I can still remember the way it made me feel when I discovered it. I was about nine years old and that season Liverpool were destined to be crowned champions of British football. My father had promised me that, if I was good, for my birthday I would be given the replica all-red home strip. One evening, I unexpectedly opened up the drawer where Dad had been hiding the kit and caught a peek. Oh, those faded white triangles and famous Liver bird crest! They stared at me and gave me goose bumps.

My favourite gift was about dreams and excitement, but it was mainly about receiving. A child is normally unable to see beyond their own pleasure, and my present worked like a drug, a stimulant to experience the ultimate high. Looking now at the world through the spectacles of adulthood, I discover that I have a new favourite gift. Recently, my own nine-year-old son was desperate for a guitar. His mummy and I hinted that he might get lucky, but downplayed the likelihood. Later, we surprised him with one as a reward for his extra efforts at school.

This week’s sidrah tells of Korach, the insubordinate trouble-maker who cynically brainwashed hundreds of people to undermine Moses’s legitimacy. The seeds of this rebel’s tragic flaw are captured in the opening words: “And Korach took.” The Torah does not tell us what he took; rather, it reveals the reason for his betrayal and pursuit of self-aggrandisement — he was a taker, not a giver.

When I saw my son’s ecstatic face on receiving the guitar, it took me back to that Liverpool shirt — it had come full circle. A tear rolled down my cheek as I perceived my son’s exhilaration and realised how our favourite gifts are ones we give rather than take.