Chosenness versus self-earned closeness

ויקח קרח.

"And Korach took."

The parsha opens (Bamidbar 16:1) with Korach "taking" — a word the Midrash connects to the way the Torah itself is "taken."

דאיתא במד' התורה ניתנה בלקיחה ובמתנה כמ"ש לקחת מתנות.

For the Midrash teaches that the Torah was given through "taking" (lekichah) and through "gift" (matanah), as it says "to take gifts."

The Torah comes by two paths: it can be actively "taken" by human effort, and it can be received as an outright "gift" from Hashem (Tehillim 68:19).

והם בחי' קריבה ובחירה שכתוב במד' על פסוק אשרי תבחר ותקרב.

And these are the aspects of "drawing near" (kerivah) and "choosing" (bechirah), of which the Midrash speaks on the verse "fortunate is the one You choose and bring near."

"Taking" corresponds to kerivah, a person drawing himself near, while "gift" corresponds to bechirah, Hashem choosing him — paired in the verse "ashrei tivchar uskareiv" (Tehillim 65:5).

קריבה הוא לפי מעשה האדם כמ"ש מעשיך יקרבוך.

"Drawing near" is according to a person's deeds, as it says "your deeds will bring you near."

Kerivah is earned: a person comes close to Hashem in proportion to his own actions (Eduyos 5:7).

וקרח אחז ביותר במדת הקריבה ולקיחה שזה מדת הלוים.

And Korach grasped especially at the trait of "drawing near" and "taking," which is the trait of the Levi'im.

Korach, a Levi, clung to the path of kerivah — closeness earned through one's own service — which characterizes the Levi'im.

כמ"ש ויקרב אותך ואת כו' אחיך בני לוי.

As it says: "And He brought you near, and... your brothers the sons of Levi."

The Levi'im's defining feature is being "brought near" to the service (Bamidbar 16:10), the very theme of kerivah.

אבל בחי' אהרן הי' העיקר בבחירה כמ"ש אשר יבחר ה' וכ' אשר אבחר כו' מטהו יפרח.

But the aspect of Aharon was essentially in "choosing," as it says "whom Hashem shall choose," and it is written "whom I shall choose... his staff shall blossom."

Aharon's kehunah rested not on his own deeds but on Hashem's choice (Bamidbar 16:5, 17:20) — confirmed miraculously when his staff alone blossomed.

וזהו בחי' מתנה כמ"ש עבודת מתנה אתן.

And this is the aspect of "gift," as it says "I give your priesthood as a gift of service."

The kehunah is a "matanah," a pure gift bestowed by Hashem (Bamidbar 18:7), not a position seized by human striving.

ובאמת עיקר כחן של בנ"י הוא הבחירה שבחר בנו הקב"ה כי בחי' הקורבה היא גם לכל העולם.

And in truth, the essential strength of Bnei Yisrael is the "choosing" — that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose us — for the aspect of "drawing near" belongs even to the whole world.

The true foundation of the Jewish people is bechirah, Hashem's choice of them; mere kerivah, earned closeness, is in principle open to anyone in the world.

אפילו האומות כפי מעשיהם מתקרבין להקב"ה.

Even the nations, according to their deeds, draw near to the Holy One, blessed be He.

Any person or nation can come closer to Hashem through good deeds — kerivah is universal.

אבל בחירה היא בעצם שבחר הקב"ה בבנ"י ובצדיקים ביותר זה עדות שיש בהם חלק אלוק ממעל.

But "choosing" is essential — that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose Bnei Yisrael, and the tzaddikim especially; this is testimony that there is within them a portion of God from above.

Bechirah reflects an intrinsic, essential bond. Hashem's choice of Bnei Yisrael — and of the tzaddikim most of all — testifies to the cheilek Eloka mima'al, the Divine portion rooted within them.

ובאמת זה הסימן מי שעובד לשמו ית' מתדבק ביותר בבחי' הבחירה כי מה האדם שיבוא לקרב עצמו אל הבורא ית'.

