The entire congregation are all holy

(Numbers 16:3)

Tammuz 2, 5778/June 15, 2018

Korach, the wanna-be king of the Israelites and self proclaimed 'man of the people,' who led a brazen challenge to Moshe's leadership under G-d's Divine sovereignty, has been 'honored' with an entire Torah reading named after him. His short lived rebellion garnered only two hundred and fifty followers, a minuscule proportion of the Israelite encampment, and both Korach and his shameless followers were swiftly eliminated by Moshe, who, on G-d's behalf, displayed zero tolerance for Korach's outrageous claims and audacious demagoguery. Like countless two-bit pretenders who have made the headlines one day only to disappear off the face of the earth the next day, Korach came, he claimed and he was soundly defeated and deleted. So why has his infamous legacy endured?

We know that Korach was brilliant and arrogant. He was well placed yet plagued with jealousy. Born into the exalted tribe of Levi, the head of one of the most prestigious families of Levi, and assigned the task of being among those chosen to carry the Ark of the Covenant through the wilderness when G-d's cloud of glory would lift up from the Tabernacle and place it back within the Holy of Holies when G-d's cloud of glory would descend again, it couldn't have been much better for Korach. He had it all.

But Korach was an ambitious man, and when, in the aftermath of the sin of the spies Israel was condemned to forty years in the desert, he saw his opportunity. Being of the generation that was fated to die in the wilderness and never enter the promised land, Korach had nothing to lose. His opening salvo, cleverly disguised as an attack against Moshe and Aharon's leadership, "You take too much upon yourselves" (Numbers 16:3) was framed to resonate among the people, and also, perhaps, to strike a nerve in Moshe, who had, more than once, bemoaned before G-d the burden of his responsibility. But immediately Korach directed his rant to a much more basic and foundational element: "the entire congregation are all holy, and HaShem is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above HaShem's assembly?" (ibid)

G-d being in the midst of the assembly of Israel as a means and expression of G-d's Presence dwelling in creation and informing creation with the truth of G-d's Oneness and goodness, has always been G-d's plan, and from Mount Sinai, where G-d commanded to Moshe "And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst" (Exodus 25:8) it has been Israel's central defining purpose. Even prior to Sinai, after first exiting Egypt, the people, in a moment of doubt, were "testing HaShem, saying, Is HaShem in our midst or not?" (ibid 17:7) Korach has now cleverly and seamlessly transposed the Divine intent of G-d to dwell within the entire congregation of Israel, an organic and indivisible entity, to G-d choosing to favor one individual over another with His Presence, an instant recipe for jealousy, division and the rapid disintegration of the nation. This is a total and contemptible perversion of G-d's covenant with His people Israel, whose unity and indivisibility is intended to reflect G-d's perfect unity and indivisibility. Disguised as an attack on Moshe, Korach was out to banish G-d's Presence from the midst of the encampment, and from the face of the earth.

It is this evil proposition that Korach promulgated which 'elevates' him from being an insignificant and readily forgotten petty demagogue to being the embodiment of a doctrine which threatens humanity itself. No man can claim G-d's favor over another and no man can claim that G-d has filled his being with His Presence exclusive of others. Yes, Korach was right, "the entire congregation is holy," but only insomuch as each individual is an indivisible part of the entire congregation. Those, who like Korach, conspire to separate themselves from the nation and steal G-d's presence in the process so that they can lord it over the people will ultimately find themselves banished to a place where neither the nation nor G-d's Presence can be found.

-The Temple Institute