Every year I look at the claims of Korach and try to understand what exactly his point was.
Was he looking for honor? A job? Did he have good intentions? "For the entire congregation are all holy, and the Lord is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the Lord's assembly?" Was he a politician? Who did he choose to join his coalition? Did he sincerely believe in equity (socialist?)? Were his claims ideological ones, or were they merely opportunistic, derived from jealousy?
This year I noticed an interesting fact that led me to a simple yet deep insight.
Who was in Korach's coalition?
It was the descendants of the tribe of Reuben: Datan, Aviram, and On, all grandchildren of Reuben. Why is this significant? Because Reuben was the firstborn-the bechor. Could this relate to Korach's claim, "Kol haeda kulam kedoshim u'vitocham Hashem"?
Some mefarshim (commentators) explain that this was precisely Korach's complaint. To understand it, we need a bit of background:
Before the sin of the Golden Calf, the firstborns, the bechorot, were supposed to be the ones chosen to work in the Mikdash. At the tenth plague, makat bechorot, they were chosen. After the Sin of the Golden Calf, chet haegel, since the Levites did not participate, they were redeemed with the Levites. As we read in Parshat Bamidbar (3:11-13), Rashi explains (3:12) that the firstborns originally performed the Temple service. After the sin of the Golden Calf, they were disqualified and replaced by the Levites.
The Midrash (see Tanchuma, Korach 18:6) describes Korach himself undergoing the shaving and purification process required of the Levites, an experience he apparently found deeply humiliating.
Now the pieces begin to fit together. The descendants of Reuven may have seen themselves as fighting for the bechorah, and Korach himself had reason to resent the exchange of the firstborns with the Levites.
Korach himself had already challenged the appointment system, arguing that positions should follow birth order (Rashi Bamidbar 16:1).
Korach now points back to the bechorim's finest hour: the revelation at Sinai. Rashi brings (16:3):
"All are holy"-all of them heard the words at Sinai from the mouth of the Almighty... not only you heard at Sinai".
We know that at Mount Sinai the bechorim served as kohanim (Rashi, Shemot 19:22). In other words, Sinai represents the period before the bechorot were replaced by the Levites.
According to some mefarshim, even his claim, "Kol haeda kulam kedoshim," refers to the bechorot (Ibn Ezra 16:1; Chizkuni 16:3).
Even Korach's famous challenge regarding tzitzit may relate to this idea (Rashi 16:1). Korach gathered 250 leaders, many from the tribe of Reuven, and dressed them in garments made entirely of techelet. They then asked Moshe whether such a garment still required tzitzit. If a single thread of techelet can elevate an ordinary garment, why should a garment made entirely of techelet require anything additional?
And what does the techelet represent?
Rashi (15:41) connects techelet with the plague of the firstborn. He notes that the word techelet is related to the Aramaic word tichla, bereavement, recalling the loss of the Egyptian firstborn. Rashi also notes that color of techelet resembles the darkening sky at night, the time when the plague struck.
Through this argument, he attempts to prove that no additional or "artificial" layer is needed to achieve kedushah. The natural bechor can fulfill his mission. Just as the techelet garment (representing the choosing of the bechorot) does not require additional white tzitzit strings.
In this sense, techelet recalls the defining moment of the firstborns-their selection during makat bechorot.