Korach
This portion speaks of leadership and what it means to go against G-d’s direction. Korach was a cousin of Moshe from the tribe of Levi; Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kehat and Merari, Kehat had four sons: Amram, Yitzhar, Hebron and Uziel. Korach, was the oldest son of Yitzhar. Elizaphan was named the leader of the Kehatites, who was the second son of Uziel, the youngest son of Yitzhar. For Korach this was not acceptable, he felt that his nomination was passed by. It was not enough for him to serve in the tent of meeting and deal with the especially holy things as the Kehatites were called to do (Lev. 4:4). Korach is the typical example of someone having made his own rules. He was especially gifted, influential, intelligent, financially sound, everything you would think a leader needs to be…an excellent politician. He was able to influence 250 of the other powerful leaders to rebel with him against Moshe. Who did Moshe think he was anyway? After all, wasn’t the entire community holy? Certainly the people would side with him because he “LOOKED” so good. We see from Scripture however that it is G-d alone who judges the heart as in the case of the choosing of King David. G-d knew David’s heart; that he would have the characteristics to stand up against a Goliath. He would make the best king although no one at the time could see it. All they could see was a short, young, smelly shepherd boy. Korach however was not a lowly shepherd boy. He was a prince, had a high pedigree, was a first born yet here we see that G-d didn’t choose him for the task that Korach coveted. G-d instead chose Elizaphan and this was too much for Korach to accept…how could G-d do such a thing!?
The books of Torah bring Israel through the process of becoming a nation with everyone playing a role and learning to work together as an entity. The problem is where there are 2 Jews there are 3 opinions. Where we really run into problems is when we become selfish, with an individualistic attitude; this causes trouble for the whole group. We start to think that we are the center of the universe and instead of giving honor and glory to G-d; instead of following His guidance, we tell G-d what we want Him to do — He is MY G-d!. This is the essence of humanism practiced everywhere today. We actually believe that we have the power to handle all our own problems.
Ask yourself this….”Who am I in G-d’s program?” What did G-d gift you with so that you can use it to serve Him? G-d chooses people, we don’t choose Him. Those who think they chose Him, formulate their own rules and regulations, creating their own brand of religion. There are thousands and thousands of such religions today where they say…if you follow the rules, you’re in, if not you’re out.
Do you sometimes have the attitude that you are better suited for someone else’s task or that you are too good to serve under someone who seems inferior to you? Many young leaders become so puffed up in their early days that they fall into that trap where they become so inflated thinking that they are better than anyone else. Then one day G-d bursts their balloon and they become quickly deflated. Pray that if this is happening to you, that G-d will humble you quickly and without too much pain. Remember, it is not what you think you are that matters but what G-d has appointed you for that has any value.
The first principle to learn from Korach is that G-d chooses us; He builds us up and when we walk in His Presence we will be all that we need to be. The problem arises when we seek “position” instead of G-d’s “calling” or we want someone else’s calling. This is what happened with Korach.
Principle two is that you may be able to buy people but you can’t buy G-d. Many people use their positions of power to buy followers. Many people follow these leaders for the wrong reasons thinking more about what they can get from them instead of what they can give. Korach placed himself in that position. He was blue blood, was wealthy, influential, a big mouth…the perfect politician and had many followers but in the end there were huge consequences to pay, not only for himself but for his followers and their families.
Practical application for Korach in our lives: Let us not look for the light to be upon ourselves but let us humble ourselves and allow G-d to form and direct us. As we Jews have learned to say “to G-d be the glory” (Kol ha kavod). When something bad happens to us, when we find ourselves in a position that we do not want to be in, remember that G-d has a reason for everything. Sometimes we have prayed for something and G-d has allowed us to receive what we prayed for. Let’s be careful what we pray for. Most importantly, let us be happy where we are, as we are. True happiness does not depend on the place we are in but upon our inner state of being. If for instance you say, I don’t like my job, change your attitude and be grateful you have one. Learning to trust and depend upon G-d is a process. He will never ask more of us than we can to. All He asks us to take to Him is what He has already given us. G-d knows us better than we know ourselves and He has prepared the way for us in everything we do.
May G-d add blessings to His Word!