And in truth this is the sign: one who serves for His Name's sake cleaves more to the aspect of "choosing"; for what is man, that he should come to draw himself near to the Creator, may He be blessed?

One who serves Hashem purely for His sake attaches himself to bechirah rather than kerivah, for he recognizes that man on his own has no standing to draw near to the infinite Creator.

רק מצד שהקב"ה בחר בנו וזה רצונו ית' ורצונו הוא כבודו.

Only because the Holy One, blessed be He, chose us, and this is His will, may He be blessed — and His will is His glory.

Our closeness rests entirely on the fact that Hashem chose us; serving Him fulfills His ratzon, and His ratzon is itself His kavod (glory).

ולכן אני בא לעשות רצונו ית"ש להתקרב אליו למלאות רצונו ית'.

Therefore I come to do His will, may His Name be blessed, to draw near to Him in order to fulfill His will, may He be blessed.

The proper motive is not self-elevation but to carry out Hashem's ratzon — drawing near precisely in order to fulfill His desire, not one's own.

וזה הי' בחי' אהרן.

And this was the aspect of Aharon.

Aharon embodied this selfless service rooted in Hashem's choice, the very opposite of Korach's self-driven grasping.

והוא ג"כ בחי' השבת שכ' בזוה"ק דקרח חלק על שבת.

And this is also the aspect of Shabbos, for the Zohar writes that Korach contended against Shabbos.

The same quality of bechirah is found in Shabbos, and the Zohar reveals that Korach's dispute was, at its root, an attack on Shabbos.

דשבת הוא מתנה טובה.

For Shabbos is "a good gift."

Shabbos, like the kehunah, is a matanah — a free gift from Hashem (Shabbos 10b), not something earned.

ואומרים בקידוש אשר קדשנו במצותיו ורצה בנו כי רצונו ית"ש בבנ"י.

And we say in Kiddush "who sanctified us with His mitzvos and desired us," for His will, may His Name be blessed, is in Bnei Yisrael.

The Shabbos Kiddush expresses bechirah: "v'ratzah vanu" — Hashem desired and chose us, placing His ratzon specifically in Bnei Yisrael.

וכן במועדות אשר בחר בנו.

And likewise on the festivals: "who chose us."

The Yom Tov Kiddush too speaks of being chosen ("asher bachar banu") — the language of bechirah.

ולכן שבתות ומועדות מיוחדין רק לבנ"י כי בחי' בחירה שייך רק לבנ"י והם עדות על פנימיות נפשות בנ"י כמ"ש.

Therefore Shabbosos and festivals are designated only for Bnei Yisrael, for the aspect of "choosing" pertains only to Bnei Yisrael, and they are testimony to the penimiyus (inner essence) of the souls of Bnei Yisrael, as stated.

Because Shabbos and Yom Tov are rooted in bechirah, which belongs uniquely to Bnei Yisrael, they are reserved for the Jewish people alone and bear witness to the Divine inner core within Jewish souls.

והכהן שבחר בו הקב"ה הוא כלי בלי פסולת.

And the kohen, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, chose, is a vessel without dross.

The kohen, chosen by Hashem, represents a perfectly pure "vessel" with no admixture of impurity.

ובמד' בוקר ויודע ה' כשם שא"א להפוך הבדלה שבין ערב ובוקר כו'.

And in the Midrash: "[In the] morning Hashem will make known" — just as it is impossible to reverse the division between evening and morning, etc.

Moshe's reply to Korach (Bamidbar 16:5) compared the fixed distinction between kohen and Levi to the unalterable boundary Hashem set between evening and morning.

פי' כמו שיש בזמנים יום מיוחד לאור וערב בלילה וביום הוא בירור התערובות כמו כן בנפשות יש נפשות שאין בהם תערובות פסולת.

