Naaleh.com sent this to me so i thought id share it with the blog =)- have a great shobbos !

Parshat Korach: The Source of Korach's Rebellion
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Hershel Reichman

The parsha starts with the words, "Korach took." The verse does not specify what he took. Rashi and Unkelos clarify that he took himself and went away. Korach separated himself from the Jewish people by rebelling against the laws of the Torah, which ultimately bind us as one. He created a terrible split within Klal Yisrael.

Korach's rebellion was really a rebellion against the Oral Torah as interpreted by Moshe. Korach attacked the analytical methodology of Torah Sheb'al Peh and tried to replace it with common sense thinking.

The Shem MiShmuel cites the Ari, who says that Korach had a spark of the soul of Kayin. Kayin killed his brother Hevel and is infamous in Tanach as the first murderer. In Hebrew, murder is called shefichat damim, spilling blood, because blood connects the body to the soul. Although it is a physical entity, blood contains the source of life. When a person dies, blood ceases to circulate in the body and the soul goes back to heaven. The bond between body and soul is torn apart. This explains why murder is described as spilling blood.

We live in a world of systems. Hashem created the universe as a combination of many different inter-related factors. There is no such thing as a separate entity that does not affect another entity. This world and the upper world are systematically integrated. Whatever happens in one world affects both worlds.
When Kayin killed Hevel, he not only split Hevel's soul and body, but he created a split between heaven and earth. He caused Hashem anger, which led to His separation from this world.

Chassidut teaches that a name defines an individual. Hashem put man into this world to accomplish; if a person feels worthless he will not accomplish anything. This was the weakness of Hevel and the reason why he was murdered. The word hevel means nothingness. Hevel was overwhelmed with a sense of worthlessness and failed to complete his purpose on earth. Therefore, Hashem did not save him.

Korach possessed the soul of Kayin. He was egotistical, selfish, and ungrateful to Moshe, who took the Jews out of Egypt, brought the miracles at Yam Suf and led them through the desert for forty years. These evil middot led him to rebel against Hashem. Aharon embodied shleimut, and therefore was Korach's target. Aharon was completely selfless in a healthy way. He knew his talents and focused on others to create wholesome unity within Klal Yisrael. Hashem selected him to integrate heaven and earth and to bring peace between Hashem and the Jewish nation through the avoda in the Mishkan. Aharon signified what Korach resented.

When Korach and his people offered the mincha sacrifice, Moshe asked Hashem not to accept it. The mincha is only an adjunct to the tamid sacrifice. Why did Moshe only mention the mincha? The Shem MiShmuel explains that the mincha is a communal, and not an individual sacrifice. It is made of flour, which comes from the ground. The earth creates a unity of diverse things because it is the basis of so many integrated systems. Therefore, it serves as an atonement for the klal. That is why Moshe prayed that Korach, who had caused such a terrible rift in Klal Yisrael, would not have any part in this sacrifice.

Ketoret also represents the idea of integration into the klal because it consists of eleven spices. The eleventh spice, chelbana, has a terrible smell, but when it is mixed with the other ten, it takes on a wonderful aroma. This teaches us the power of the klal, which can transform a rasha into a tzaddik. Chassidic communities are founded on the principle that the group gives strength to its weak members. This was the secret of the ketoret and this is why Moshe used ketoret as the test to see who the true Kohen Gadol would be.

The story of Korach teaches us many lessons. Appreciating the people around us, running away from machloket, focusing on the klal as opposed to one's own selfish ego, and living in an integrated world of systems rather than a world of separateness.