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 [
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
for the most part 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” (“adom”). 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” (specifically when
touching a corpse). 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 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 and strives with them (ref.
20:2,3). “Strive” 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
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 said, among other things: “We will not turn aside (“nita”,
once again of the root n.t.h, connected to the “rod” – mateh - that we just
looked at) to the right hand or to the left” (v. 17). And when “
The
attempt to appease the Edomites (in approaching their king Moshe says: “thus
says your brother
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
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 and grace on the
other.
In 21:17-18 we read the following: “Then
The encounter with the Amorites, after bypassing
Moav, resulted in a military victory and the possession of their cities (which the Amorites had taken from Moav). 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,
2. ibid
3. ibid
4. Da’at Mikra, A’haron Mirski,
Rav Kook Inst.,
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
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 [
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.
