Parashat Korach

Dear Friends, At the very core of this portion are the attempts by multiple members of the Israelite Community to gain power at the expense of Moses and Aaron. Moses' leadership is challenged profoundly. And so, as we go through the last couple of Thora portions it seems that an important question is addressed: what are the characteristics of a true leader? In the previous Parasha, Behalechotai, Moses reached a breaking point and pronounced ''I cannot carry the burden of this people alone, for it is too heavy on me.'' In response, Moses was given 70 elders to help him. The interesting question is who were these 70 elders and why they became leaders? The answer is that they were the officers of the Israelites in Egypt, during the slavery, who were put in a big dilemma by Pharao. They were commanded to see to it that a specific quota of bricks was met. The dilemma these officers had was that either they had to beat there brothers to produce more bricks or disobey the orders and suffer horrendous beatings themselves. What happens was that the officers recognize the cruelty of Pharao's decree and refused to obey it! They became the leaders. In contrast it is Korach who was the complete opposite, as Rashi wrote: ''His eye deceived him.''Korach even actively avoided to debate Moses because he knew that he would realize that he was wrong. His need for honor was so strong that he could not force himself to debate Moses and abonden his dream of taking power. Often when one knows he is wrong he clogs his senses and continue his ways and hence the Rabbis wrote that in the days preceding the Messiah ''truth will be absent.'' The truth as such will exist and be accessible, but leadership will create a world without truth, by ignoring it, mocking it, and banning it from the masses. Never before was there a period of time when truth was so obvious and necessary for a new, young generation, yet at the same time so absent. This is because many of today's leaders follow Korach's ways as they are terrified of the truth and desperately in need of honor and must remain in power at all costs. The last couple of Thora portions showed us the characteristics of true leadership. The elders became leaders not because they obeyed orders but because the disobeyed cruel orders. Like Moses who grew up in Pharaos household, they stood out and swam against the current. They took the first hit when necessary and stood up for the people by showing them their truth. And so, when Moses saw there was no point in confronting Korach's ignorance he separated himself from him. The moment he saw that the problem was not Korach's error but his will to accept his error, he left him alone and the ground swallowed him. In other words, remaining in ignorance is not an option for a true leader. True leadership, which starts with leadership over oneself, is based in a willingness to learn and to listen, to always walk in what is most true for us. Shabbath Shalom