Why would almonds or almond blossoms be the symbol to prove who was chosen?
ויגמול. מגזרת ויגדל הילד ויגמל ורבים אמרו בעבור שקדים כי המטה היה ממין האילן ואינה ראיה ודרך דרש כי שקדים כמו כי שוקד אני:
AND BORE RIPE ALMONDS. The word va-yigmol (and bore ripe) is related to the word va-yigammal (and was weaned) in And the child grew, and was weaned (Gen. 21:8). (...) The word shekedim (almonds) has midrashically been related to the word shoked (watch) in I watch over My word to perform it (Jer. 1:12).
Almond trees blossom in late winter, in the middle of Israel’s rainy season. They’re the first trees to blossom in the season, making them an ancient Jewish symbol of renewal, hope, and diligence.
And there is terror on the road.—
For the almond tree may blossom,
The grasshopper be burdened,-i
And the caper bush may bud again;
But man sets out for his eternal abode,
With mourners all around in the street.—
ויגמל שקדים AND RIPENED INTO ALMONDS — This means that when the fruit was recognisable as such it could be recognised that they were almonds. The verb has the same meaning as in (Genesis 21:8) “And the child grew ויגמל, and became a full child” (i.e., able to do without its mother’s milk). This expression is frequently used of the fruit of trees, as e.g. (Isaiah 18:5) “And the blossom becometh a ripening (גמל) grape” (cf. Rashi on Genesis 40:10). — But why did it bring forth almonds? Because it is a fruit that blossoms earlier than all other fruits; so, too, the punishment of him who sets himself in opposition to the constituted priesthood comes quickly, just as we find stated in the case of Uzziah (II Chronicles 26:19) “And the leprosy instantly broke out in his forehead”. — Its translation in the Targum is: וכפת שגדין, meaning that it produced a kind of cluster of almonds, knotted together one upon the other (Aramaic כפת denotes “tied”).
BLOOM (KORACH) - Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
It's easy for women
to identify with Korach.
Why should all the power
reside in one set of hands?
Why shouldn't we
be able to speak to God
on our own time, lighting
our own smudge-stick hearts?
Why should our bodies
need concealment, like
faces of the Holy Blessed One
hidden from creation?
Sometimes when we say this
the earth swallows us whole
like Persephone, eater
of pomegranate seeds.
Sometimes we emerge
like spring itself,
overflowing with the stories
we learned underground
and the plain walking-sticks
of everyone around us
burst into improbable bloom.
FRUIT (KORACH)- Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
in God's hands
the staff of my body
blossoms
and brings forth almonds
not a sign
that I am favored
or especially fit
for divine service
just garden-variety
transformation
the blessing
of whatever comes