{"id":324,"date":"2013-12-10T00:17:52","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T00:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=324"},"modified":"2013-12-10T00:17:52","modified_gmt":"2013-12-10T00:17:52","slug":"korach-5768-2008","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=324","title":{"rendered":"Korach 5768 (2008)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Korach 5768<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Marc Mangel<\/p>\n

We know that WHAT Korach did was problematic, but WHY was it so and what do we learn from this?\u00a0 Why did we name a Parsha after Korach \u2013 a person considered evil by the Torah? \u00a0In Ch 16, V 3, Korach asks \u201cWhy do you raise yourselves above the congregration of God?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Midrash teaches that Korach said \u201cEveryone heard the Sinai commandment \u201cI am the Lord your God\u201d, not just you Moses.\u00a0 If you had heard it alone, then you could have claimed superiority but we all heard you so you cannot raise yourself\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Midrash and Rashi then go on that Moses responds \u201cWe have one God, one Torah, one law, one Kohen Gadol and you\u00a0 — 250 men \u2013 all desire the high priesthood.\u00a0 I desire it too!\u201d<\/p>\n

The last Lubavitcher Rebbe said that Moses\u2019s response was not a debating tactic\u00a0 — that Moses truly desired the position of Kohen Gadol for himself.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because Kohen Gadol was the highest spiritual state attainable by man.<\/p>\n

This is the POSITIVE aspect of Korach\u2019s rebellion \u2013 a lofty goal and a desire and yearning for the highest ideals.\u00a0 And this is why we remember Korach\u00a0 – because it teaches us that we should desire and yearn for the highest ideals.<\/p>\n

At the same time, there is a second message\u00a0 — the NEGATIVE aspect of Korach\u2019s rebellion \u2013 that we are not to act on even the most lofty ambitions if such are contrary to the will of God.\u00a0 Our challenge then \u2013 and today because the Torah is always unfolding \u2013 is to know which is which.<\/p>\n

There is a third message, which we learn from Ch 17, V 2-3:\u00a0 \u201cLift up\u2026the offering pans of these mortal sinners, and beat them into sheets with which to plate the altar; for they have been offered to God and have become sanctificed\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the same pans that were used in a sinful and severely punished act (although motivated by holy desire of coming close to God). Even so, God tells Moses that these sheets of metal have been sanctified.<\/p>\n

From this, the Rebbe teaches that every human being is redeemable \u2013 no matter how deleterious his or her deeds, they hide a striving and desire \u2013 intrinsic to every creature of God \u2013 for the goodness and perfection of the Divine.<\/p>\n

The Mittler Rebbe taught that each one of us is a lamp.\u00a0 The apparently irredeemable have a wick which is not lit, but\u00a0 we all know that if an unlit lamp gets close enough to a lit one, it can light. The message of Korach is that we can help in lighting lamps of other souls through our behavior that brings their desire for goodness to the surface.<\/p>\n

Shabbat shalom<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Korach 5768 by Marc Mangel We know that WHAT Korach did was problematic, but WHY was it so and what do we learn from this?\u00a0 Why did we name a Parsha after Korach \u2013 a person considered evil by the Torah? \u00a0In Ch 16, V 3, Korach asks \u201cWhy do you raise … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-324","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/324\/revisions\/326"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}