The Arugos HaBosem (Chayei Sarah) quotes the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 11.) "Everything in creation was created according to their agreement and consent." This means the earth also agreed to be created as it is. Indeed, it is called ארץ, from the word רצה, want, because the earth wanted to do Hashem's will, and it was willing to be created this way, although it seems that it would be so much loftier if it were created like the heavens and not like the coarse gashmiyus earth. This is because heaven and earth are truly the same because they both serve Hashem as Hashem wants from them.
Therefore, the Arugos HaBosem explains, no one should complain, "Why can't I be like him? If I had a sharper mind and lived with better circumstances, I would also be a genius in Torah!" Don't say that because Hashem created you the way you are, meaning you can reach your perfection solely in this manner."
It states (Tehillim 101:6), עיני בנאמני ארץ. The Arugos HaBosem explains that Hashem's eyes go to those who have emunah like the earth and they are prepared to do Hashem's will, even when they think there are more prestigious deeds to do for Hashem.
Korach was on a high spiritual level. As a Levi, Korach, was bestowed with the honor of carrying the aron. The Arizal taught that in the era of techiyas hameisim, Korach will be the kohen gadol. The Chidushei HaRim zt'l says that if it weren't for this machlokes, Korach would have become the levi gadol — an extremely great honor, which so far, no one has ever received.
But he wasn't satisfied. He wanted more. He wanted to serve Hashem in the most perfect way. And his error was that he failed to understand that he had the potential to be the greatest tzaddik in his position, with the portion Hashem gave him.
Jealousy
Rebbe Bunim of Pshischa zt'l says, "The root of avodas Hashem is to stay very distant from jealousy because the result of jealousy is temptation and gaavah. Emunah means to believe that a person has what he needs. And if he needs more, Hashem will give him more. So there is no need to be jealous. If you are jealous, see to remove it from your heart with all your strength and attach yourself to the emunah in Hashem's hashgachah pratis" (Beis Yaakov, Korach).
In the zemiros of Motzei Shabbos we say, "זרענו וכספנו ירבה..." Our children and our wealth should increase..." Perhaps children and wealth are mentioned together to remind us that just as one doesn't think that his fellow man took away his children (even if he has a smaller family than his neighbor, he doesn't think his neighbor took children away from him), similarly one shouldn't think that his fellow man took away his wealth. Even if your neighbor has more money than you, don't think he took away yours. Everyone gets what is destined for them from heaven.
Reb Shlomo S. shlita runs a chesed organization that distributes food packages for Shabbos weekly to two thousand poor families in Eretz Yisrael. Once, Reb Shlomo was in Boro Park fundraising for his important tzedakah organization. A friend advised him to travel to a certain city (six hours away) to a wealthy baal tzedakah who supports charities such as his. Initially, Reb Shlomo S. didn't want to travel so far. But when his friend offered to drive him, Reb Shlomo agreed.
When they arrived, they were served a good meal. The baal tzedakah knows that people travel long distances to see him, so he prepares meals for his guests. Then they were brought in to speak with the baal tzedakah. The baal tzedakah gave them a tiny sum. It didn't even cover the cost of the gas for the trip. The friend (who drove Reb Shlomo) was very disappointed. He wanted to help Reb Shlomo, but it was a waste of time.
But Reb Shlomo wasn't sad. Instead, he was dancing and singing. "What are you so happy about?" his friend asked. Reb Shlomo replied, "My rebbes told me repeatedly that there is no connection between hishtadlus and results. We do hishtadlus in one place, and the results can come from somewhere else. Today, we did hishtadlus. We traveled far to raise money. It wasn't wasted time. The money will come from somewhere else. Our hishtadlus doesn't need immediate results."
They arrived back in Boro Park at two a.m. and davened maariv in the "Shomer Shabbos" shtibelach. Another wealthy person was at that minyan; someone Reb Shlomo had tried to meet for six years. During maariv, this rich man gave Reb Shlomo a friendly tap on the shoulder, and after maariv they spoke for two hours. He gave him a check for $18,000 and hinted that he will give more in the future. Reb Shlomo wasn't surprised. He did his hishtadlus, and Hashem helped. Hashem orchestrated that he should travel so that he would be at this 2 AM minyan to meet someone who would help his organization.
