This week’s Parashat* Chu'kat (“statute of…”),
not unlike many of the other Parashot, deals with several issues, some of which
are unrelated or appear to be so. Moreover, a number of these topics are
clouded over with an air of mystery, or at least with insufficient information,
leaving us wondering as to their full meaning. Nechama Leibowitz lists for us
some of the queries which are raised by our Parasha:
1) Chapter 19: “The chapter on the red
heifer… is one of the most mystifying in the Torah… [which] even the wisdom of
the wisest of men failed to fathom.”
2) Chapter 20:7-13: “What was Moses’ sin
for which he was so severely punished?”
3) Chapter 20:14-21: “What was the point of
referring to all their [Israel ’s]
travail [when approaching Edom
4) Chapter 21:1-3: “What made the King of
Arad attack the Israelites? Especially with view to the assertion made in the Song of the Red Sea
that all the nations of the world were terror-struck by the Divine miracles and
dared not interfere with Israel (Ex. 15:14-15)?”
5) Chapter 21:4-9: “The serpents’
description as “firey,” which in
Hebrew
is seraphim [s’rafim], is curious in itself, but more so is this method given
to Moses to heal the victims [which] is somewhat strange” and “has puzzled many
commentators…” 1
Although we shall not attempt to solve these puzzles,
word investigations may help us to connect some of the ideas and discover a
possible internal logic within Parashat Chu’kat.
The red heifer, described as being "without
blemish (“t’mee’ma”), in which there is no defect and on which a
yoke has never come,” is “para – cow – aduma - red” (19:2). As
far back as Parashat B’resheet (Genesis 1-6:8) we noted that “man” – “a’dam” –
is ‘rooted’ in “adama,” “earth,” and that “dam” is “blood,” hence the color
“red.” Thus, the animal used in the purification process, whose blood was to be
sprinkled (ref. 19:4) was ‘earthy,’ but was also without blemish or defect,
recalling the humanity of Messiah (who “was in all points tempted as we are,”
Heb. 4:15), as well as His perfection (“a lamb without blemish and without
spot,” 1Pet. 1:19). Messiah is also the One who turns our scarlet sins,
making them as white as snow and wool. Though the sins are red [“ya’adimu,”
again, root of “dam” – “blood” and “adam” – “man”] like crimson (shani), they
shall be [as pure and white] as wool (ref. Is. 1:18). The purification mixture,
at hand, was made of the ashes of the red heifer, cedar wood and the “scarlet
[shani] of a [special] worm (tolah),” referring to the same scarlet
(of the sins) mentioned above (in both cases literal translation). It was this
mixture that was made available to the impure for “cleansing” or
“purification.” Notably, the verb used is “yit’cha’teh” (“shall cleanse
himself”, 19:12ff). The root letters of this particular word for
“purification” is ch.t.a (chet, tet, alef), which actually spells “sin” (as we
have already seen a number of times, e.g. Ex. 29:36; Lev. 14:49 etc.).
In previous Parashot we noted that the remedy, or cure
for "missing the mark" (i.e. sinning) is already being taken into
account in sin’s very definition (as we just observed above). This principle
takes us to another topic of examination contained in the Parasha - the bronze
serpent: “And it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it,
shall live" (21:8). Once again, the very cause of the malady (the
serpents) also becomes, symbolically, its cure. Additionally, the rendering of
the serpents as “srafim” (meaning “fiery or burning,” of
the root s.r.f – shin, resh, pey/fey) forms another link to the red heifer
(whose carcass was to be burnt), as the identical root for “burning” is
employed several times in the course of the red heifer passage.
At the very onset of the narrative, which leads up to
Moshe smiting the rock, the congregation gathers around him and Aha’ron,
striving with them (ref. 20:2,3). “Striving” is “meriva”
(y.r.b/v, yod, resh, bet/vet), and as it says concerning the Waters of Meriva
in Parashat B’shalach (in Ex. 17:7), here too we read: “This is the water of
Merivah, because the children of Israel
Moshe’s “rod” is called “ma’teh,” which
aside from being rooted in the verb to “stretch out,” also means
to “incline, turn or turn away.” It was the rod, symbolic of Moshe and
Aha’ron’s authority, which the people followed, while the two leaders had the
power to turn their subordinates either toward YHVH or away from Him.
