Korach- United We Stand; Divided We Fall

Hibad’lu mitoch ha’eidah hazot...

Separate yourselves from this community.

Hein gava’nu avadnu kulanu avadnu.

Behold, when we are undone, when we perish, we are all lost.

Korach and his followers attempt to wrest the leadership of the community from Moshe and Aaron. With their downfall comes the downfall of their wives, their children, and all of their households. The entire parasha is a reminder that leadership within the Jewish world comes not from a prideful desire, but hopefully from the heart of those chosen by God, a calling.

However, beyond the attempt to gain power is a message of the damage done to the community through such a division. Even as Moshe and Aaron try to broker peace with Korach and his followers they stand as one community. So entangled are they that God has to tell them to step aside, to create two separate communities so He could punish Korach.

Ingrained in us is the idea that we are one community. Hillel taught (Pirkei Avot 2:4), “Al tifrosh min hatzibor; do not separate yourself from the community.”  The Rabbis expounded on this saying we should be a pliant as a reed. Alone, a reed is flexible, bending in the wind, but combined with others its strength is enormous. Korach’s strength was in his creation of a separate community within the greater Jewish community. Unfortunately, instead of using his power for good, to lead the entire community forward, he wielded it like a club, destroying not only himself, but also generations with him.

Such is the power of many, for good or for evil. We have strength together, but as our parasha later states, “Hein gava’nu avadnu kulanu avadnu; behold, when we are undone, we perish, we are all lost.” Our actions produce ripples which spread throughout our community in all directions, binding or dividing us, giving us strength or tearing us apart. Al tifrosh min hatzibor. In other words, united we stand; divided we fall.