Hukkat is a powerful Torah portion that contains a number of deeply essential stories.
In particular (but not exclusively):
The laws of the Red Heifer
Miriam dies
Moses strikes the rock
Aaron dies
Moses makes the copper snake
The people go through a number of battles with other nations.
I want to focus on just a few stories, focusing on Miriam, Aaron, and Moses.
Miriam’s Kindness and Death
When Miriam dies, the people find themselves without water. They begin to rebel against their leaders and were, reasonably concerned they were going to die.
As soon as Miriam died, the well which had traveled with the Israelites all these years ceased providing water. The water that the people had enjoyed all these years was due to the merit of Miriam who had stood by watching what would happen to her infant brother when he was in a basket in the reeds at the edge of the river (Exodus 2:4). God had rewarded her for that act of kindness by making her the provider of water for Moses’ people. The people had not appreciated this until the well ceased with Miriam’s death
Miriam’s extraordinary kindness led to greater responsibility. That responsibility was to provide them with what they needed to live, water.
They only realized her kindness, her gifts, and her leadership after she had died. They couldn’t see it. Their selfishness had limited their ability to experience it.
What do we learn?
That our kindness has a greater impact than we’ll ever know. Miriam could not know where her act of kindness to her brother would lead.
That we should appreciate those around us more. There is a reason why “you never know what you’ve got until it’s gone” is a cliche: it’s true.
Aaron’s Lack of Action and Death
Aaron’s story, in this portion, begins with Moses’ striking the rock. You can read that story here.
In short, God tells Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock and instead…Moses hits it with his staff. God is not pleased about it and says:
“Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”
A few verses later, Aaron dies.
According to the words of the Midrash...Moses had been instructed to teach the rock a chapter of the Torah as a result of which it would release its water. Moses and Aaron had failed to do so. In this instance, the Torah seems to blame Aaron for this and to justify his death now by his failure to sanctify God on this occasion. The reason is that when Moses failed to carry out God's instructions it was up to Aaron to rectify Moses' error. His failure to do so constituted an act of rebellion against God...
First off, I LOVE the image that they were supposed to teach the rock a chapter of Torah. Classic rabbinic retelling.
However, we see that it is Aaron’s inaction that get’s him into trouble.
We’ve seen this before, with the Golden Calf. He’s got a real problem of letting people roll all over him and he doesn’t act.
Aaron has lots of great qualities. In Pirkei Avot, we say:
Hillel and Shammai received [the oral tradition] from them. Hillel used to say: be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and drawing them close to the Torah.
He loves peace! He wants everybody to get along.
But this is the big lesson.
When you are able to act, you are responsible to do so.
The Talmud teaches:
The Gemara comments: Anyone who had the capability to effectively protest the sinful conduct of the members of their household and did not protest, they themselves are apprehended for the sins of the members of their household and punished. If they are in a position to protest the sinful conduct of the people of their town, and they fail to do so, they are apprehended for the sins of the people of their town. If they are in a position to protest the sinful conduct of the whole world, and they fail to do so, they are apprehended for the sins of the whole world.
This text is written in the negative, but we can understand it in the positive framing as well. Obligation and liability are connected concepts in Judaism.
But in short: We are responsible for what happens around us. If we can make an impact, we are obligated to do so.
Moses’ Lack of Faith
We’ve already talked about Moses hitting the rock, but we know that he struggles with faithfulness throughout the Torah.
A bit later in the portion, the people lose their faith (the power of leadership amiright?) as well and God isn’t happy. God sends poisonous snakes to punish the people. Moses then acts and the Torah says:
The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned by speaking against God and against you. Intercede with God to take away the serpents from us!” And Moses interceded for the people. Then God said to Moses, “Make a seraph figure and mount it on a standard. And anyone who was bitten who then looks at it shall recover.” Moses made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when bitten by a serpent, anyone who looked at the copper serpent would recover.
But here’s the rub (according to the Ramban):
“It seems to me that there is a secret to the matter, for it is the way of the Torah to do everything as a “miracle inside of a miracle,” such that damage is undone with the thing that did damage, and sickness is cured with the virus…But the Holy Blessed One commanded Moses to make it for them in the likeness of a fiery snake, because this is the thing that killed them…But the principle here is that God commanded that they be healed with the very thing that causes harm, so they had to make it like that in both form and name…”
(Translation by Rabbi Adir Yolkut - go check out his newsletter.)
Here, the Ramban makes clear, that the cause of harm is also a part of the solution. The serpents were the problem and the brass serpent was the solution.
He's playing with the words because the word for serpent or snake is NACHASH and the word for brass (or bronze or copper) is NECHOSHET.
Namely, Moses's faith solves his faith problem.
More to the point, we must face our moments of challenge directly, so too can we be healed by them.
In summary:
From Miriam:
Miriam's kindness teaches us the importance of our kindness. You never know the impact.
Miriam’s death is a reminder to appreciate others, especially if they are still with us.
Kindness solves kindness problems
From Aaron:
Aaron's inaction leads Moses and the people astray.
Action solves action problems.
We are responsible if we are able to take action.
From Moses:
Moses' lack of faith and commitment causes him to err repeatedly.
Faith solves faith problems. And for Moses, we know that this is a big issue.
This reminds us that we must face our challenges head-on.
I taught this portion on Friday for My Jewish Learning.
You can watch the whole class here:
I used this source sheet, if you want it for yourself:
Fascinating, thanks