The best possible you – Korach
The death of Korach & his followers
Both came from the same tribe of Levi, but dissension bitterly divided them. The Torah clearly sides with Moses and has a poor opinion of Korach and his henchmen.
You would think that what divided them was ideology but that did not seem to be the problem at all. Both sides believed in God, both regarded Israel as a holy people, both had their ethical priorities. Had they all agreed on everything it would have been shalom al Yisra’el.
The problem was that the Korach company were not clamouring to be themselves but to be interchangeable with Moses and his men (Num. 16:10), whereas God had given each group its own place, its own priorities, its own purpose.
God said, as it were, “Korach, I don’t expect you to be Moses; I expect you to be Korach. You have a role to play, but it is your own role. You must not steal Moses’ task but perform your own. Let Moses be Moses – the best possible Moses he can be. Your task is to be the best possible Korach!”
There is a Chassidic saying that in time to come no-one will ask why I was not Moses or why I was not Abraham… what they will ask is why I was not myself!
