Today I will speak about leadership utilizing the parashah of Korach. I believe that God has called all of us who are chosen by God, to be leaders. He gives us a specific task to do and when we are in His will we know what that task is. He sets up the place and the circumstances in our lives so that we can take our place in His plan.

There is a difference between being a leader led by God and a leader who is a politician. The politician is the man who needs to be accepted by the people and if his self-esteem is low, arrogance is what is displayed instead of the humility that we see in the leader chosen by God. The politician projects his own image to the people while a true chosen leader projects God's image. Unfortunately many religious leaders are politicians instead of true representatives of God. The politician speaks with five tongues. He says whatever the people he is presently addressing want to hear, thus trying to please everyone. He doesn't care about anyone else's position but his own. Since people are easily fooled, they love the politician but do not like the man chosen by God because he is called to tell them the truth. We all know how difficult it is to accept truth even though Yeshua said, "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free."

Position is a great responsibility and we need to be very careful when we try to take a position that we were not called for and was actually meant for someone else. This is what happened in the case of Korach and the men who he convinced to join him. Korach was a symbol of a good leader gone wrong. In the Talmud, the rabbis try to defend his honor by telling many stories about how it is the wives who convinced Korach and the other 250 leaders of Israel, men of renown, to turn from Moses or that it was the erev rav (mixed multitude) that caused them to rebel. Wasn't Korach a son of Kohath, the Levite? Didn't he also deserve to be a High Priest? Why was only Aaron chosen and not him? Weren't Dathan and Abiram descended from Reuben, the first born of Jacob? Didn't they deserve such an esteemed position as first born? Why was Moses given such a position as leader and not them?

These are the seeds of discontent that were whispered in the ears of the men causing them to rise up against those whom God had chosen. What are the thoughts are whispered in your ear that causes you to rebel against the authority that God has placed over you? Search your heart to see whether you are a politician or a true leader. Do you want to be recognized more by people than by God? Are you trying to boost your self-worth? Are you seeking power? Is earning money or serving God your motivation?

Our biggest problem is being honest with ourselves. Serving God has little to do with our capabilities or talents. If you are very talented in a certain area, for instance as a musician, it may sometimes be more of a hindrance than a blessing because you rely more on your talent than on God. God will certainly use the abilities that He has given you but He will usually have you use them in ways where you need to depend upon Him. When we are too secure in ourselves, we forget to pray and if we think that we are capable of doing things without Him, that's where we can fail. Korach was a wealthy businessman, a leader even before the Israelites left Egypt. Dathan and Abiram called Egypt the land of milk and honey. They obviously were doing well in the diaspora. They thought they could do things better than God's way.

How many of us can say that we are doing exactly what God is asking us to do? How many of us are simply buying time? We Jewish people have become experts in blaming others for our failures. We had one task to do and that was to conquer the land and bring our people to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Instead, over and over we read of how rebellious a people we were and still are. We even lowered ourselves to insist on having a man as our king instead of accepting God Himself as our King.

How many of us worship people over God? In whom do we trust?

A true leader called by God walks a straight path, looking neither to the left nor the right. A true leader gives and accepts constructive criticism.

Korach tried to tell Moses and Aaron that God made a mistake; He should have chosen Korach for he was a first born of the Levites, wealthy, respected as a businessman, an excellent politician. In rebelling against Moses, he was rebelling against God Himself. Korach was guilty of trying to usurp a position that was simply not given to him. Today we confront people like Korach who challenge us to be “politically correct, theologically correct, sociologically correct, etc…” One of the greatest challenges that the believer in the God of Israel faces today is the compromise with the world when it comes to the Word of God. We have slowly allowed the morals and values of the world to influence us instead of us influencing them. What used to be right is wrong and what was wrong has now become right. In the same way today, when any person tells us not to obey the Word of God, he is destroying the Truth and God’s plan for the world.

Yeshua well understood his position as did Yohanan the Immerser. When his followers asked him if he was the Messiah, he said no and pointed to Yeshua, whose sandals he said he was unworthy to even untie. Yohanan knew his function and that was to announce the coming of the Messiah. He wasn't trying to be someone he was not.

In a congregation, no position is better than another or more important. There are simply a variety of functions. There is no better place to be than in the position and role that God has chosen for you. Do you want to be a leader who God has called or do you want to do things on your own? Where has the Lord placed you? Are you serving in the right place? If you are trying to fight for respect, examine your place. Perhaps you are trying to fight for a position that was not given to you.

Finally here is a special note for the ladies of the congregation. You are the last and finest of God's creation. You have abilities beyond the comprehension of men. You have maternal instinct which we can never have. You have a spiritual understanding which men cannot reach and that is why Satan tempted Eve and not Adam who was happy playing in his garden. The curse was that woman would suffer in childbirth and be under that authority of man who was her inferior. The man would suffer by working the land with sweat and strain. Man's role became to be the protector of the woman, the provider. When these roles are understood and obeyed, the blessings are clear. The woman of Proverbs 31:10-31 demonstrate the capabilities of woman but when the roles are crossed, congregations, families and society as a whole suffer. When we change the role of leadership, we change the Word of God as Korach did. May we recognize our calling and be fully involved in the kind of leadership to which God has called us.

   May God add blessings to His Word.

     Rabbi Percy Johnson
     Netanel ben Yochanan
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