Chukas
This is the ritual law that Hashem has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid. You shall give it to Eleazar the priest. It shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence (19:2-3).
There is a story told about my zeydie, the holy Noam Elimelech, that explains why the ultimate ritual of purification can only take place outside of the Beit Hamikdash.
One time there was a man named Avraham who after spending most of his adult life in business, decided he wanted to devote himself to studying Torah on a full-time basis. He discussed the matter with his wife and she agreed to run the family business while he studied Torah. The next day, Avraham, showed up to study Torah with the great Reb Elimelekh. He heard Reb Elimelekh say that sometimes even an accidental sin can cause a great spiritual hole in one’s heart. On the other hand, Reb Eliemelekh also said that if someone can somehow go 24 hours straight without telling a lie, that person will surely be guaranteed a place in the World to Come.
When Avraham heard this, he rushed home and told his wife and family that he needed to go 24 straight hours without telling a lie. He said he was going to lock himself in his room for the next 24 hours and therefore he asked that his family members deliver his meals to him by placing them outside his door. Avraham was so intent on not telling a lie that he refused to even go to sleep, lest he tell a lie in his dreams.
The next morning, before his family had awakened, Avraham heard a knock on the front door. Not wanting his family to be awakened by the knocking, he rushed to see who was at the door. It turned out that a local peasant was at the door. The peasant looked at the surprised Avraham and asked: “Can I please have my shovel?” Avraham responded that he didn’t have his shovel. The peasant kept pressing the matter and Avraham kept insisting that he had, in fact, no shovels at all in his house. The peasant said, “You are a lying Jew. My shovel is in your house. Last night I was on my way to the tavern and I needed to borrow money, so I gave your wife the shovel as a deposit.” Just then Avraham’s wife came running out with the peasant’s shovel to return it to him. Indeed, the peasant had been telling the truth.
Avraham was devastated to learn that he had had accidentally lied. He returned to Reb Elimeleh notably shaken. Reb Elimelekh said to him, “When we sin accidentally, sometimes Hashem is sending us a message that we are acting improperly. Please tell me what has made you so upset.”
After Avraham told Reb Elimelekh the story, Reb Elimelekh told him that the message was clear. He said, “When the tradition teaches that you have a share in the World to Come if you go 24 hours without lying, that doesn’t mean that one should seclude themselves for those 24 hours. It means that one must live in the world and still not lie. You should not have quit your job in order to study Torah full time and thereby burden your wife with extra work. You should return to your business at once and continue to study Torah when you are not busy working. If you had not secluded yourself from life then you would not have lied about the shovel!”
The concept of the parah adumah teaches us that in order to truly achieve purification we need to be immersed in the world. It is for this reason that the ultimate purification process of our faith takes place outside the Temple and on a mountaintop outside the city. The purification we seek is not a purification of isolation and seclusion, but rather a purification that comes from immersion in the world. It is only by leaving the confines of the Temple and Jerusalem that we can achieve the ultimate path to purification.
Moshe Striking the Rock
Parashat Chukat contains the story of Moshe hitting the rock to withdraw water. 38 years have passed, and bnei Yisrael are ready to start traveling to enter the land of Israel. They arrive at a place called Zin, and Miriam dies. Right afterwards, the people complain that they don’t have any water. Moshe and Aharon go to ask Hashem what to do, and Hashem tells them to take their staff, gather the nation, and go to the rock and tell it to provide them water. Moshe takes his staff, and he and Aharon gather the nation and go to the rock. But then, instead of speaking to the rock, Moshe speaks to the nation and says:
Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” (20:10)
וַיַּקְהִ֜לוּ מֹשֶׁ֧ה וְאַהֲרֹ֛ן אֶת־הַקָּהָ֖ל אֶל־פְּנֵ֣י הַסָּ֑לַע וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֗ם שִׁמְעוּ־נָא֙ הַמֹּרִ֔ים הֲמִן־הַסֶּ֣לַע הַזֶּ֔ה נוֹצִ֥יא לָכֶ֖ם מָֽיִם׃
Then, instead of speaking to the rock, Moshe hits it:
וַיָּ֨רֶם מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־יָד֗וֹ וַיַּ֧ךְ אֶת־הַסֶּ֛לַע בְּמַטֵּ֖הוּ פַּעֲמָ֑יִם וַיֵּצְאוּ֙ מַ֣יִם רַבִּ֔ים וַתֵּ֥שְׁתְּ הָעֵדָ֖ה וּבְעִירָֽם׃
And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank. (20:11).
So, it seems like this was successful. Except, in next pasuk Hashem says:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ יַ֚עַן לֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתֶּ֣ם בִּ֔י לְהַ֨קְדִּישֵׁ֔נִי לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לָכֵ֗ן לֹ֤א תָבִ֙יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי לָהֶֽם׃
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.” (20:12)
So, even though their efforts were successful, clearly Moshe and Aharon did something wrong.
Questions:- Based on pasuk 10, how do Moshe and Aharon feel about bnei Yisrael at this moment?
- Their behavior in pasuk 11 seems to be rooted in anger. Whom are they angry at? About what?
- Based on pasuk 12, what did they do wrong? Why is Hashem going to punish them?
- If you had to explain to Moshe and Aharon what they did wrong in this scene what would you say?
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In Parshas Chukas, we learn about burning red-headed cows and sprinkling the ashes on the impure. I thought about it, then thought better of it. Later in the parsha, the Jews travel ever closer to the border of Israel. Between their camp and Israel is the Kingdom of Sichon. The Jews ask to traverse the land of Sichon, pledging to be discreet and to not cause any damage. Sichon, skeptical that “Jews” and “discreet” is a thing, does not let them pass. So, the Jews fight and defeat Sichon, and proceed closer to the land of Israel. With the tots, we’re going to play a version of Red Rover, with the line of interlinked kids representing Sichon, and tots representing Jews trying to break through. If you are concerned about potential injury, please email imnotreadingthis@dontcare.com. Thanks!
Yoni Friedman.
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