Weekly Reading Insights

Chukat 5763

"And G-d said...this is the law of the Torah... take to yourself a pure red heifer that has no blemish, that never bore a yoke." (Num. 19:1-2)

Regarding the words "pure red", the word "pure" modifies the redness. The heifer has to be pure red to the extant that if it grows even two black hairs in its first year, it is disqualified. The Sefat Emet writes that people are also commanded to be "pure". While an animal is allowed two black hairs before it is disqualified, even the smallest misstep causes us to lose the title "pure". It is true that when we stand in front of the Heavenly Court to be judged, we will not be alone in having transgressed. The person about whom it can be said "This one is pure" is indeed truly special.

There have been a total of nine red heifers in the history of the Jewish people, from the first one in the desert until the destruction of the Second Temple. The Midrash says that the tenth and last heifer will be found just before the arrival if Mashaich. Since Mashiach will cause the Third Temple to be built, we will need the ash of the red heifer to purify ourselves before we can serve in the Temple. Every once in a while you hear in the news in Israel that a red heifer was found, but so far none have made it through the first year. May it be the will of the Almighty that we all merit to live in the times when the tenth red heifer is found.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe speaks about the difference between the word Korach - the name of last week's reading and Chukat, the name if this week's reading: Both words have the letters chet and kuf which spell chok, which means "law" in Hebrew. In addition, the word Korach has a reish and Chukat has a tav. Let's compare these two letters to the letter hei, the last letter of G-d's Ineffable Name, and the best model for how we are supposed to act in relation to the world:

On the right side of the hei is a full vertical line, exemplifying speech. The small line on the left exemplifies action. Korach was an evil person, consumed by his ego, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron. His name is appropriately spelled with a reish, telling us (relating to the letter hei) that when it came to true action, he was empty, lacking. Tav, on the other hand, has a full left line. What is the secret of being able to act in a correct and complete way? The secret is the tiny fraction of a line that we find at the left base of the tav. This is to tell us that to fulfill our purpose properly, we have to be humble and nullified to G-d's Will. Once this has been accomplished, we will always be able to properly complete the actions that are required of us.

The Kotzker Rebbe said that someone who sees himself as complete, who after self-examination feels he has no negative qualities, has a sure sign that he has not yet truly taken on himself the yoke of heavenly service. Anyone who does so sincerely will see that he is not perfect and has a long way to go to serve the Almighty properly.

In the book Divrei Torah, it is written that the opening verse contains a directive as to how our service to G-d should be: Pure - when we are commanded to do a mitzva, we should do so purely, without complaining or looking for excuses. No blemish - we should do our service in a complete way, not leaving anything out. No yoke - we should not view the commandments as a burden.

In the middle of the reading, we find that Moses was denied entrance to the Land of Israel. After the death of Miriam, the well that supplied the water for the Jewish people in the desert dried up. The people complained about the lack of water. Moses was commanded to gather all the people together and publicly command a certain rock, identified with the well, to renew the water supply. That the rock responded to Moses' words would have constituted a sanctification of G-d's name. The Midrash explains the course of events that brought Moses to hit the rock, instead of simply speaking, and not just once but twice! (Me'am Loez describes it very beautifully - I suggest everyone read it.) In the confusion, Moses yelled at the watching masses calling them "rebels". While there are different opinions about what exactly Moses had done wrong, the Rambam says he was not punished because of hitting the rock, but rather because Moses became angry at the Jewish people. Even if they deserved to be reprimanded, G-d expected more of a person of Moses' stature.

The Shla writes that we all should take a lesson from this about how much the Almighty values our acting properly. Especially in public, where an outsider who is watching can judge the entire Jewish nation because of something we do individually, it is very important to be in control as much as we can.

Had Moses been allowed into the Land, he would have conquered the inhabiting nations and built the First Temple. In Moses' merit, the Temple would not have been destroyed, and this long and bitter exile we are in would never have begun. So much lost because of anger!

Chasidut explains that there is a positive side. When we finally do enter the Land, it will be with Moses at our head. Moses was the first redeemer, and the soul of Moses, reincarnated in the leader of the generation, will be the final redeemer that ushers in the end of the exile. He did not lose out completely. Rather G-d was saving him for the last "Hurrah!" May we see it soon!

Shabbat Shalom, Shaul Leiter