Torah Gems - July 4th Parshat Chukat

Torah Gems - July 4th

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by Jennifer Rudin

Parshat Chukat

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED ONE TO ANOTHER...

MOSES, AARON & MIRIAM

The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there. (Numbers 20:1)

The Gemara tells us that the Jewish people had three special caretakers

- Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. The Jewish people were the recipients of three special gifts - the wellspring, the Clouds of Glory, and the Mana. The wellspring was in the merit of Miriam. The Clouds of Glory were in the merit of Aaron and the Mana was in the merit of Moses. The Gemara quotes a verse in Zacharia which states," I removed the three shepherds in one month." This verse indicates that Moses, Aaron, and Miriam all passed away in the same month. Yet we know that this is not the case because Miriam passed away in the month of Nissan, Aaron in Av, and Moses in Adar. The fact is that each of them passed away in different months. How does the Gemara resolve the seeming contradiction between the verse and fact?

The Gemara answers

- that when Miriam passed away the wellspring ceased to flow and it was only in the merit of Moses that it was reinstated. After Aaron passed away the Clouds of Glory were dispersed and were also quickly reinstated in the merit of Moses. The Gemara explains that since these miracles were so quickly replaced in the merit of Moses, the Jewish people did not sense the loss of Miriam and Aaron, who had been their benefactors for close to forty years. It was not until Moses passed away and all of these gifts ceased that the Jewish people internalized the loss of the "three special shepherds of Israel." Although the Jewish people understood that each of the miracles from which they derived continuous benefit was in the merit of these special individuals, they had not internalized the reality of their loss until Moses passed away. Therefore, although Miriam passed away "on the first new moon" her absence was not felt until months later when Moses passed away and the wellspring permanently ceased to flow.

MOSES & ABRAHAM

The Torah tells us that after Miriam passed away the water ceased to flow and Moses was told by God to speak to the rock so that it would give forth its water. However, rather than speaking to it Moses struck the rock. The Sforno explains that if Moses had spoken to the rock, he would have brought about a revealed miracle. However since Moses struck the rock he did not bring about the Kiddush Hashem (Sanctification of God's Name) that would have resulted from his speaking to it. As a result of this failing, Moses and Aaron had to pass away before the Jews entered the Land of Israel. As much as Moses pleaded with God for forgiveness, God did not listen to his pleas because when he had the opportunity to Sanctify God's Name he did not do so. Why would Moses, a man of such "great merit" do such a thing? The Gemara in Tractate Bava Metzia states that the manner in which Abraham hosted the visiting angels determined the manner in which God accommodated the needs of the Jewish people in the desert. The Talmud states that any act of hospitality which Abraham performed himself resulted in a miracle coming directly from God without any human intervention. However any act of hospitality that was brought about through an intermediary, God allowed the corresponding miracle to come only through an intermediary. The Gemara explains that since Abraham offered the bread himself, the Jewish people received the Mana in the desert. Because of the shade of the tree that was offered by Abraham to protect his guests, we merited the Clouds of Glory, which protected the Jews in the desert for forty years. However since Abraham offered the water (to wash their feet) to the angels through an intermediary the Jews received the water through Moses who had to extract it from the rock.

SHABBAT SHALOM