RAV KOOK ON Korach Part 2: Separation and Connection

“The entire congregation is holy, and God is with them. Why do you raise yourselves over God’s community?” (Num. 16:3) This was the battle cry of Korach’s rebellion — a complaint that, at first glance, seems perfectly justified. Did not the entire people hear God speak at Sinai? It would seem that Korach was only paraphrasing what God Himself told Moses: “Speak to the entire community of Israel and tell them: you shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2). Why indeed should only the Levites and the kohanim serve in the Temple? Why not open up the service of God to the entire nation?