Parshat Korach - Prerequisites for Dissent
by Rabbi Lobel

(Numbers; Chapter 16, Verse 1) "And Korach, son of Yizhar, son of Kehas, son of Levi, separated himself." Korach was about to challenge Moses' leadership. Rashi explains, Korach was jealous that Elizaphan the son of Uzziel, was appointed by Moses as the prince of the family of Kehas. Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kehas, and Merrari. Each of these families had their own special duties in the Tabernacle and needed a leader.

Kehas had four children, Amram, Yizhar, Hebron , and Uzziel. Moses, the leader of Israel , and Aaron, the High Priest, were the sons of Amram. According to the rules of succession, Yizhar's oldest son, Korach, should have been granted leadership over the family of Kehas. Instead, upon G-d's command, Moses appointed Elizaphan, son of Uzziel, the youngest son of Kehas. Korach, jealous that he'd been passed over, challenged Moses' credibility as G-d's representative.

After witnessing Moses' leadership during the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, and the revelation at Mt. Sinai , how did Korach have the audacity, the chutzpah, to challenge him?

The verse says, "and Korach... separated himself." Based upon Targum Onkelos, Rashi explains that Korach removed himself from the assembly of Israel . Korach was no longer part of the Children of Israel. "His secession from the Children of Israel was in order to sustain his dispute."

Before Korach could confront Moses, he first had to negate all of Moses' accomplishments. Everything Moses had done, he did for the Children of Israel. But none of that mattered anymore to Korach because Korach had separated himself. As Rashi explains, the power and strength behind Korach's challenge was based upon the fact that he no longer identified himself with the Children of Israel.

When you separate yourself from the community, it becomes easy to ignore everything they've done and everything they do; you begin to view others as irrelevant. This was the downfall of Korach. By separating himself from the Children of Israel, he was able to ignore, and therefore challenge, Moses' authority.

When having an argument, it becomes easy to separate yourself from those on the other side of the dispute, as Korach did. One must use disputes as a means to find a solution. When one separates himself, he resolves to fight rather than resolve what is right.