I'd like to repeat a vort of the Rebbe on this week's parsha, Parshas Korach. In Parshas Korach we learn how Korach argued against Moshe Rabbeinu, he even gathered 250 very important people, and they all came arguing against Moshe, against Aharon, claiming that they want to be Kohanim Gedolim, they want the kehuna. And Moshe Rabbeinu advised them that you should all take ketores and be מקטיר קטורת, and Aharon will be along with you. And he warned them, \"You should know that only one person will survive, and that'll be the proof who the one that Hashem chose.\" And they all agreed to it. And then it says that Moshe Rabbeinu, when he spoke to them, Moshe Rabbeinu said, \"You know, we only have one Kohen Gadol, and you can't have more than that, and you all want kehuna. אף אני רוצה בכך. I also only, I also want it, but that can't be.\" That's part of the story that we learn in the parsha. So the Rebbe asks a few questions.

Why did the 250 people agree to be מקטיר קטורת? They knew that it's a big danger. They knew what happened to Nadav va'Avihu before that were מקטיר קטורת at the time when they shouldn't and what happened to them. And they knew when Moshe Rabbeinu said it, it's going to come true. So how did they risk their lives? It's not even a risk, knowing, almost like giving up your life. For what? Why did they agree to it? That's one question the Rebbe asks. Another question, in the words of Moshe Rabbeinu, when he told them we only have one Kohen Gadol, he added, like I said, \"אף אני רוצה בכך. I also want, like you guys, to be a Kohen Gadol, but I can't.\" And the Rebbe asked the question, why did Moshe Rabbeinu say it, as if he's being mishtatef in the ta'anah of the 250 people, which was against what the Aibershter told Moshe Rabbeinu? So even though his partnership with them, his connection to them is only in words, but even in words, how could Moshe Rabbeinu say that? It reminds me that—the Rebbe doesn't say this in the sichah—that the Alter Rebbe said that when he was arrested and they questioned him, one of the questions they asked him, \"Are you connected to the Baal Shem Tov?\" And he says, \"I know if I would have said no, they would have freed me on the spot. But I wouldn't be separated from the Baal Shem Tov for one second even, even just in words.\" And here it seems like Moshe Rabbeinu was connecting himself to them with these words. And the Rebbe answers that the reason that they did it is because even though they knew that probably they will die, is because they wanted to have at least one time a chance to be מקטיר קטורת. That means they had good intentions. The fact that they were fighting against Moshe, that's a bad part, but the fact that they were looking to become Kohanim or even Kohen Gadol, that's good. And it was worth for them, even though it meant possibly, probably, losing their life. And the

Rebbe compared it to the second Beis Hamikdash when almost every year there was a new Kohen Gadol because the Kohanim Gedolim weren't tzadikim, they weren't deserving, worthy of the position of going into the קדש הקדשים on Yom Kippur, so they wouldn't survive. And the question is asked, the first few didn't know what's going to happen, so you can understand, they bought the position with money, as it says. But the later ones saw what happened every year, that they didn't manage to live through the year, and each one himself knew his level, so why did he still want to become a Kohen Gadol? And it went on for all the years. And the answer is, even though these people were not great, they're not so good, nevertheless, it was worth for them to give up their life to be able to go into the קדש הקדשים where the Shechinah is once, even though it meant probably that they're not going to survive. The same thing here. These—these 250 people, the reason they did it was for a good reason. The desire to be a Kohen Gadol is something good. The way they went about it and arguing against Moshe, that's the bad part, and that's why they all died. But that desire is good. And Moshe Rabbeinu, seeing that they were against what he brought from the Eibershter, nevertheless, as a נשיא בישראל, wanted to find a limud zechus on them. He wanted to, at the same time when they're arguing against him, to find a limud zechus, that what they're desiring, what they want, is really something good. And that's why Moshe Rabbeinu said, \"אף אני רוצה בכך, I also want it,\" pointing out that the desire to be a Kohen Gadol is a good thing. Every Yid should want to be the highest level. He can't do anything about it if it's against what Hashem wants, obviously, but the desire is good. That's why Moshe Rabbeinu, he wanted to bring out at the same time when They're fighting with him, he wants to bring out their greatness. And he said, אף אני רוצה בכך, I also want it. What you want is something very good, and I agree with you, and I'm part of that too. It's just that the way you're doing it and what your goal is going to be at the end, that's not the right thing, and that's what he said to them, tried to persuade them not to do it. But at the same time, Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to bring out the zechus that they have. And this is

connected to ג' Tamuz, as the Shabbos after ג' Tamuz. This shows what a Rebbe is, what Moshe Rabbeinu is, and the התפשטותא דמשה בכל דרא ודרא, the התפשטות of Moshe in every generation. A Rebbe that finds a limud zechus in everything. Sees things to seem terrible, and still he finds the good part and tries to stress the good part of everything. And therefore, we are lucky that we are chasidim of the Rebbe, and for sure that now that the Rebbe is in Shamayim, which is even closer to us, as it says in Tanya, in Iggeret Hakodesh, certainly he's looking out for us and being melamed zechus on every Yid, and soon, soon, this limud zechus is going to help so much that this will bring the גאולה שלימה בקרוב ממש.