Another Uncomfortable Truth

 The most bitter part of the Korach story is, perhaps, the sixth aliyah, in which the Torah lays out the overwhelming bounty of material wealth and sustenance Levi'im - such as Korach - are entitled to, from the fruits, to the meat, to the wine, to the bread.  As the song says, Korach "could have had it all," if he had only recognized all that he had.

In fact, the Torah spends ample text talking about the terumot to which the Levi'im are entitled.  Each korban is laid out in detail, and everything to which the Levi'im shall receive - all in return for performing a holy and honored position - is discussed, gift by gift.  The focus most definitely shifts toward a separation from the rest of this tribe.  

Once again, the Torah makes us confront what, superficially, may seem like a bitter truth.  Of course, we all have sparks of holiness in us.  But in some degrees, everyone is not created equal.  Some are kohanim - and there's nothing - no merit, no amount of study or prayer, and, although corrupted in later generations, no amount of money that can change or buy this status.  The same goes for membership in the tribe of Levi, the holy servants.  This is why Korach's argument ultimately had to fail - sure, there is, as he said, divinity in each one off us, but how that is manifested - well, that is not doled out equally, on both a personal and a tribal/birthright level.

Perhaps this is the reason why I recently learned that some of the worst traits are: anger, arrogance, and jealousy.  The same could be said for all of them, but jealousy is very much literally a rejection of G-d.  G-d gave me something, and someone else something else.  We are not equal, and, at least the above examples, there is nothing that can be done about it.

I feel like I used to get jealous, but now I don't.  And I am surely grateful every second for every blessing I've received.  But I love my old car, my hand-me-down clothes and computer, my used books, my bargain store tools.  Having a low level of jealousy means that my interest is not solely devoted to money - although for my livelihood, that is certainly part of the goal - but I am able to be more aligned with what I'm sure is my holy purpose (advocating for the trodden-upon).  And that freedom, well, that's obviously worth well more than its weight in gold.

If only Korach would have recognized how much he truly had - and perhaps too bad he couldn't even read his own Torah portion! - he would have freed himself from the jealousy that killed him.  

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