Torah Commentary by Laura Weakley בה

Torah Commentary by Laura Weakley בה

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Not by might, and not by power, but by spirit alone (ruach) shall all people live in peace!

July 1, 2011

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While in the desert, the Israelites had no permanent housing, furniture, etc. However, they had what they needed to build a place of worship, fill it with what was necessary for services, and everything necessary in connection with the Mishkan. The parashah this week begins with the instructions for the sacrifice of the red heifer - a very rare animal indeed, and one considered holy.
The red heifer was to be taken outside of the Mishkan and sacrificed, all of it including the excrement, along with a piece of cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson wool. The symbolism here is quite rich, but as is my custom, I like to connect for you all of the seemingly disparate elements of the parashah.
After the descriptions given of the sacrifice itself, and the subsequent required actions, we are told of Miriam’s death, the incident of Moses striking the rock to bring forth water, Aaron’s death, and subsequent battles - quite an eventful period. Spiritually, this parashah is about the same thing. This is, learning to see and understand Adonai is everywhere, but we must learn faith, as well as the necessity of actively and consciously looking. As we are well-aware of these days, life is difficult, and seems to be getting more so all of the time. Our faith may be sorely tested, and for the righteous it is full of seemingly never-ending challenges to greater and greater degrees.
Holiness, goodness - Adonai can be found everywhere and all of the time. The whole description of the red heifer sacrifice, and the rituals of purifying those who come in contact with it, those who touch the individuals involved (or anything which they have touched), along with the subsequent connection by transition to purifying oneself from contact with a dead person, comes to teach us of the insidiousness of evi. Simultaneously, it teaches us we may still become purified from evil, but it takes action on our part.
Adonai told us in the Torah to sacrifice the red heifer, and that it was holy. So why the need for purification afterwards? I will touch on part of the symbolism for you. The color red is used to signify evil, passion, and blood. Obviously, the shedding of blood represents the loss of life. It seems to me the holy act of sacrificing all of the red heifer itself represents the need to recognize evil and to actively choose to get rid of it. Of course, the act of killing itself is evil, so therefore one must physically, spiritually, and emotionally purify oneself afterwards.
Evil spreads so easily, that not only will the sacrificer (most likely a Levite) and the priest need to purify themselves, but so will the one who cleans the ashes, the one who cleanses them, and the one who carries the water utilized for their cleansing, along with anyone who touches those people, or anything they touched while in a state of uncleanness - or unholiness. This teaches us when we get rid of the source of evil, the existence of it and the consequences of its existence cannot help but affect everything and everyone it touched, even if not by direct contact or association. (This is why a donation made with money or objects used in the course of evil transactions should not be accepted; moreover, it cannot be cleansed, as its evil association and or use will cause those who accept it to be touched by it, thereby bringing bad karma, if you will.)
Adonai, however, is still available, and reachable, and knowable, but one who has had contact with any form of evil must actively seek to cleanse oneself from such contact and rise above and rid itself of any evil thoughts, actions, or intentions. Sometimes, this means we actually must kill an evil person to try to stop their evil, but we shouldn’t then become like them by enjoying their passing. As an example, what I felt when Bin Laden met with his demise was relief, but not joy. I was proud of those who were tasked with accomplishing this goal, for their doing so swiftly and not taking time to exact revenge of any kind through the use of torture. Anyone who could torture another takes enjoyment from the act, or they couldn’t do so in the first place. One the other hand, one who does what is necessary with expediency is one who wishes to stop the evil perpetrator, but who is not trying to derive enjoyment from the act itself. After all, the taking of any life stops any potential for good the person might have done. Don’t misunderstand me - some people must be killed, as they are so consumed with evil intentions and actions they leave us no choice but to stop them, as they clearly have no intention of turning their lives around or changing their ways. It is extremely rare for a person so consumed by hate, revenge, and anger - one who enjoys the torment and execution of others, and worse still, gathers others to do the same - to actually denounce all of their actions and truly try to make amends. A person who is evil can never be trusted. In Judaism, we say to save a life is to save the world. A profound concept, but for the sake of brevity I will say the evil person must be killed in order to save future potential victims.
In order to rise above the evil, one must first acknowledge its presence and choose not to allow it to affect their subsequent behavior and thoughts. Once the parashah finished the discussion of purification through killing the symbol of the heifer, and then all of the required cleansing actions, we are rather immediately told the Israelites went to Kadesh, where Miriam died. Interestingly, not only were they symbolically in the presence of holiness - Kadosh means holy in Hebrew - they lost a righteous leader, the one who saved Moses’ life, thus directly aiding the creation of the Nation of Israel, a holy nation. Once Miriam was gone, they were without water. The Torah tells us there weren’t even trees or plants there to bring forth fruit. Think about all of this symbolism.
Then realize G-d was still with them, only they were blind to this fact. This is why they immediately complained to Moses and Aaron about their loss of water. This was when Moses struck the rock to bring forth water out of anger, momentarily forgetting to point out the water was there for them because Adonai made it so. Adonai - the ability to sustain life - was there all along, only now after the purification of the people through the sacrifice of the red heifer, they were expected to know, with all of their being, Adonai was, had been, and always will be there to enable people to achieve their destiny. Yes, the Torah is literally speaking of the destiny of the Nation of Israel; however, spiritually this message applies to everyone. We need to understand that while we may lose our beloved and righteous leaders, our comforts, and our easy ability to provide for our needs, if we open our eyes and actively seek Adonai’s help, we will find we can get through the seemingly toughest of times.
Aaron’s death is described next. Once we think we have learned a lesson, we are still tested to make certain our behavior, thoughts, and choices truly have changed. We went on to ask for permission to pass through other people’s lands to achieve our goal of obtaining our inheritance - the land of Canaan, now known as Israel. We are not islands unto ourselves, and no one is “entitled” to do as they please. While Judaism and other religions too teach us to take care of each other, and be loving and kind towards one another, it is still a choice we must make. One which we do not have the right to force another to comply with - ever. The Israelites told each group of people whose land they desired to traverse they would gladly pay for any supplies which they consumed. Yet the other peoples not only all said no - which, if one understands the way economies work, was only hurting themselves - but they also chose to rise violently against them instead. Of course, this meant the end for those who chose violence over kindness, since besides being insidious, evil also consumes those who choose to act in accordance with it.
The theme we learn this week, a readily applicable and modern lesson is this: evil exists, and it is insidious, but it can and must be stopped by conscious choice and conscious actions, and we must not force others to choose to act righteously. This is a choice we must make ourselves for ourselves. Yet despite its existence, Adonai is still available, and will provide a way to enable good to defeat evil, for good to go on. Sometimes, one must dig deeply, or see what doesn’t appear to be present, in order to find a way through the difficult times. Arguably the most important lesson we learn is Adonai wants good to defeat evil, and wants us to choose good.
Happy Birthday America, may the ideals we were founded upon prevail! Happy Birthday to my friend Jeff who was born on the forth of July!
Shabbat Shalom, I’d love to know what you think!

Righteous Travails

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This week’s Parashah:
Chukat
Numbers Chapters 19:1 - 22:1

Spiritually Yours,
Laura Weakley

copyright© Laura Weakley, July 1, 2011

Contributing Editor: Kevin A. Weakley

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