“Korach the son of Izhar, the son of Kehath, the son of Levi took [himself to one side] along with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben. They confronted Moses together with two hundred and fifty men from the children of Israel, chieftains of the congregation, representatives of the assembly, men of repute. They assembled against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ’You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire congregation are all holy, and the Lord is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?’” (Bamidbar 16:1-3)

Korach came with a simple claim, “Kulam Kedoshim (we are all holy).” As Rashi explains “we all heard God at Mount Sinai, we are all of equal stature and standing.” Ostensibly, Korach was trying to create unity through equality. Why should Moshe and Aharon occupy positions of power and authority? They are no better or holier than the rest of us; we are all the same. There is Godliness in every Jew, there is holiness in every person. While these statements are absolutely true, Korach could not have be more wrong.

Moshe responds to Korach’s attack:

“He spoke to Korach and to all his company, saying, ‘In the morning, the Lord will make known who is His, and who is holy, and He will draw [them] near to Him, and the one He chooses, He will draw near to Him.’” (Bamidbar 16:5)

Rashi comments:

“Moses said to [Korach], The Holy One, blessed is He, assigned boundaries to His world. Are you able to transform morning into evening? That is how possible it is for you to undo this, as it says, “It was evening and it was morning… and He separated ” (Gen. 1:5, 7); similarly, “Aaron was set apart to sanctify him…”

(Midrash Tanchuma Korach 3, Num. Rabbah 4)

The Lubavitcher Rebbe provides a poignant insight. There is day and there is night. If day decided it wanted to be night, and if night pined to be day, the world as we know it would cease to exist. There are different groups within the Jewish people. The creation of Kohanim, Leviim and Yisraelim was not intended to create a caste system. Each soul is sent here to accomplish a specific mission. God gives us the circumstances and life-framework necessary to accomplish that mission. The different families, tribes and groups provide the unique platform for individual self-actualization. The soul of the Kohen has a different mission than the soul of the Levi. Those missions are actualized only through their specific tribal and familial frameworks and responsibilities. The Yisrael who cannot work or serve in the Beis Hamikdash (holy Temple) is no less important that the Kohanim and Leviim who can. His soul needs a different set of circumstances to reach its potential. Korach thought the way to create unity was to make everyone the same. Trying to make everyone the same doesn’t create unity, it creates anonymity. No two people are the same. We have different souls and therefore, different missions. God gave each of us the identity and circumstances we need to become the best version of ourselves and accomplish our individual missions here on this Earth. If we strive to be like the other, it’s day striving to become night and night yearning to shine like the day. Whenever we try to be someone or something else, rather than becoming the best version of ourselves, we undermine universal equilibrium.

Kohanim are different than Yisraelim, men are different than women, Jews are different than Gentiles and the list goes on and on. These differences are not something for us to fix or correct. These differences are to be embraced. For it is these very differences which make us who we are and allow for our unique and individual soul to accomplish its God-given mission. Korach was correct, Kulam Kedoshim, each and every one of us is incredibly holy. May we find the courage to stop trying to be the other and start developing the beautiful individual identity we each possess.

 

“Korach the son of Izhar, the son of Kehath, the son of Levi took [himself to one side] along with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben. They confronted Moses together with two hundred and fifty men from the children of Israel, chieftains of the congregation, representatives of the assembly, men of repute. They assembled against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ’You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire congregation are all holy, and the Lord is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?’” (Bamidbar 16:1-3)

It was a no holds barred rebellion. Korach accused Moshe of nepotism, power grabbing and self-promotion. Moshe tried as hard as he could to make peace and achieve reconciliation, but it was not to be. Korach’s core argument was encapsulated in one phrase, “Ki kol ha’eyda kulam kedoshim (the entire assembly is holy).” Korach was saying to Moshe, we are all equals. You are no holier than the rest of us and as such have no right to take and assign leadership positions to whomever you chose; we are all on equal footing.

But how could Korach say such a thing? Moshe regularly communicated with God, Moshe spent forty days and nights on Mount Sinai with no food or drink. Aharon the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) could enter the Holy of Holies, offer sacrifices and reside within the Mishkan. How could Korach say there was no difference between these great men and the rest of the populace?  

The great Chassidic master, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov offers an incredible insight. The Talmud explains that when the Jewish nation experienced Sinaitic revelation and actively experienced God, “paska zuhamasan (the impurity ceased).” The moment that Adam and Chava ate from the forbidden fruit, they ingested spiritual impurity. That impurity remained embedded within our nation until we received the Torah. When we made the incredible declaration of “Naaseh V’nishma (we will do and we will listen),” when we heard the voice of God give us the first commandments, the impurity of the first sin was purged and we regained our complete, innate holiness. Korach therefore felt that we were all equal. Each of us has been restored to the state of Adam and Chava before the sin. We are a nation of holy and righteous people. Moshe, was greater before the revelation, but now, Korach felt, we were all equals.

What was Korach’s mistake? Just because we achieved a certain level of holiness doesn’t mean we automatically retain it. The retention of holiness is achieved only through consistent and ongoing active dynamic growth coupled with vigilance against sin and harmful forces. Korach felt that he “made it.” He crossed the spiritual finish line and there was nothing else he needed to do. Once one becomes a card-carrying member of the holiness club, he can sit back, relax and enjoy the show. But Korach was wrong. Even after the Jewish people achieved this saintly level, we had to actively work to maintain it. Unfortunately, we didn’t.  Immediately after we received the Torah, we built the Golden Calf. Shortly thereafter, we complained about the manna from heaven. Just a bit later, we experienced the debacle of the spies. We lost our footing. We lost our spiritual standing. But Moshe didn’t. Moshe retained his holiness, built upon it and continued forward in a trajectory of growth.

We all have moments of incredible accomplishment. We experience moments of spiritual elation and holiness. There are times when we accomplish great things, cross our finish lines and engage of acts of spiritual heroism (big and small). But in the world of spirituality, there is never a point when one can say, “I have arrived and I am now finished.” We take the time to recognize and celebrate our accomplishments but immediately consider how to move forward. If we don’t build on the spiritual accomplishments of our past and present, we will lose the spiritual ground we have covered. If we don’t actively work to maintain, retain and increase our individual holiness, it will unfortunately dissipate.