Parshas Korach-- Get over your Pride!

In this week’s parsha, Korach, we see how Korach desires a more prominent position within Bnai Israel. Because Korach was born in prominent family, he was Moshe’s cousin after all, he assumed that he deserved a position of royalty or priesthood. Indeed, Korach did have many superior qualities:
1.    He was a first cousin of Moshe and Aaron.
2.    He was chosen to be one the men who carry the aron.
3.    He was an extremely learned man.
4.    He had ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration), that his descendents would include prophets (i.e. Shmuel being one of them).
5.    He was the wealthiest man at the time.

In Korach’s mind, he believed that he was destined for greatness considering all his superior qualities. However, since Korach was not chosen for a high-ranking position, he was greatly dismayed and this took a toll on his pride.

Although Korach was a wise man, he lost all his wisdom by letting his pride get in the way. Korach let his desire for stature get so far that he eventually gathered 250 followers to rebel against Moshe, stating that Moshe was assigning all the high ranking roles to his brother and to his nephews. Korach even went so far and he started asserting that Moshe made up all the commandments!

From this we can see how Korach let his jealousy and pride cloud his mind and caused him to sin. Rather, he should have recognized the Hashem has endowed him with a specific potential that only he could accomplish, and actualize that potential. Instead, he looked at what he lacked, which led to his downfall and death.

This should shed light into our own lives. At times, we tend to overlook the greatness Hashem has graciously bestowed upon us. Rather, we look at what strengths others possess, thereby, we feel as though we are lacking. Essentially, we must realize that each member of Bnai Israel has a different strength and potential to fulfill. We must appreciate our unique set of strengths that were given to us in order for us to accomplish our unique mission. Rather than constantly comparing ourselves to others, we should keep in mind the greatness we have within and completely develop those qualities. Once we have accomplished that, the greatness achieved through that, will be much greater than trying to actualize someone else’s potential.