BS”D
SOURCE OF SUSTENANCE: SONG AND STRUGGLE – PARSHAT
CHUKAS
Shira
Smiles shiur 2018/5778
Adapted
by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Parshat Chukas contains one of only nine song/poems recorded in Tanach. (A
tenth will be sung at the time of Moshiach.) Yet it seems to be buried
inauspiciously within an itinerary listing many of the stops of Bnei Yisroel on
their journey and some of the historical events that took place at those sites.
The song is recorded after the death of Miriam and Aharon, after the well water
and the manna Hashem had given Bnei Yisroel in their merit had stopped and were
subsequently reinstated for Bnei Yisroel in the merit of Moshe Rabbenu. What
prompted Bnei Yisroel to sing this song now when they had actually enjoyed the
water for forty years? Is there any significance to the place names recorded in
the song itself? Bnei Yisroel had camped at Arnon which juts out from the
border of Emor at the border of Moav. And, besides the song recorded here,
there may also have been a record of this event in the Book of Hashem’s Battles
that mentions the Vahev/gift in Sufah/Yam Suf/Reed Sea and
the Rivers of Arnon. In other words, the miracles here will be related with the
same wonder and gratitude as the miracle of the splitting of the reed Sea.
(Additionally, there may have been an actual Book of Hashem’s Battles first
begun by Avraham Avinu and continued in ancient history, but since lost to us.
This book would be similar to ancient epics, often sung rather than written, or
to the Chronicles of Persia mentioned in the Book of Esther.)
In any case, what happened here is enigmatic, but definitely a great miracle
and victory. Ramban translates Vahev and Arnon as actual place names.
Originally, Vahev was a Moabite city, and Bnei Yisroel were prohibited from
taking these lands, but when Sichon, King of the Emori captured these lands
from Moav with whirlwind, lightening speed, they and the surrounding areas of
the streams and slopes were now permitted to Bnei Yisroel and were given to
them. As the Ohr Hachaim notes, since Hashem created the world, he can
give whatever territory He wants to whomever He wants, and at the end of time/besufa,
all the lands that were promised to Avraham Avinu will be given to his
descendants, to Bnei Yisroel.
What is the miracle that happened here? Our medrashim paint a picture of an
actual, secret battle Hashem waged on behalf Bnei Yisroel, a battle they were
unaware of until they saw the streams of the water filled with blood. Then they
realized that Hashem had saved them from certain death, and they sang this
song. In Avodat Avodah, the Tosher Rebbe describes the battle and
explains how this miracle relates to the miracle of the splitting of the Sea.
He too goes back to creation itself, to the first three words of the Torah. Bereishit
bara Elokhim… is usually translated as “In the beginning God created…” The
Tosher Rebbe interprets this homiletically from the Kedushas Halevi,
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. This phrase he interprets as “for [the
nation who will be called] Reishit Hashem created the world.” According
to this, since all the world was created to serve Bnei Yisroel whose entire
purpose is to serve Hashem, all of creation must serve Bnei Yisroel. But this
purpose would first be in effect when Bnei Yisroel accepts the Torah and become
Hashem’s servants. Therefore, it was necessary for Bnei Yisroel to expend
tremendous effort and dedication to Hashem for the Sea to split against its
nature, until Nachshon jumped in and almost drowned. Here, however, Bnei
Yisroel had already accepted the Torah, and all the earth was committed to
their service. The mountains intuitively knew what they had to do, what they
had been created for.
So what actually happened? The Shvilei Pinchas graphically describes the
scene. Bnei Yisroel had to pass through the Valley of Arnon to enter Eretz
Yisroel. The Emorites saw their opportunity. They would lie in wait inside the
caves of the cliffs and mountains on their side of the valley and attack Bnei
Yisroel as they crossed to the other side. Meanwhile, the mountains on the
Israel side heard the footsteps of Bnei Yisroel and their voices filled with
Torah. They wanted to go out and greet Bnei Yisroel. Then they realized that
their sides had projections that seemed to mirror the caves in their sister
mountain on the other side of the valley. There must have been a reason for
this parallelism. So, the mountain moved, interlocking with the mountain on the
other side, crushing the warriors within. Then the Israel side mountain, having
intuited and fulfilled its duty, returned to its place.
Bnei Yisroel would never have known of this miracle and of Hashem’s great love
for His people, had not the well gone down into the valley and brought up the
blood and limbs of the enemy so Bnei Yisroel would recognize the miracle Hashem
had performed for them. Bnei Yisroel broke out in spontaneous song, telling the
well to rise and bring with it all the evidence from below.