The meaning: just as in [the realm of] time there is day, designated for light, and evening at night, and within the day there is a sifting-out (berur) of the mixtures, so too among souls there are souls that have no admixture of dross.

As day is pure light while evening involves a "mixing" that must be sorted out, so among souls some — like the kohen's — are wholly pure, free of any mixed-in impurity.

לוים בחי' ערב שהם עבודתם בחוץ ולברור אוכל מתוך פסולת ועבודה שלהם בא ע"י בירור האור מן החושך וכן בירור שבימי המעשה.

The Levi'im are the aspect of "evening," for their service is "outside," and to sift the food out from the waste; their avodah comes through sifting the light from the darkness, and likewise the sifting that occurs during the weekdays.

The Levi'im correspond to evening and the weekdays: their avodah is the work of berur — extracting holiness from a mixture, separating light from darkness, like the labor of refining done throughout the working week.

והכהן הוא אור בלי תערובות כמו השבת שאינו צריך בירור.

And the kohen is light without admixture, like Shabbos, which requires no sifting.

The kohen, by contrast, is pure unmixed light, paralleling Shabbos, which is already complete and needs no process of refinement.

והנה הלוי צריך לפרוש מעשר מן המעשר וכ' ונחשב לכם כו' כדגן מן הגורן כו'.

Now the Levi must separate a tithe from the tithe (terumas ma'aser), and it is written "and it shall be reckoned for you... like the grain from the threshing-floor."

The Levi who receives ma'aser must himself separate a further portion for the kohen, which the Torah counts "like grain from the threshing-floor" (Bamidbar 18:27) — a sign that even his portion still needs further refining.

הרמז הוא דתבואות הארץ צריך בירור אחר החטא דכ' קוץ ודרדר תצמיח.

The hint is that the produce of the earth requires sifting after the sin, for it is written "thorn and thistle it shall sprout."

Since Adam's sin cursed the ground to bring forth "thorn and thistle" (Bereishis 3:18), the earth's produce now carries a mixture that must be refined.

ולכן טבל במיתה שיש בו תערובות מסט"א.

Therefore tevel (untithed produce) carries [the penalty of] death, for it contains an admixture from the sitra achra (the other side).

Untithed produce is forbidden on pain of death because it still holds within it an element drawn from the impure "other side."

וע"י הפרשת תרומה ומעשר מתברר ע"י חלק התרומה שהיא קודש.

And through separating terumah and ma'aser it is refined, by means of the portion of terumah, which is holy.

Separating the holy terumah portion accomplishes the berur, purifying the rest of the produce.

והמעשר אעפ"י שהוא מבורר וניתן ללוי יש בו עוד פסולת לגבי התרומה ונחשב להם לגבי הכהן כדגן מן הגורן וצריך להפריש תרומת מעשר שהוא בירור הגמור בלי שום פסולת מדת הכהן כנ"ל:

And the ma'aser, even though it has been refined and given to the Levi, still has dross within it relative to the terumah, and is reckoned for them, relative to the kohen, "like the grain from the threshing-floor"; and one must separate terumas ma'aser, which is the complete refinement, without any dross — the trait of the kohen, as above.

The Levi's ma'aser, though already refined, is still "impure" compared to the kohen's terumah; so just as ordinary grain must be tithed, the Levi must separate terumas ma'aser for the kohen. That final separation is the absolute, dross-free purity that defines the kohen — the level of bechirah over kerivah, which Korach failed to recognize.

Summary: The Torah comes through two paths — "taking" (kerivah, earned closeness, the trait of the Levi'im and of Korach) and "gift" (bechirah, Hashem's choice, the trait of Aharon, the kohen, and Shabbos). Kerivah is open even to the nations, but bechirah is the essential, intrinsic bond unique to Bnei Yisrael, testifying to the Divine portion within their souls. Korach grasped only at self-earned closeness and contended even against Shabbos, failing to grasp that the kohen — like Shabbos — is pure unmixed light needing no berur, the level of being chosen by Hashem that no human striving can attain.