We choose the world around us moment by moment by what we choose to focus upon and what we choose to let go off. We may only become adept at these two processes through experiences that teach us the way to go and what we carry and what we leave behind.
We cannot all be Madonna or Shaq or even Spiderman but we can be ourselves a most satisfying experience
In Parsha Korach Moshe tells Korach he takes much upon himself. What he means is that by accepting the Kohanim and their duties everyone benefits including all of Israel. Just as a body is made up of special organs in order to assure prime functioning so too Moshe is saying everything is perfect in Hashem's plan. He assures Korach that as Levi's they are given a special task and should not want to take over what the Kohanim tasks are.
Proverbs 9: 6 Forsake all thoughtlessness, and live; and walk in the way of understanding.
The presence of Hashem in our lives depends upon our attention. Korach somehow became turned around. He suddenly found himself on the outside looking in. Therefore for him according to appearances he and those around him should have a chance to become Kohanim. What he did not understand was the nature of holiness.
First of all holiness isn't something you are elected to or even given by democratic right. It is something you become because of your service to Hashem. Korach as a Levi was blessed with that service and yet it wasn't enough for him. He saw it as a worldly possession and when he looked at the Kohanim he saw that from his point of view they had more than him.
Ironically spiritually fills a person to their capacity to receive it and Korach's insistence upon becoming something that he wasn't in reality created a void within him spiritually which was why he ended up in a pit quite literally of his own making.
Throughout this episode Moshe acts entirely as a mirror to the actions of those who sought to rebel against him. They received exactly what they asked however because they were not ready to receive it they were either swallowed up by the earth or consumed by fire.
Those who were consumed by fire could not contain the spirituality that Hashem represented on that morning when Moshe tested them. This served as a further proof of what Moshe was trying to tell them; that their service to Hashem was a very high order of holiness but they were given all they could absorb and nothing more.
Proverbs 9: 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the All-holy is understanding.
We all stand in relation to Hashem our place determined by the continuous nature of creation that brings everything that is to come to be into being spontaneously. All that is asked of us is to be mindful of Hashem in all of our ways. When we are able to do this we are then on the inside looking out with wonder at the glorious nature of existence giving praises for even the slightest insights and sharing for Torah's deepest secrets.
What Torah teaches us in this lesson is the difference between holiness and self imposed grandeur. Holiness relies on mindfulness of Hashem. Self imposed grandeur the prize of the ego depends upon worldly accomplishments that in the end have no spiritual underpinnings.
Moshe asks Korach and company to be as Hashem has made them and not as it would appear that they could be.
Psalm 107:33 He places streams in the wilderness, and one finds water in the parched land
Everything is meant to be exactly as Hashem has made it. B"H
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