Baruch Mizion 1K Parshas Chukas Our Sedrah, Chukas, begins with the famous law of the ‘Parah Adumah’ the Red Heffer, the ashes of which were used to purify those who were impure. It is a particularly puzzling concept as while the ashes brought purification, those who prepared the ashes became impure, and it is therefore considered the quintessential ‘Chok’ (Statute), ie Mitzvah that we cannot understand. Shlomo Hamelech himself said in Koheles 7:23, ‘I thought I would be wise concerning it, but it remains distant from me’. The Medrash explains he is referring to the Parah Adumah. Perhaps that’s exactly the point, to realize and accept that there are things beyond our understanding. Immediately after this section, we come to Perek 20, Possuk 1, which begins, ‘Bnei Yisral, the whole assembly, arrived at the Wilderness of Zin in the 1st month…..’ . It then goes onto say that Miriam passed away, at which point it seems that the constant water supply in the merit of Miriam ceased, and Bnei Yisrael began to complain. Sadly, we all know what happens next. Moshe (and Aharon) are told to speak to the rock to produce water, but instead Moshe hits the rock, and Hashem punishes Moshe (and Aharon) by telling them they will not be allowed to enter Israel. It is very interesting to note that the Meforshim all seem to say that this Perek is the beginning of year 40. The last Sedrah spoke about Korach, which followed the episode of the spies, all of which was during the first half of the second year in the wilderness. Suddenly, we are in year 40, and one might wonder, what happened in the intervening 38.5 years ? Rav Simcha Zissel (one of the foremost students of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter) says that nothing happened. He learns from Pirkei Avos 5:4 and the Gemorah in Eruchin 15A, that all the activity, most of which was Bnei Yisrael testing, as it were, Hashem’s patience, occurred in the first year and a half and the last year. But during the middle 38.5 years Bnei Yisrael lived a peaceful and happy existence. He learns from this an interesting lesson. The first year and a half and the last year were periods of transition. At first, Bnei Yisrael were slaves that were transforming into free men, and on top of that, they received the Torah. At the end, they were heading for Eretz Yisrael, fighting battles en route. When a nation is in a period of transition, things are never calm, and the same applies to a person. In times of great activity, of change, even for the good, one is not serene, one does not have peace of mind. During these upheavals, people can make bad decisions, they can speak too quickly without thinking, or act too rashly without considering the consequences. The varying behavior of Bnei Yisrael in the desert teaches us, says Rav Simcha Zissel, that in stressful times, be particularly careful in how one acts or speaks, because it is at those times that we often make mistakes we later regret. And now a slight digression into history. The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 580) says there is a custom to fast on Friday morning, Erev Parshas Chukas. It’s unusual to fast on a Friday, but this is an exception and there are indeed people today who do fast. What is the origin of this custom? In the 13th century, there was unfortunately a French Jew who became a Franciscan monk, and went on to become a major thorn in the side of the Jewish population. In 1239, he began to write to the then Pope, Gregory IX, reviling the Talmud, and insisting it was anti-christianity. When a new Pope, Innocent IV took over, he took these rantings seriously and in 1244, wrote to the king of France, Louis IX, ordering him to organize a mass burning of Jewish books and manuscripts relating predominantly to the Talmud. There are different views as to the date on which this burning took place, some say the 4th Tammuz, some the 6th, and some the 9th, and while most agree it was 1244, some say it 1242. One thing they all agree on is that it was Friday, Erev Parshas Chukas, and that in a central market square in Paris, 24 wagon-loads containing thousands of items were burned, and that is the source of the fast. In June 1994, a Jewish primary school (which my children attended) had a Sefer Torah written to be placed in a Jewish centre for the elderly. On Friday, Erev Parshas Chukas, the sefer was brought to the school for the children to feel part of the mitzvah. On that day, Rabbi Isaac Bernstein came to the school to talk to the pupils about this great Mitzvah. They were amazed when he told them that 750 years earlier, to the day, our enemies had tried to do great damage to Bnei Yisroel, by a mass burning of seforim, and now while many of them have disappeared, here we are, celebrating another new Sefer Torah in a Jewish school bursting at the seams. Rabbi Bernstein then added another message to the children He quoted the famous Zohar on Shir Hashirim which says there are 600,000 letters in the Torah. The problem is that if one takes the trouble to count, there are actually 304,805 letters in the Torah. He explained that 600,000 also includes the spaces in the Sefer Torah. He then said to them the following:- You are all very lucky, you come from religious families and homes and have been brought up doing Mitzvahs and Maasim Tovim as the norm, you are the letters of the Sefer Torah. But the spaces represent the Jewish children that are not as lucky as you, they haven’t been brought up in a world of Torah and Mitzvahs, and so they are shown as spaces. But..... remember one thing, a Sefer Torah with just letters would be a complete jumble, and would in fact, be Possul (Invalid). We need the spaces to make a kosher Sefer Torah, and these children are a critical part of the Jewish people, and we, the lucky ones must never forget them and must do our best to include them as part of Bnei Yisroel. Shabbat Shalom Benny
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 06:24:45 +0000
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