Parashat Korach: LeShem Shamayim [For the Sake of Heaven].

Who was Korach? In order to appreciate his grievance and that of his followers, we need to understand the various family structures and their grievences.
Levi, the son of Yaakov had three sons, Gershon, Kehat and Merari along with a daughter, Yocheved (who was also Moshe's mother). Kehat had four sons which included Amram (Moshe's father and therefore Yocheved;s first cousin) and Yizhar who was Korach's father. Korach was therefore a first born son.

Who were Korach's followers? Two-hundred and fifty men, mostly from the tribe of Reuven, Yaakov's firstborn son. They were led by Datan and Aviram (and initially by On ben Pelet but he listened to his wife who wisely advised me to stay away from the crowd).

Rashi suggests that the grievance spurring these men in their uprising, particularly Korach himself, was the fact that Moshe, the youngest of Yocheved and Amram's children had appointed Aharon, his brother to be the Kohen Gadol.

Korach, by his description in this week's Parasha, was anything but a modest man and saw this as favourism. The rebels who were all first-born men had lost their initial favoured status when they orchestrated the episode of the Golden Calf. Hitherto, they had been earmarked to carry out the work that was subsequently passed onto the tribe of Levi - the only collective that did not participate in the sin.
When you throw in the Ramban's view that this revolt came on the back of the decree following the Spies' report and its dire consequences -you have what we colloqually call 'a perfect storm'. As a mathematical equation, you could express it in the following manner:
Forty year punishment + long-standing firstborns' resentment + populist sentiment stoked by some charismatic opportunists = replacement of the current leadership.
Rabbi Sacks ztl writes:
"Populism is the politics of anger. It makes its appearance when there is widespread discontent with political leaders, when people feel that heads of institutions are working in their own interest rather than that of the general public, where there is widespread loss of trust and a breakdown of the sense of the common good....The Korach rebellion was a populist movement, and Korach himself an archetypcal populist leader."
This is what he said about Moshe and Aharon:

He accuses Moshe and Aharon of nepotism, in other words, corruption. If that isn't insulting enough, Datan and Aviram accused Moshe of taking the Israelites out of Egypt - which they have the chutzpah to call the 'land flowing with milk and honey' in order to 'be killed in the wilderness. To add insult to injury, they accused him for the sin of the spies and said that he was holding onto the leadership 'for his own prestige'.
As Rabbi Sacks adds: "all thee, outrageous lies."

Quoting our original text - this is an example of a dispute that is not created 'for the sake of heaven'. Korach and his company are not trying to further brotherly peace. When it came to the great Talmudic schools of Hillel and Shammai, their arguments may have been just as forthright and no doubt their views, as fiery. But the rationale behind their passion was firmly grounded in a desire to bring the Torah to the masses. It was Leshem Shamayim - for the sake of heaven. It was pure.

Korach's rebellion shows that populism can be corrosive if channelled in the wrong direction. What would happen if the opposite could take place. A leader who would launch a gentle revolution that would inspire millions of people to return to the Torah and its teachings. A leader whose yartzheir we are commemorating today which is twenty eight years since the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson ztl.

One does not need to be a member of Lubavitch to appreciate not only the wonderful work that his organisation does around the world, day in and day out but the love they show to each and every Jew.
The Rebbe's raison-d'aitre was to emulate the legacy and teachings of Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. Everything he did was leshem shamayim - for the sake of heaven. After the destruction of a third of the world's Jews, he spearheaded a campaign to rebuild, along with other Sages of the age, the shell that remained of our holy nation.
Travel virtually anywhere in the world and you will find a warm and welcoming Chabad house. An emissary or Shaliach as they are known and a kosher meal to tuck into. A friday night to celebrate in places where no-one knows what Shabbat means. Someone who cares about your soul. Another Jew who believes in you - irrespective of what your belief is.
May his memory be a blessing to every single one of us and May Gd help us to continue his remarkable legacy until the coming of the Moshiach, may he come speedily in our days.
Shabbat Shalom.