The next part of the chapter presents Moshe’s
surprising approach to the Edomites (20:14-21), whose compassion he appears to
be seeking, with a promise that the procession of Israelites will not trespass
or trample down their land, nor use anything of theirs along the road. Calling
them Yisrael’s brothers, Moshe’s messengers to the king of Edom Edom refused to give Israel
passage through his territory, Israel
Following Aha’ron’s death on Mount Hor, the Canaanite
King of Arad, upon hearing of Yisrael’s approach, fights them and takes some of
them captive (21:1). As was already pointed out, the fact that he dared to do
so is rather curious. However, the citing, in that connection, of the “road to
Atarim” led Nahmanides to attach the sad spy episode to the present adversity,
as “Atarim” may share the root “tour” – to “survey” - which we looked at in
Parashat Sh’lach Lecha (Numbers 13-15). “What connection then was there between
the incident of the spies and this attack on the children of Israel Israel
We now return to the
snakes’ story. As we know, the people of Yisrael had complained once more, this
time resulting in YHVH sending them these fiery serpents which bit them,
causing the death of many (ref. 21:5,6). Nechama Leibowitz points out that the
verb “sent” - (va)y’sha’lach - being in the “pi’el” conjugation and not
in the more common “kal” [“sha’lach”], connotes a “letting go” or
“releasing” of the serpents, whereas up until that time they (the
serpents) were held back by YHVH, who did not permit them to harm His people. 3
The serpents’ title points to their characteristic of “burning” or of
being “firey” (“saraf”), although the actual word for serpent is
“nachash” and therefore the bronze object made by Moshe was called “nachash”
– serpent - ha’nchoshet” (of the) brass. The play on words and
alliteration continue in 21:9: “If a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld
the serpent of brass, he lived.” “A serpent had bitten” is “nashach ha’nachash”
(even though there no etymological connection between these two words). This
unusual ‘formula’ of looking at the brass serpent and being cured, is
interpreted for us by Yeshua: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3: 14, 15). The healing is
found in lifting up one’s eyes to the Creator, while the object (which has no
power in and of itself) may serve as a reminder of one’s sin and disbelief on
one hand, and of YHVH’s power grace on the other.
In 21:17-18 we read
the following: “Then Israel 4 A “m’chokek” is a prince,
ruler or lawgiver, but it is also another word used for a ruler’s staff (see
Gen. 49:10). “M’chokek” originates with the root ch.k.k (chet, kof, kof)
and means to “inscribe or engrave” (see Parashat Yitro, Ex. 18 –
21, where we examined this root more extensively, e.g. 18:20), and is thus
employed in the word “statute” – “chok” or “chukka,” such
as we see in the title of our Parasha (“chu’kat” – the “statute of”). The content
of this song, describing a source of water that has been dug by a ruler’s
staff of the law, is set against the previous scene where water should
have gushed freely from a rock by the mere utterance of the word
and not by the effort of “digging” by the “staff of law.” Thus Moshe’s (mis)usage
of the staff in order to bring forth water may be the cause for the proverbial
staff of the law having to be wielded and for the sweat of the brow to be
exerted in order to dig a well and obtain water by human effort. This takes us
back to the beginning of the Parasha, where “statute/rule (chok)
of the Torah” concerning the red heifer is presented for “purification from
sin,” reinforcing the idea that “rules/laws/statutes” have to be wielded and
implemented because of rebellion (sin) against the ‘Water (of the Spirit)’
flowing from the ‘Rock’ at the sound of the ‘Word.’
The encounter with the
Amorites, after bypassing Moav, resulted in a military victory and the
possession of their cities. One of those cities was their capital, Cheshbon
(Heshbon). This conquest engendered a
statement by the “those who use proverbs … ‘Come to Cheshbon…’” (21:27). “Those
who make use of proverbs” is “moshlim” – also meaning rulers -
while “cheshbon” is rooted in ch.sh.v (chet, shin, b/vet), which means “important,
to think, ponder, calculate.” Thus, the combination of proverb and rule,
as well as ponder and calculate led the commentators of the past
to view the above quote as a statement relating to the rule (control)
one should have over one’s natural inclinations (“flesh”) by self-examination
(pondering and evaluating). In the past
we have examined the connection between “proverb” and “rule” in Parashat
Cha’yey Sarah (in Genesis 24:2).
The Parasha ends with another spy episode. Before the
Israelites ventured out to conquer the Amorites, it says in 21:32: “Then Moses
sent to spy out Jazer…” The word there for “spy out” is different than
the one we encountered previously, this time it is “ra’gel,” of the root
r.g.l, meaning “foot or leg” (“regel”), a term also used for the
spies who were later sent by Yehoshua (Joshua) to explore Yericho (ref. Joshua
2:1). It seems that these spies (“footmen”) were not to “tour” – survey – the
land, but rather walk to their designated destination, one step
at a time (one foot in front of the other :).
See article below
* “Parashat” = “Parasha of…”
1.
