Korach – How to rise up and be great

In this week’s Parsha we have 2 nearly identical Pesukim, which, given the Torah’s concision is surprising and intriguing. When these are viewed in comparison with each other, they highlight a theme that runs through the entire story of קרח. I implore you to get a Chumash and follow this inside, but for those of you who can’t I will write out the Pesukim, and summarize the parts of the Parsha that we will be discussing.

The identical Pesukim are these:

טז’ כא’: הבדלו מתוך העדה הזאת ואכלה אתם כרגע: כב’: ויפלו על פניהם…

יז’ י’: הרמו מתוך העדה הזאת ואכלה אתם כרגע ויפלו על פניהם:

Before we explain and explore these 2 פסוקים I’m going to point out the differences, which are so few, you can count them on one hand: Number 1 – הבדלו vs. הרמו. 2- Whether ויפלו על פניהם is in the same פסוק or another פסוק. 3- What Hashem is angry enough to destroy the Jewish people about. And 4- Moshe and אהרן’s response, or lack thereof.

Let’s start with #1. הבדלו comes from the root בדל or להבדיל. This word is always used when contrasting opposites, for example. ויבדל אלקים בין האור ובין החשך, or הבדלתי אתכם מבין העמים. Light and darkness, night and day, Jews and the nations. הרמו means to lift up, from the root of רם.

To explain these themes, I’d like to summarize the story of קרח and point out certain Pesukim where the concepts of separation and lifting up appear and see where it takes us.

קרח comes forward and argues with Moshe, questioning his authority. Moshe says: was it not enough for you that Hashem separated you (כי הבדיל) from the Jewish people.

Moshe sends a message to דתן and אבירם (notice the רם in his name) to hold a private session with them, hoping that he can console them and bring them to Teshuva. Their response, we will not go up.

Moshe tell the people that tomorrow there will be a show down, אהרן vs. קרח and his 250 followers. Each person will bring burning קטרת to Hashem and whichever קטרת Hashem chooses, that will show that the person brings that קטרת was chosen by Hashem.

While they are all getting ready with the fires, we have the first of our identical Pesukim, where Hashem says to Moshe and אהרן, separate yourselves from these people and I will destroy them instantly. And in their answer to Hashem in the next Pasuk they fall on their faces, and say, one person sins and you’d like to destroy the entire nation?? The מדרש tells us that their answer was, You Hashem know each person’s thoughts, separate between those who sinned and those who didn’t, to which Hashem says, you are right, I will make it known who internally sinned against Me and who is just outwardly followed the crowd.

Then Hashem tells Moshe to tell the Jews to remove themselves from קרח’s camp. But the word that the Torah uses is העלו, which is rooted in להעל, to go up.

Moshe explains what the sign will be that Hashem has sent him and told him to appoint אהרן as כהן גדול. The ground will open and the sinners will go down (as opposed to going up) into the earth.

As we all know, this is what happens, and קרח and his family is taken down into earth, and a fire burns the 250 people who followed along with קרח. Interesting to note that fire will only go up, never ever moving downward.

Then we have what seems to be an arbitrary digression, where Moshe tell אהרן’s sons to lift up (וירם) the shovels that were used to bring by קרח and his followers, and to hammer them down (again the opposite of going up) very thin and use them as a covering for the מזבח to serve as a reminder to the nation, that a non-kohen shouldn’t bring קטרת to Hashem, since אהרן and his children were chosen.

The next morning, the Jewish people gather against Moshe and אהרן and say, you killed the עם ד’.

Hashem comes to Moshe and אהרן and we have our second identical Pasuk, lift yourselves up from these people and I will destroy them instantly. Here they fall on their faces in the same Pasuk as Hashem speaking, and they have no answer. They have fallen down in despair. Indeed, they have no defense for the people and a plague starts. The only way it stops is when Moshe gives אהרן a קטרת recipe that the גמרא tells us was given to him by the מלאך המות on הר סיני when he was getting the Torah from Hashem.

