The Beauty of Darkness
Korach’s philosophy was as provocative as it was fascinating.
Make no mistake. Korach was not a jealous, power hungry, man, who resented being overlooked for the position of leader and therefore chose to rebel against moses and Aaron. In fact, argue the Kabbalists, Korach had a deep philosophical dispute with Aaron’s approach to spirituality.
Korach was a great Kabbalist. He was also an extremist absolutest. Combine the two and you come up with Korach’s strange but compelling claim:
Light is a distraction, darkness is beautiful.
Korach’s argument goes something like this: spiritual light, with all its virtue, cannot capture the essence. Only when the light is swallowed up by the pull of the source of light (similar, perhaps, to a black hole), only when the light is submerged in its infinite source, only when it is dark, do you notice the infinite source of light. Only darkness expresses that there is an essence, a force far superior than anything light can capture. Only darkness is able to express the mighty force of the black hole.
Light, argues Korach, is not only unable to reveal the essence, it actually obscures it. Only darkness, ironically perhaps, is a testament to the source of infinity that the light can never express.
Korach resented Aaron, specifically because Aaron is in the light business. Aaron spent his days lighting Menorahs. His life’s mission was to light the physical Menorah that stood in the temple, as well as to light the metaphorical Menorah in the heart of every Jew. Aaron was all about inspiring people to ignite spiritual light in their life through the study of Torah and observance of Mitzvot, to focus time and energy on spiritual pursuits, and to illuminate their soul with a light producing love and yearning to G-d. Aaron was the embodiment of the divine attribute of Chesed - kindness-sharing-light.
Korach believes that Aaron’s approach of increasing spirituality misses a deeper truth. He believes it far better to help people understand materialism as a religious symbol and testament to G-d who is greater than anything spirituality can capture.
Korach says: give me the job of high priest and I will introduce a completely different model of spirituality. No need for spiritual light. No need to inspire people to yearn to cleave to their source in heaven. No need to seek inspiration to escape the lure of the material and cleave to spiritual light. What I will preach, says Korach, is to celebrate the physical, because the physical represents the absence of spiritual light it is capable of directing our attention to the essence and the infinite source of both darkness and light.
Korach views light with disdain. In his view, the light, by definition, compromises the absolute truth of the infinite creator.
According to Korach’s plan the people would live a materialistic life without the burden of seeking spiritual inspiration. Eventually more and more people will come around to appreciate what Korach himself understood. They will understand that we are satisfied with materialism because it is a testament that the undefined G-d cannot be expressed in a limited measure of light.
Where did Korach go wrong?
Let’s begin by pointing out what he got right.
He was right that darkness has a higher source than light.
He was right that the material has a higher source than the spiritual.
Yet his philosophy was completely wrong. He was wrong because you need light to be able to understand the truth of darkness. Yes, indeed, the material is the greatest manifestation of the essence, so much so that in the messianic era the material itself will express its source as the prophet says “all flesh together shall see that the mouth of the Lord spoke”. Yet, the only way you can crack the shell of the material and connect to it’s source is if you subjugate the material to the spiritual.
Only when you allow Aaron to illuminate your life with spiritual light, with a yearning for holiness, will you be able to appreciate that the material is an expression of the essence of G-d. Only When you allow Aaron to inspire your soul will you be able to reveal and connect to the superior essence of the body. Only light can reconnect the darkness to it’s lofty source.
