I'm sitting now in my favorite library in the whole world - the one on Mt. Scopus. It's the first time ever that I'm here on a Friday. The campus is open for a few hours today because of some exams, and I decided to take advantage of it and come here to write my blog. I love this campus - it looks like paradise to me. I often wondered how it would be to experience Shabbat here. Now that I'm here on a Friday, and not so many people are here, I know I would have loved to experience a Shabbat here, if that was possible at all. If only I had food and where to stay, I would have been happy. It is one of the most beautiful corners of Jerusalem, in my opinion.
First of all, thank you so much, Knut, for the comment you left on my previous post here. So nice to read! It's amazing how sometimes we do things, without realizing what effect it has on other people. When I read what you wrote, it was a moment of joy for me. I hope you continue this good habit :-)
Other readers are welcome to leave comments too, if you want. It makes me happy.
This week's Torah Portion is that of Chukat (Numbers 19:1 - 22:1) talks about so many big, interesting things: the mysterious Red Heifer ritual, ritual purity and impurity, the death of Miriam, the incident in which Moses hit the rock to bring out water, instead of talking to the rock, as G-d commanded him, the death of Aaron, the refusal of the nations around to let Israel pass in their territory on their way to Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel), the complaints of the people that there is no food and no water, their dislike of the Manna from heaven, the snakes that G-d set free against them as reproach, the copper snake that Moses made to life the Israelites eyes upwards and remember G-d, etc. I feel that I can write a separate post about each of this matters, but I'll write shortly about a few of these.
First, the mysterious ritual of the Red Heifer: If you read the text, you see that G-d asks of us to perform a very strange kind of ritual in order to become ritually pure. We have to take a completely red cow, and use its ashes for the purification of the impure. I won't get into details. Just like you, it is hard for me as well to understand it. But - this kind of commandments, that are hard for us human beings to understand, are the most precious ones. Why? Because they give us the opportunity to show G-d that we follow His commandments even if they do not make sense to us. That we obey Him only because He commanded us. We do not argue. We do not obey only those commandments that we understand. We perform all of the commandments, including the ones that are hard to understand. And it is precisely this kind of commandments, that are hard to understand, that are a correction of the original sin of Adam and Eve. Why? Because they too were given a commandment. Just one. And it didn't make sense. They were told not to eat from the fruit of a certain tree (it wasn't an apple...). They were not given a reason for it. They didn't find any reason in it - after all, the fruit looked good! And the snake said a few things that made them realize it is indeed good. So they trusted their own reason, and because they didn't understand the reason behind G-d's one commandment, they disobeyed him. And we all suffer since. So such commandments that make absolutely no sense to us whatsoever are our way of correcting this sin, of showing G-d that we follow Him and do it even though we do not understand it. So we do not perform this commandment these days because no perfect Red Heifer is found in our days, but religious Jews go all over the world searching for one! And believe me - they will find.
Some lady from another nation recently asked me in a ridiculing way if I'm waiting for the Red Heifer to be found and what will we do with it then. I realized from the tone of her voice that she has no true belief in G-d and His teachings. Otherwise, she would show more respect to such matters. Even if we do not understand something - if G-d said it, we should do it. That's it, no arguing, no disobeying.
Another part of the Portion is about the death of Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron. The text says that Miriam died, and immediately after it, it says that the People had no water. Rashi, a famous Jewish Torah commentator, who lived in France in the Middle Ages, says that the proximity of these two matters - the death of Miriam and the fact that suddenly the People had no water, is not coincidental. There is a hidden hint here that as long as Miriam lived, the people had water. The Midrash (an ancient Jewish commentary) says that Miriam had a special well that gave water to the Jewish People and followed them wherever they went, in her merit. When she died, the well disappeared. Water is a symbol of Torah and perhaps the meaning of this commentary is that as long as Miriam lived, the people had a living example of how a true Torah person lives. When she died, the well died with her (even though Moshe and Aaron were still alive and served as wonderful examples of Torah people). There is another Midrash that I like that says that really, the Well of Miriam didn't disappear. Instead, just before Shabbat it appears in different seas, rivers and lakes around the world, and if you chanced to touch the water from a certain lake just when the Well of Miriam was there, you can be healed from every disease you have. Such a beautiful story. Again - water is Torah - and perhaps the message is that Torah heals. I know it does.
Then there is the story of Moses and Aaron that were commanded by G-d to TALK to the rock to bring forth water: "Speak to the rock before THEIR EYES, that it give forth its water". G-d wanted to show the People how just speaking to the rock in G-d's command can bring forth water. But Moses hit the rock. As a punishment he and his brother were decreed to die in the desert and not to merit to go into the Land of Israel, even though they were the leaders who led the People all the way from Egypt until here. It is so sad, and I remember that as a child, when we studied this part of the Bible in my secular school, I often felt it wasn't fair. But I know now that everything is for the best. The fact that Moses and Aaron are not buried here, and no one really knows where they are buried, helps to prevent people to turn them into 'gods'. They are not gods. There is only one G-d. True, Moses was our savior, the agent through which G-d brought about our salvation, but G-d is G-d, and Moses is human being, and as such - should never be deified. Never. We never pray to Moses even though he was the agent who brought down Torah to the world. We never worship him. We respect him and cherish him, but that's it. We do not turn him into a god. That would be a very dangerous thing to do.
One last point - the snakes. The people complained again that they have no food, no water, they don't like the Manna... etc. As a result, G-d sends against them poisonous snakes. If you read the text in Hebrew, you may notice some nuance. It doesn't really say that G-d "sent" the snakes against the people. Instead, it says that G-d set the snakes free! The words "sent" and "set free" are very similar in Hebrew, and most people will not get this nuance. But what it means is that throughout all the 40 years in the desert, up until that moment, G-d did not send the snakes free. It means - for 40 years, G-d was holding the snakes back so they wouldn't hurt the Israelites. Only when we were ungrateful and complaining (even about the Manna!), He released His hold over the snakes and just let the snakes go wherever they want and do what ever they want - which is to bite the Israelites who in the desert. So the big miracle is that for 40 years G-d held back the snakes - and you can learn it from just one small word in the Torah. What an amazing text, and what an amazing language. It is only natural that snakes in the desert will bite people. So the big miracle is that they didn't, for 40 years.
Anyway, to be cured from the biting of the snakes, G-d commanded Moses to make a copper snake and put it on a pole. Whenever the bitten people will lift their eyes up to see the snake - and remember G-d who commanded to make the snake - they will be cured. The word for snake (Nachash) and the word for copper (Nechoshet) have the same root in Hebrew, and until this day, pharmacies in Israel and all over the world have the symbol of the snake on a pole as their logo. The danger with such a copper snake is that people might start forgetting that G-d commanded the snake to be created. Instead, they might worship the snake. And this is indeed what happened hundreds of years later in the times of the kings, and one righteous king decided to destroy the copper snake, for this reason.
OK, they're closing the library. I have to leave, and start preparing for Shabbat. I don't even have time to read what I read. Forgive me if there are any typos, etc.
Shabbat Shalom,
Revital
לשלח את הנחשים
נחש הנחושת, בתי מרקחת
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