Fake Unity - Korach/Gimel Tamuz 5785

 Sameness as opposed to true equality.  (I wrote about this a few weeks ago.)  Do we all need to be the same in order to be equal?  Is difference a path to division?  Is sameness the path to unity?  When we delve a little deeper into the story of Korach and his rebellion against Moshe, the theme of his argument was that unity means that we should all be the same.  As the verse says (Bamidbar 12:3): Korach and his people “assembled against Moses and Aaron. They said to them, ‘You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire community—all of them—are holy, and G-d is in their midst. Why do you raise yourselves above G-d’s assembly?’”

Korach felt that there should be no hierarchy in Judaism, we should all be the same.  We are all equally holy, he said, and should all equally be able to do the work of the High Priest.  He felt that Moshe had unilaterally set up the divisions for the aggrandizement of himself and his close family members.  (This was of course not the case.)  Now Korach was no simple rabble rouser.  Rashi defines him as a “pikeach” - a wise man. He was the wealthiest man in the nation and extremely prominent.  He even had prophetic vision.  Chassidus explains that Korach actually had a mystical basis for his argument.

While we live in a world of division, our souls all originate from one source - the essence of Hashem.  Korach, as a “wise man,” looked beyond the obvious, physical reality and saw the inner, spiritual source.  (This is the definition in Pirkei Avot - who is a wise person?  He who sees the spiritual source of everything.)  Since, Korach argued, we are all rooted in the essence of Hashem, and on that level there is no division and no difference, we can all equally access Hashem and don’t need one High Priest to perform the service for us.

But Korach was wrong because Hashem put us in a physical world which is not a monolith.  There are myriads of details in the world, and while the source of everything is a single unity, it is expressed here in a world of division.  In a divided world, each detail has to function on its level in order to create a harmonious environment.  To try to just ignore our differences and strive toward sameness actually creates strife.  In fact, Korach is considered by the Torah to be the ultimate example of one who creates strife.

Our Sages compare our people to a body.  In order for a body to function, there must be unity between all the limbs.  It is not possible for any of the limbs to operate independently.  If any of the limbs is not functioning, it affects the entire body, and this is true of the brain, the heart, or the little toe.  While there is certainly a difference in importance between the brain and the feet, without the feet the brain can’t walk.  The same is true of our people.  There is no such thing as an unimportant person.  Every single individual contributes to the nation, and we are therefore one, like a single body.

But at the same time each limb has its function.  The foot can't think, the eye can’t hear and the brain can’t walk.  But the brain is the nerve center of the entire body.  In order for the body to function harmoniously, the brain has to be in full control, and only then can all the limbs function as one.  Without the brain’s control and leadership, the body does not function as one unit, and there is discord.  Similarly, our nation can function in unity only with the inspiration and leadership of great spiritual leaders like Moshe, and the unique service of the High Priest.

This was the deeper significance of M<oshe’s response to Korach: “In the morning, God will make it known who are His, and who is holy, and He will draw them near to Him. He will allow the one He chooses to sacrifice to Him.”  Rashi points out that there was a deep message in the words “in the morning.”  Moshe was saying that just as in the world there is separation between morning and evening, so there is separation between Kohanim (priests) and others.  Even though the world was also created by the word of Hashem and is sourced in His single unity, it is created as a world with separate entities.  Morning and night, while both equally important, are different from each other, and must be that way for the world to function.  

So it is with the nation.  Everyone is equally important, but there must be a clear demarcation between the functions that Hashem established for the Kohanim, Leviyim and Yisraelim.  Just as we can;t change day to night or male to female, nobody can change morning to evening, and nobody can change a non-Kohen to a Kohen.  Each and every person must follow the path that Hashem has given him or her, and only with this combination, the individual functioning as part of the whole, can there be true harmony.

The message from the story of Korach is very timely.  We read this Parsha on the day before the Rebbe’s 31st Yartzeit, on the third of Tamuz (this Sunday).  The Rebbe, as a true leader of the Jewish people, emphasized the unique quality of every individual.  He encouraged everyone to pursue their individual talents and abilities in the service of Hashem.  People from all walks of life who met him, even for a moment, walked away feeling empowered to make their own contribution to the Jewish people and the world, and recognized the importance of that contribution.

Korach was right on one thing, though premature.  His vision of everyone being able to equally approach Hashem will be fulfilled when Moshiach comes.  Our work to fully express our individual service, in unity created by the guidelines of Torah, brings closer the fulfillment of that promise.  May we experience the ultimate redemption immediately, and celebrate the third of Tamuz together with the Rebbe in the rebuilt Holy Temple.