[Avodah] Korach Tzaddik Katamar Yifrach

[Cantor Wolberg]

There are eleven Tehillim which have in its first verse a recognition  
of the "livnei Korach."  Korach appeared to be seeking "kedusha" for  
all Jews. However, his comment "For all the congregation are holy" was  
an egregious error and missed the major point that our holiness is not  
an automatic condition, but rather, a potential for which to labor,  
not an assured state. In addition, Korach was challenging authority --  
not for the sake of improvement and good -- but rather for self  
serving motivations. In other words, the machinations of Korach were  
not legitimate. The sages of the gemara welcomed sincere dissension  
and controversy. Machlokess was and IS -- HEALTHY -- and is referred  
to as "controversies that are in the name of heaven," (l'sheim  
shamayim) as opposed to controversies like Korah. So how does one tell  
the difference?

We see from Datan and Aviram's accusation, that instead of their  
working for improvement and for a better future, they are  
romanticizing about the past. They are rejecting the present reality  
and are ultimately doomed to fail since they are blinded by jealousy  
and by their own personal agendas. The portion of Korach is a grim  
reminder of how selfishness and anger warps our thinking and distorts  
how we perceive the world

There is no doubt that when we see injustice, it is necessary and  
essential to speak out and be a positive force in changing the status  
quo. But we will hardly succeed if we do the right things for the  
wrong reasons.

The sages realized that while the Korah rebellion ended so tragically,  
it had the seeds of redemption. In Psalm 92 we read: Tzaddik katamar  
yifrach, "The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree." The last  
letters of these three Hebrew words (in order) spell Korach!  So the  
lesson here is that even though Korach was a great sinner, his concept  
(out of selfish context) was good and with repentance, God is  
forgiving. Given the proper motivation, we can turn even the most  
difficult situations around and eventually succeed!

ri
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