Parshat Korach: Here to Serve

Korach, a relative of Moshe, leads what we could describe pretty accurately as the first populist rebellion — or populist uprising — in the Torah. Korach frames himself as a man of the people, somebody who has everyone else’s best interests in mind. That is why his argument sounds, at least at first, so compelling: Aren’t we all holy, Moshe? Why are you more holy than everybody else? What is all this nepotism? Your brother gets to be the Kohen Gadol? I thought we were all equally holy.

On the surface, these all seem like legitimate and valid arguments. Of course the people are holy. Of course leadership should not become detached from the community. Of course those who lead should have to answer for how power is held and shared. But the challenge of Korach’s rebellion — and part of the reason it is ultimately futile — is that behind the veneer of being there for everyone, there is really a lot of hubris, a lot of ego, and a lot of desire to usurp and control and be the one in charge.

This is, fundamentally, a story about the difference between servant leadership and leadership that asks other people to serve the leader. Korach speaks the language of the collective, but underneath it is a hunger for the spotlight. Moshe, by contrast, is the model of someone who does not seek leadership for his own dignity or significance, but who is continually called back into the hard and holy work of carrying the people.

For all of us, Parshat Korach is a reminder to keep front and center the kind of leadership we are trying to practice. We are not here because we crave the spotlight, or because we want other people to think highly of us because we have some extra role or responsibility. We are here because there is dignity and significance in stepping up to support other people. Especially when things get hard, when there are difficult decisions to be made, or when there is understandable and natural machloket between us, may we remember that the goal is to be selfless as leaders. The bottom line is simple: we are here to serve. We are not here to be served.

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Artwork by Hillel Smith.