Parshas Korach Shabbos Times Erev Shabbos Shabbos Day Mincha / Candle Lighting 4:49pm Shacharis 9:00am Shkiya 5:07pm Latest time for Shema 9:56am Shabbos Mincha 3:30 / 4:40pm Shabbos Ends 5:52pm Mazal Tov Mazal Tov to Ezra and Ruchi Abrahams On the occasion of Binyomin's Bar-Mitzva The Bar-Mitzva will take place in Shaarei this week Please Note - Pre-registration required Motzei Shabbos Avos Ubonim This week Avos Ubonim has been sponsored by Family Widmonte as a Refuah Sheleima for Chaya Leah bas Yaffa 7:00 -7:45pm Special treat this week - Pizza!! Shabbos afternoon program for boys Shabbos Afternoon Groups with your Madrichim - 30 mins before the late mincha Short Vort on the Parsha Korach had many outstanding qualities. He hailed from a distinguished family, was a talmid chacham, possessed extraordinary wealth, and was a very wise man. How then could he have fallen so low to accuse Moshe of selfishly taking power and prestige for himself, especially after the Torah testifies about Moshe, "Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth."? How could he possibly accuse him of possessing the contemptible trait of arrogance?! There are two types of people; there are givers - people who are constantly looking for opportunities to where they can give and assist others. Then there are takers - people who are continuously looking how to further add to their possessions, how to satisfy their own needs and how to obtain more honour. The latter are never satisfied; they always desire more. The Parsha, right at the beginning informs us what the root of Korach's downfall was: Vayikach Korach- Korach was a taker; he wanted more honour for himself. He was already a Levi but that wasn't enough, he wanted more. He wanted to have a prominent communal position and was jealous of the honour that Moshe and Aharon were getting. He knew no bounds and did whatever he could to obtain that honour, even if it meant starting a rebellion against Moshe. When one is self-centred, and has a specific desire, his intellect gets corrupted and he can't think rationally. He gets blinded by the desire and will do anything to attain it. All Korach was able to focus on was achieving a rank of special importance, which caused him to lower himself and do everything he could to achieve his goal. The Gemorah refers to the mosquito as a "puny creature". The Gemorah explains, that it is called a "puny creature" since it has an opening through which food is ingested, but it does not have an outlet through which waste is excreted. Chazal are relating to us; someone who only takes in and doesn't give out is called a tiny creature!