Beyond Logic
The unknown is a theme that runs through our reading this week
of the Sidra Chukat[i], which begins with the least understandable commandment,
concerning a red cow’s ashes mixed with water that spiritually cleanses one
person but contaminates the one who prepares it[ii]. The name of the portion,
Chukat, means a law that we cannot understand. Some would assume that the logic
is absolutely clear but simply hidden from us. The Lubavitcher Rebbe goes
further; “these commands have no
rational explanation; (emphasis
mine) moreover, they defy reason… the Divine Will has not clothed itself in the
garments of rationality[iii]”.
A copper serpent and letting go
The incident with the copper snake also sits outside common
sense. The people had spoken against Moses, "Why have you brought us up
out of Egypt to die in this desert, for there is no bread and no water, and we
are disgusted with this rotten bread[iv] [v]”. It seems the people craved the solid certainty of degradation
of Egypt in comparison to the uncertainty of freedom in the desert and the
still unseen “promised land”. (So) “God sent the venomous snakes against the
people, and they bit the people, and many people of Israel died”. After the
people sought forgiveness, “Moses
made a copper snake and put it on a pole, and whenever a snake bit a man, he
would gaze upon the copper snake and live[vi]”. The object that brought
healing was symbolic of the one that brought illness[vii].
The serpent had no magical powers, when the Israelites looked at it
they were also looking upward (to God) and committing their hearts to their
father in heaven and they were healed[viii]. The choice of the
Serpent specifically as symbol reinforces the point, as if to say “surely you
realise it is not the object that is the active ingredient”, because the snake
is the problem, yet it is the solution[ix].Centuries later, Elisha puts
salt in the ‘bad water’ of Jericho which fixes the problem[x]. The very counter-intuitiveness of it is a lesson that there
are times when we need to let go, and for believers this means to trust God.
From rigidity and domination to Persuasion and
consensus building
A variation of this theme is when Moses is told a second time to
make a miracle to get water from a stone, but to do it differently this time.
The first time just after the exodus from Egypt Moses was told to hit the rock,
now leading a new generation he was told explicitly to take his staff[xi] but to talk to the rock.
Moses became very angry with the people and their complaints, and this led him
to make a mistake[xii]. He hit the rock instead of talking to it. Because of this
seemingly small error Moses is told he will not be the leader[xiii] to take the people into the
Promised Land.
One interpretation of the problem in hitting the stone (which
was previously the right thing to do) is that it was a different time, the
people had changed and Moses failed to change his style accordingly[xiv]. It was appropriate for Moses to use rigidity, symbolised by
hitting with a stick, as a leadership approach at the time he was leading
recently freed slaves who were not yet ready for ambiguity and responsibility.
For the generation that grew up free in the desert, they needed a leader whose
style was one of persuasion of thinking independent people, this style would be
symbolised by talking rather than striking, a much more murky process with far
less control or certainty.
Conclusion
It is amazing to see Adam Kellerman who was diagnosed with
Cancer in his right hip not long after I taught him for his Bar Mitzvah in
2003. It was an extremely difficult road, longs stints in hospital, hope,
disappointments, chemo, infections, and 25 operations at the end of which he
had difficulty walking and could never play his beloved soccer again. Somehow
out of it all, Adam has created a stellar wheelchair tennis career[xv] and is soon heading off to
the Paralympics. A scenario we would never have imagined in those difficult
days. I am now keen to help him reach 500 likes on his Facebook page[xvi] (he has 359). In Egypt, there are now promises of
Coptic and female vice presidents. Who knows what will really happen there? In
terms of our diversity education resource, we will make our best effort and
then I need to trust teachers to make the right decision. There is much that is
out of our hands, there is not much point worrying about it. It is not for us to complete the
work, nor are we free to desist from it[xvii].
If the Lord will not build a house, its builders
have toiled at it in vain; if the Lord will not guard a city, [its] watcher
keeps his vigil in vain.
It is futile for you who rise early, who sit up
late, who eat the bread of tension, Indeed the Lord will give sleep to his
beloved [xviii].
[iii] Schneerson,
Rabbi MM, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IV, pp.
1056-1057 as adapted
http://www.chabadworld.net/page.asp?pageID={2F39F577-95B6-40DA-BFCD-81DC8BAECB5B}
[vii] An
explanation of the serpent offered in the Zohar is that it reminded people of
the punishment like a child who sees his father’s strap if afraid and behaves
(Sehlach 175)
[xiii] I find the
situation with Moses in this reading really interesting. Moses, the great
leader who defied Pharaoh, bargained with God, and successfully argued with
angels tragically cannot see the completion of the journey of his people from
Egypt to the Promised Land. Moses faces complaints, loses his cool, both
his siblings; Miriam and Aaron die. He approaches the king of Edom requesting
passage for his people through that land, but this initiative falls flat,
Moses’ polite request is met with a threat about which he can do nothing.
Strangely, when his people are attacked by the king of Arad, Moses seems
missing in action, his name is not mentioned. Instead the people themselves
make a wow and pray to God (Numbers 21:1-3) without Moses playing any role (Aviya
Hacohen, http://www.vbm-torah.org/parsha/37shelah.htm.
Yet, despite Moses’ disappointment and bereavement he ends our reading in
triumph. The Israelites sing a song of praise (Numbers 21:17) . There is a
victory in a battle against Sichon the king of the Emorites. They then confront
the giant Og. God tells Moses not to be afraid and again the Israelites are
victorious. Moses himself is credited with personally slaying the giant (Talmud
Brachot 54b)
[xviii] Psalm
127:1-2, my translation follows Targum, Radak and Ibn Ezra which seem to be
more in line with the simple meaning of the Hebrew and the flow of the content
from verse 1, Rashi, Metzudat David, Metzudat Zion and Minchat Shai render is
as “so will the Lord give sustenance/pleasure in the world to come, to one who
banishes sleep from his eyes to occupy himself with Torah/service of heaven”.
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