I think it is obvious that these ideas of separating and lifting up represent a theme running through the story, but how do we tie it all together?

I think we can explain it as follows:

It is very natural for people to want greatness, to be lifted up and recognized as unique and special from within a crowd. However, we as Jews who are standing in from of Hashem, who created the universe and IS all of reality, should laugh at the irony of the concept of being great. If we are all serving the Infinite, any greatness that someone has over another is extremely minute and insignificant. Therefore, the Torah constantly tries to teach us the paradox that it is only through realizing that we are small, and through that smallness that we can reach greatness. The gap that lies between all our greatness and Hashem’s greatness is so huge that one person’s greatness over anyone else’s is almost non-existent. What we are meant to focus on is each and everyone’s uniqueness, or in terms of פרשת קרח, everyone’s separateness. And it is only then that we can be great, or, be lifted up.

Let’s now read back step by step through the story of קרח with this theme in mind.

Moshe tells קרח, is it too little for you that Hashem separated you from amongst the Jewish people? You were given the unique mission to carry the ארון that houses the לוחות, be happy with your unique purpose.

Moshe, the king of the nation lowers himself by attempting to arrange a private visit with 2 simpletons, דתן and אבירם. To show them that true greatness is by lowering yourself. But they say, no way, we won’t go up like that.

Hashem wants to destroy the entire nation, but at this point Moshe and אהרן still have an answer ready. Hashem, You are the only one who truly knows each person’s uniqueness and their thoughts. Show the Jews by separating the two groups that there is uniqueness between people and that each person only gets punished or rewarded based on their individuality, to which Hashem says ok.

Moshe then tells the Jewish people to go up from the camp of קרח. It had become obvious that he was trying to achieve greatness by raising himself up, and Moshe is telling the people, realize that you are separate from him and unique in your own way. Each of your missions is specific to you. Realize this and you will be lifted up from קרח’s camp.

Obviously, what follows is that קרח is taken down into the ground, swallowed alive. If we try to stand up and show how great we are, in the face of Hashem and those that He chooses, then the only direction we can go is down.

Now, that arbitrary digression is a perfect lesson for the people. The shovels that were used are to be lifted up, and then hammered down (the backwards of the process to greatness we have been describing) to a paper-thin copper sheet to cover the מזבח. Next time anyone comes to the Mishkan they will see the reminding copper sheet that was raised up only to be hammered down, and they will remember that the people who used these shovels did it all wrong, and therefore the backwards process of lifting up to hammer down was needed, we are supposed to make ourselves lower in order to get lifted up.

But the very next morning, the people come back saying you killed the עם ד’. The Sforno explains that they were upset at Moshe for choosing קטרת as the test between קרח and אהרן, since that is something that only a specific Kohen can bring. He should have chosen a regular קרבן that many Kohanim can bring. With this we realize that they missed the message! The whole purpose was to show that there are different levels, and some people are given a higher mission than others, but each of us are supposed to be happy with our mission. Some kohanim are able to bring קטרת and some aren’t, and we all need to be ok with that.

It is after this that Hashem needs to say הרמו, lift yourselves up from the people and I will destroy them instantly. They aren’t going to learn how to properly lift themselves, so you two lift yourselves and I will start over. Moshe and אהרן have no answer, and the plague starts wiping people out. The only way Moshe saves anyone is because he has the recipe that the מלאך המות gave to him in שמים (which he also only received since he humbled himself. It’s too long to get into here but if you’d like please let me know and I can send you another email explaining the גמרא that shows that Moshe only got this recipe due to his lowering himself and knowing that’s the road to true greatness).

May we all learn from the story of קרח, and know that we are all truly great and unique with a specific mission. My mission isn’t yours, and yours isn’t anyone else’s. Don’t be jealous of the other, since what he has is not yours and what you have is not his. And with this knowledge we should all be zoche to achieve true greatness in the eyes of הקדוש ברוך הוא.