From The Rabbi’s Study…Shabbat, July 12,13, 2024/6,7 Tammuz 5784
The Torah this Sabbath continues with the law of the red heifer, the death of Miriam, the sin of Moses and Aaron, and its punishment. The king of Edom refuses the children of Israel to pass through his lands, the death of Aaron, the rebellion, the resulting plague and its cure, and the war with the Canaanites and the defeat of Og, king of Bashan.
Who would have thought that leaders like Moses and Aaron would sin and then receive punishment? The Torah shares the concepts of leadership and their ways of handling a crisis. When the Israelites were complaining to Moses and Aaron that there was a shortage of water and how Moses reacted. This is the moment when Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. The water flowed forth from the rock, which allowed all to drink. G-d now tells Moses that the people see your actions as not trusting in ME. G-d tells Moses that because of his arrogance he will not lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Several rabbinic scholars point out that both Moses and Aaron were guilty of arrogance. They received instructions from G-d to speak to the rock and the water will flow. So, Moses publicly struck the rock not once but twice, which implied his lack of faith in G-d. The scholar Maimonides claims that G-d punished Moses because of his exasperation with the complaints and quarreling of the Israelites. (Shemonah Perakim 4). G-d looks at the people who are knowledgeable to a higher standard because they should have known the correct actions to perform, and be the Dugmot/Role models for others to strive to obtain.
This Torah portion has the death of Miriam and Aaron and has the mitzvot of ritual uncleanliness of the dead. In ancient times, a person who touches a corpse became defiled for seven days (Numbers 19:14). Today, Jewish people have a custom of washing one’s hands with water before enter your home after visiting a cemetery. (Usually a basin is there with water and a cup for the mourners to wash their hands.) There is another commentator, Chinnuch, who explains that a person’s only claim to sanctity, while alive, is in the possession of a person’s soul. Without the soul, the body is mere waste matter. At death, when the soul departs, the body sinks into a degree of impurity (Sefer HaChinuch mitzvah no.398).
So why does G-d ask us to perform laws we can not understand? One may answer that it is a sign of loyalty to G-d and the Torah that we as Jewish people perform the actions, even without understanding the law. This Torah portion also had the “Red Heifer”/a perfect without blemish red heifer. The ritual was to burn it totally into ashes. Then the ashes were gathered and mixed with water. This mixture was then sprinkled on someone who was ritually unclean, they became immediately clean. However, the ones doing this action that started at the beginning of the ritual were spiritually clean are now unclean. Contact with the Red Heifer’s ash made people clean and unclean. Another simple answer to the mystery of the Red Heifer in rabbinic literature as a ritual law that we perform simply because it is commanded in the Torah – even though no one understands it.
There are 613 Commandments and Jews are supposed to follow them. This is Emunah/True Faith. It is our actions of righteous behavior that G-d is looking for in each of us. Notice not one commandment is better or weaker than the others. Also, some the Jewish people cannot do so today. Which ones do you think they are?
The ones pertaining to the sacrifices in the Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem)! The Holy Temple was destroyed twice, and after the second destruction a mosque was erected there. We pray for the return of our Holy Temple, however the questions of modern times are about which sacrifices will be performed again! What do you think about the sacrifices again in the Holy Temple? Food for thoughts.
Shabbat Shalom V’Am Ysrael Chai,
Rabbi Helene Ainbinder
(The Hostages and the IDF that are trying to rescue them and destroy the Terrorists are now into the 9th month.) We continue praying for their release and the end of the war. I continue to light an extra Sabbath candle for our Israeli brethren.
