Page 294 - BAMIDBAR

How could Korach, one of the Ark-bearers, have fallen so low? He did
not internalize the message in the words, “Wealth and honor come from
You.” Korach was not satisfied with his tremendous wealth, but sought
honor and prestige, above and beyond what he deserved. This brought him
to his downfall.

The Chida explains the connection between the beginning of the parashah,
the story of Korach, and the end of the parashah, the mitzvah of tzitzit.
Korach used the mitzvah of tzitzit as an example of a mitzvah which
makes no sense.
The fringes of the tzitzit hang downward. This is to teach a person to
observe the mitzvot in humility. Korach did not internalize the message in
the tzitzit and therefore met his gruesome end.

Korach was among those who asserted that it was unnecessary to observe
the mitzvot as long as Bnei Yisrael were in the Wilderness. In spite of
Hashem’s evidence to the contrary, illustrated by the fact that the man who
gathered wood on Shabbat was put to death, Korach held fast to his
position, even scorning the mitzvah of tzitzit, the mitzvah which reminds
us to observe all of Hashem’s commandments.

Korach acted in a self-contradictory manner. He claimed there was no
need to observe mitzvot in the Wilderness, while, at the same time,
maintaining his desire to become the Kohen Gadol. The Yetzer Hara has
all sorts of ways of controlling a person’s mind in his pursuit for glory. # 26347-EYAL-6