There is a song in Yiddish, Fort a Yidele in a Shiffele, that describes a desperate situation and the limited options available:

A Jew sails on a little boat,
The boat breaks and he is drowning,
He cries: "Tatenyu! (Dear Father!) Save me! Save me!"
"I cannot help you. I cannot help you."

A Jew sails on a little boat,
The boat breaks and he is drowning,
He cries: "Mamenyu! (Dear Mother!) Save me! Save me!”
"I cannot help you. I cannot help you."

A Jew sails on a little boat,
The boat breaks and he is sinking,
He cries: "Rebenyu! (Dear Rebbe!) Save me! Save me!"
"You will not drown! You will not drown!"

What is the song’s message, and what does it have to do with this week's Torah portion, Korach?

The song highlights one of the roles of a Rebbe: showing a person that they can, even when they themselves have given up.

Where does that power come from? How can a Rebbe say "you can" when the person and their own parents have already surrendered?

The answer lies in a Rebbe's singular clarity of perspective, and specifically his vision of human potential. He doesn't only see it; he enables others to see it too. And not only to see it, but to activate it, act accordingly, and emerge victorious.

In this week's Torah portion, we encounter exactly this scenario. Korach was not content with Moses’ and Aaron’s authority. "All of the congregation is holy, and G‑d is among them," argued Korach and his 250 followers. "Why then do Moses and Aaron elevate themselves above the community of G‑d?"1

The outcome was that G‑d intervened decisively, affirming Moses as leader and confirming that everything he had instituted was by Divine command.

From a Chassidic perspective, the dispute was not simply about authority in general, but about the specific kind of authority Moses represented.

The authority of any ordinary leader derives from those being led, as Uruguay's patriot General José Gervasio Artigas so eloquently expressed: "My authority comes from you, and it ends in the presence of your sovereign will." The people choose the leader they believe can best help them achieve their goals; the leader serves the people.

Moses’ authority was of an entirely different nature. It came from G‑d and was therefore independent of the will of the people. It was not defined by popular vote or personal preference. It was not about leading the people where they wanted to go, but where they needed to go.

If one believes the universe is the product of cosmic accident and one's own existence the product of biological chance, the only truth is personal truth: what one wants, and who can help obtain and defend it. But if one proceeds from the belief that all of existence is the result of Divine design and creation, then what matters most is knowing what the Creator wants—in general, and of each of us specifically.

From that perspective, personal truth must yield to His truth. And to know what His truth is, one must turn to someone with the qualifications to know it — chief among which is having genuinely subordinated their own will to G‑d's.

The tool for this week: It is not enough to admire the Rebbe's personal virtues. We can and must use the opportunity each of us has to bring greater clarity into our own personal lives by accessing and nourishing ourselves from his teachings. You will not drown.