Korach’s claim sounded holy: “Ki kol ha’edah kulam kedoshim — The entire nation is holy!” And he wasn’t wrong. Every Jew stood at Har Sinai. We all carry a divine spark.
But Korach twisted that truth. Instead of using holiness to serve, he used it to seize. He couldn’t accept that someone else had the role he wanted. He didn’t want to build. He wanted kavod. And he lost everything.

Moshe and Aharon were the opposite. Moshe said, “Mi anochi?” Aharon, after the Golden Calf, felt unworthy. They didn’t chase kavod. They just wanted to do what was right — and that’s why Hashem chose them.

In the Second Beit HaMikdash, the Kohen Gadol role became corrupted. The Gemara (Yoma 9a) says over 300 men served in 420 years. Besides 3 Kohanim Gedolim that served for a combined just over 100 years, none of them lived out their year. Yet people still paid for the title. Ego makes people chase titles over truth, even if it kills them.

Rav Moshe Feinstein once told the New York Times: “You don’t wake up and decide you’re an expert. If one answer is good, and another is good, eventually people accept you.” A gadol isn’t elected. He rises to the top. And he added that a Rav’s job is harder than a life-saving doctor. “The doctor is responsible only to the patient, but the rabbi is responsible to God.”

True leadership isn’t loud or self-declared. It’s built slowly, with integrity and yirat shamayim.

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe said: “When a person is young and chases kavod, he often catches it. But as he grows older and slows down, kavod outruns him. If he runs away from kavod in his youth, he usually escapes it. And when he grows older and slows down, kavod catches up to him.”

The people who bring the Geula aren’t chasing kavod. They’re focused on living their mission with humility and truth. And when we each do that — kavod doesn’t need to be chased. It comes naturally, in the right time, as a result of a life well lived.

In Galut, we confuse image with essence. We chase likes, titles, and approval. We want to look holy more than we want to become holy. But Geula is different. We recognize that we’re all holy, and each person has a unique role. Not everyone has the same tafkid, and that’s the beauty.

When we commit to our own mission — and honor the missions of others, we elevate ourselves and the world. Geula comes not through ego, but clarity. Not through comparison, but contribution. Not by demanding greatness — but by becoming worthy of it.

The Geula begins when we stop chasing greatness — and start living our truth with humility, purpose, and love for each other’s unique role.