Nechama
Leibowitz, Studies in Bamidbar, Eliner Library, Dept.
of Torah Education and Culture in the
Diaspora, Joint Authority
for Jewish Zionist Education, Jerusalem
2. ibid
3. ibid
4. Da’at
Mikra, A’haron Mirski, Rav Kook Inst., Jerusalem
The following article, which is now a
chapter in our book Creation Revisited, deals with some of the Parasha’s
themes. The book may be downloaded from
our site www.israeliteretun.com
Chapter 4 of the Gospel of John commences with a
description of Yeshua traveling north, from Judea to Samaria
Yeshua proceeded to ask her for a drink. That a Jew
would stoop to talk to a Samaritan, a female, and then even make His need known
to her startled the woman. She therefore reminded Him that Jews did not have
any dealings with the Samaritans (who were considered a mongrel race and hence
inferior). But yet she continued, noting that the well was very deep.
The woman’s answer to this Jewish Man’s request for a
drink was met by the following words: "If you knew the gift [in
Hebrew – “mattanah”] of Elohim, and who it is who says to you, 'give Me a
drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water”
(John 4:10). Her reply, however, disclosed that she did not have
a clue as to the meaning of what He was saying: “Sir, You have nothing to
draw with, and the well is deep” (John 4:11a). The woman could only
relate to what she knew and understood about wells and water, and continued to
miss the point even after Yeshua promised: “Whoever drinks of the
water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:14a). “Sir,”
she retorted, “give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor
come here to draw” (John 4:15). According to her way of
reasoning, Yeshua would somehow draw water for her from Jacob’s well or perhaps
even generate it from some magical source, so that she would never thirst
again, nor have the burden of drawing water every day. Still puzzled, the woman
felt that Yeshua had not answered her former query (see John 4:11b).
The Samaritan woman’s
unawareness as to the “living water” and its spiritual source, may serve as an
illustration for those who have been habitually drawing water from the world’s
resources. For example, when the Israelites were traveling through the
wilderness, just east of the Land, circumventing the Moabites and Amorites,
Moses promised that YHVH would supply them with water. So when they arrived at
a place called Be’er (meaning “well”) they broke out in a song: “’…Spring
up, O well! All of you sing to it -- The well the leaders sank, dug by
the nation's nobles, by the lawgivers, with their staves.’ And then they [Israel
Notice that after they left the well, which the
leaders, nobles, and lawgivers [“me’cho’kekim,” literally meaning “those who
engrave or dig in”] had dug with their staves, they went to Mattanah -
“gift”. To the woman’s declarations that the well was deep and that it
was dug by “her father Jacob” Yeshua responded: “If you knew the “gift” [mattanah]
of Elohim, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water” (John
4:10).
Just like then, so today, many teachers, philosophers,
scholars, and lawgivers are digging wells for us, some of which are very deep,
from the world’s education system, making it necessary to use (the
proverbial) ropes and buckets in order to draw up the ‘water’ (just the work
itself makes one thirsty). However, we find that those wells of water
often leave us ‘high and dry’ and thus thirsting for more. And when the ‘wells’
start drying up we, like the Israelites in the desert, are told to sing to the
“well”, so that the “diggers” can dig even deeper (until the ropes and the work
used for drawing the water all fail). Then, after being exhausted and parched,
we sometimes go looking for another such well. Or - do we let go and make our
way to the ‘Mattanah’ that Elohim has provided, and drink of the living water
of which Yeshua spoke?
Let us also ask: “From which source does Yeshua get
living water?” We may find the answer in a statement that He made to His
disciples "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world,
I am not of this world” (John 8:23). Is Yeshua referring here
to Genesis 1:7? “Thus Elohim made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which were above
the firmament; and it was so” (emphases added).
Then, again, on the last day of the feast of Succot,
Yeshua repeated what He had said to the Samaritan woman: “…If anyone
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water”
(John 7:37b-38). Obviously He was not referring to natural waters,
but to the “waters above” that is, the Spirit of Elohim. “But this He spoke
concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy
Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified” (John
7:39). Hence the Holy Spirit of Elohim is the living water.
Hebrew
Tools for Everyday Use
Let
us make use of “fire”, “strife”, “send”, “important” and “think”, all of which
we encountered above.
Strife
(or argument) is like fire
Riv
hu k’mo srefa
What
shall I send you?
Ma
lishlo’a’ch le’cha? (addressing a male) (literally, what to send to you?)
Ma
lishlo’a’ch lach? (addressing, a female)
It
is important to think
La’ch’shov
ze cha’shuv (literally, to think is important)