But the song does not overtly mention this great miracle. It speaks only of the
well that sustained Bnei Yisroel for forty years. Now Bnei Yisroel understood
that all the miracles of daily life, the food we eat, the clothing we wear, are
all just as miraculous gifts from Hashem as are the overt miracles, writes
Rabbi Kofman z”l in Mishchat Hashemen. Therefore, they now sang of the
well that until now (except for its short cessation at Miriam’s death) had been
part of their daily, “natural” routine. We have to thank Hashem for open
miracles, often celebrating with a seudat hodaya/Meal of gratitude,
writes the Tiv Hatorah, for relating these miracles to others is a
positive commandment of the Torah. And if we are required to thank Hashem for
natural bounty, adds Rabbi Soloveitchick z”l in Kol Dodi Dofek, how much
more so are we required to thank Hashem for actual “miracles”. For if we
neglect to do so, if we neglect to acknowledge Hashem’s chesed, we open
the door for the attribute of justice.
The Shvilei Pinchas continues to interpret the miracle
allegorically. Using an idea from Rabbi Bachayei who tells us that the
future redemption will follow a similar path through the desert of nations
until Bnei Yisroel is fully redeemed, the Shvilei Pinchas notes that at
that time the kedushah/sacredness of Eretz Yisroel will spread
throughout the world, crushing the impurities that seek to hide in the dark
spaces, the caves and crevices of the world outside Eretz Yisroel. This miracle
of crushing the Emorites was an allusion to the future redemption, and
therefore at the time of the Messiah, Bnei Yisroel will sing both this song of
salvation and the Song of the Sea.
In further homiletic interpretation, the Lashon Chasidim, citing the Meor
Vashemesh, the Chernobeler Rav z”l, connects this event to the event
recorded immediately preceding it, that of the mei merivah/the waters of
separation and conflict. Before the conflict at these waters, Bnei Yisroel
studied Torah and interpreted it without conflict. The halacha was always
clear. There was no difference of opinion even in the Oral Torah. Afterward,
there were divisions These were the battles in the Book of the Wars of Hashem.
But in the end, all conflict in interpretation will be resolved and there will
be ahavah/love between the people. This song, then,
metaphorically, is about the oral Torah. Further, the nechalim/streams
that emanate from arnon/renah/song
and prayer refer to the prayers for clarity that those who study Torah express.
Through teshuvah and song/prayer, the waters of Torah will rise up and be
understood. Therefore, we prepare to serve Hashem by starting our day with
prayer and pesukei dezimrah/verses of song.
Music is very powerful. Rabbi Zev Reichman notes that the Zohar tells us there
is a palace in the heavens that is only open to song, and the Rebbe of Modshitz
z”l says that the palace of teshuvah and the palace of song are one and the
same. Therefore, an effective way of returning to Hashem is through song.
Is this the time to talk about struggle, when you are singing in celebration of
the victory over Sichon and Og asks Rabbi Mordechai Ezrachi? He answers,
definitely yes, for all life is a struggle, a struggle against the yetzer horo
that wants to hoist its flag over us. Either we capture and control it, or it
captures and controls us. If we try to live complacently, we are not really
living life, for we are meant to engage. When our Patriarch Yaakov wanted to
just finally live in peace after so many challenges, Hashem forced upon him new
hardships of Dinah and Yosef. Life in this world is struggle; peace and
contentment are for the next world.
But struggle is not necessarily negative, continues Rabbi Ezrachi. Learning
with a chevrusha/learning partner and struggling with the text, arguing
and disagreeing until you arrive at clarity results in feelings of love for
each other.
We tend to reminisce about the past, thinking of them as the “good old days”.
That is a mistake, cautions Rabbi Imanuel Bernstein in Sefer Aggadah. In truth,
says Rabbi Bernstein, Hashem instills in us an elevated sense of enthusiasm so
that we will begin the struggle. As we mature, we begin to understand the need
to study Torah, to struggle for truth. In the interim, we borrow against that
initial inspiration until we desire to drink from the source, from Torah, on
our own.
In an interesting digression from the more traditional analysis of previous
commentators, Rabbi Bernstein quotes the Midrash that tells us that Et
and Vahev are two lepers who were outside the Israelite camp. Trailing
behind, they were the only ones who saw the mountains separating and the blood
gushing forth, witnessing the great salvation the others were oblivious to. Who
were these lepers? Rav Kook z”l explains that these two represent the
dysfunctional approaches to meaningful spiritual gain and wisdom. Et wants
to go from the beginning, aleph to achieve the tuf,
without engaging in the mahalach/path and process to
achieve emet/truth in his spiritual life. Similarly, VaHev
wants to have a perfect relationship, perfect ahavah.
He wants his relationship of love to increase sixfold from aleph
and heh, and he will go through the Hev,
the giving on his part, whenever he gets to it. Neither wisdom nor
relationships come automatically, without struggling and working for them.
Thinking so puts you “outside the camp”.
May Hashem reward the struggles in our lives so that we can live meaningful and
fulfilling lives. May we begin and end each day with songs of praise for the
open, hidden and “natural” miracles He performs for us every day.