma chere how apt that Couric's voracious desire to engulf and devour led to the earth itself opening up and devouring him [Music] [Applause]