A member of our chaburah from Beis Shemesh was in America collecting money for hachnasas kallah for one of his children, and he told the following story: He and another meshulach hired a driver to bring them to shuls to collect money during shacharis. This meshulach demanded that he always be first to go into a shul. Our friend was upset with this arrangement. "Why should you go first? And why must I wait for you until you return?" But there was no debating this strong-minded fellow, so our friend reluctantly agreed to this irrational demand. He realized that the only alternative was to fight with him, which was something he didn't want to do.
The stubborn person thought he was gaining by coming in first, but he ended up losing. At one minyan, someone was not in shul when the stubborn man made his rounds. But when our friend made his rounds, that man had returned to the beis medresh and gave him a check for $1,800. The driver was shocked when he saw the check, especially when he saw that the check was from someone who wasn't wealthy. So, the driver immediately went into the beis medresh and asked the donor why he gave so much money that day. He replied, "I just succeeded in a business deal, and I decided to give this amount to the first meshulach who comes my way." The driver asked, "But there was a person before him. Why didn't you give him the money?" The man replied that the first meshulach he met received the money he promised to give."
We see that the aggressive fellow thought he would make more money by insisting on going first, but his zrizus only caused him to lose money. Because everything is from heaven, and no one can take away what is destined for another person. We also see that there is no reason to make a machlokes because you will always get precisely what is destined for you.
There is a yungerman from Netanya who went through a bitter divorce. To gain exclusive custody of the children, his ex-wife claimed that he committed severe crimes against his infant children. Due to these claims, he was imprisoned. His fellow cellmates asked him why he was in jail, and he replied, "I don't know. I didn't do anything wrong." They replied, "That's what everyone who comes here says." They didn't know that this time it was the truth.
In jail, he had a lot of time on his hands, and he used this time to study Torah. There was a beis medresh in the prison, and he gave shiurim to his fellow inmates. After being in jail for a year and a half, the court granted him a leave for Shavuos. He was ecstatic to be with his children and parents. He hated to admit it, but he was also happy to take revenge against his ex-wife. She was certainly upset that he was beginning to see the children again and that revenge was sweet like honey.
But his fellow inmates did not share in his joy, "You can't leave us on Shavuos, the day of kabalas haTorah! We need you to stay so that you can give us shiurim all night." After contemplating the matter, he decided to remain in jail. He would miss his parents and children (and the sweet revenge), but there would be other opportunities. Right now, he realized, the right thing to do is to remain in prison. So he told his jailors that he was turning down the offer and would stay in jail over Shavuos.
His mother didn't know that he had changed his mind. His mother picked up his children from their mother's home and brought them to her home for Shavuos, and then drove to the prison to pick up her son. When she arrived, the guard checked his papers and told her that her son wasn't on the list of prisoners who were permitted to leave. Eventually, his mother discovered what happened and went home to spend Shavuos with her grandchildren.
The day after Shavuos, a guard came over to the father and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself! We permitted you to be with your children for the holidays because we thought we could trust you. But on those two days, you were out, you beat your children again! When your ex picked them up, they were immediately brought to the hospital for treatment. Why did you do that? You will lose your rights to visit your children!" The prisoner told the guard that he didn't understand what he was saying; he was in prison all the time. He didn't go home for the holiday.
This is what happened: His ex-wife heard he was coming to his parent's home for Shavuos, and the court granted him visiting rights over Shavuos. She didn't know that her ex-husband had changed his plans and remained in jail over Shavuos. When the children were returned to her home, she injured them and brought them to the hospital. She did it to convince the court that her ex-husband abused the children, and he was still dangerous, so they shouldn't consider freeing him from jail or giving him any visitation privileges. But now, the court realized that she was lying and guilty of harming her children to gain custody. The court was convinced that she had lied to them all along with her charges against her husband. Soon afterwards, he was released and was granted full custody of his children.
We see how Hashem leads the world. This woman thought she was harming her husband, framing him, getting him more years in jail, when she was actually facilitating his freedom. Another lesson we learn is that one doesn't lose from doing a good deed. He stayed in prison over Shavuos to teach Torah, and this good deed rewarded him very nicely in this world.