BS”D
GLORIOUS GAZING:
PARSHAT CHUKAS
Shira Smiles shiur
2019/5779
Adapted by Channie
Koplowitz Stein
Bnei
Yisroel were nearing the end of their journey to Eretz Yisroel. They now bring
yet another complaint to Moshe. They were disgusted with the manna that had
nourished them for forty years. They want real food. Hashem sent fiery serpents
to afflict them, and many Jews died. The people came to Moshe, admitted their
sin, and asked Moshe to pray that Hashem remove the serpents.
Moshe
prayed, but Hashem, instead of immediately removing the serpents, instructed
Moshe to make a fiery serpent, place it up on a pole, and anyone who would be
bitten should look at that serpent and would live.
There
are several puzzling aspects to this episode. First, after forty years of
eating the manna which could have been prepared in so many different ways and
could taste like anything the eater craved at the moment, why do the people
complain about the manna now? And they seemed to have done teshuvah. So why did
Hashem punish them? Further, of all the punishments at Hashem’s disposal, why
did He choose the serpent to punish Bnei Yisroel? What message was Hashem
trying to convey to His people? Finally, how did looking at the serpent become
the agent of cure?
It
is interesting to note that the people were not hungry. They were just bored
with the food they considered monotonous, writes Rav Hirsch z”l. Therefore,
they cultivated a complaint without really having any reason. And Rav Pam z”l
notes that therefore the snakes were the appropriate punishment. The serpent
eats the same dust every day and its taste never varies. By contrast, the
people ate the manna and could taste in it anything they imagined.
Unfortunately, like some other people who have everything but are never
satisfied, so were Bnei Yisroel at this juncture. This attitude seems even more
puzzling when one realizes that for forty years Bnei Yisroel lived on the
highest spiritual level in the presence of Hakodosh Boruch Hu,, adds Rav Reiss.
Perhaps
it was this spiritual level that prompted Bnei Yisroel to ask Moshe that he
pray to Hashem to remove the serpents from them, suggests Rav Kofman z”L in Mishchat
Shemen. Perhaps they saw in the snakes that attacked them an allusion to
that primordial snake that lured Adam and Chava into sin. Bnei Yisroel hoped
that Moshe’s prayers would help them get rid of the yetzer horo
represented by the serpent. Hashem then instructs them in the remedy: Construct
a snake and put it on a pole and examine it closely. Notice that it is only a
snake. Now find how the snake/yetzer horo is sinking its teeth into you.
When you recognize the yetzer horo for what it is, you will be able to
overcome it.
As
the Parsha continues, we are told of Bnei Yisroel’s requests other nations for
permission to peacefully travel through their lands. When they refused, Bnei
Yisroel waged war against them and captured the land. One of these captured
cities was Cheshbon, originally an Amonite city that had been captured by
Sichon and became part of the land of the Emori. While Hashem had prohibited
Bnei Yisroel from capturing the lands of their “cousins” Amon and Moav, now
that this city no longer belonged to Amon, Bnei Yisroel were free to take
possession of it. The verse here relates, “Therefore the rulers will say, ‘Let
Cheshbon be built and established...” Rabbi Kofman z”l quotes Chazal who
interprets this verse homiletically rather than historically. He says, “Let us
make a Cheshbon/accounting of ourselves in the world.” If you see your proper
place, you will be able to subdue your yetzer horo and build yourself up
to live in this world and in the next world. That’s why in the Hallel
Hagadol/Great Hallel we thank Hashem for His enduring kindness not only for
the lands of Sichon King of Bashan and of Og King of Emori, but also for the
lands Hashem gave us using these kings as middlemen.
But
there is a deeper lesson here. Sichon thought he had accomplished so much by
capturing this great city Cheshbon. In fact, Hashem just built him up so that
he would fall even harder. Hashem was telling us to look at the big picture
when we are being lured into sin. Is the current opportunity really just
setting the stage for our later downfall?
An
analogy can be made to a farmer selling crates of produce for $100 per crate.
When the trucker comes to load up the merchandise, he suggests they keep count
of the crates by putting a quarter on the table for each crate loaded. After
they finish loading, they will count the number of quarters and pay the full
price accordingly. The foolish farmer sees the group of quarters on the table
and convinces himself that if he takes some of those quarters for himself, no
one will notice that they are missing. In his rush for the momentary profit,
the farmer has lost out on hundreds of dollars. So, it is with people. In our
rush for the momentary pleasures the yetzer horo puts before us, we
sacrifice so much both in this world and in the next.
Rabbi
Schlesinger in Eileh Hadevarim points out that the yetzer horo
comes as two different persona. One is easily recognizable and therefore more
easily overcome. But the second one comes disguised as a talmid chacham.
This sly yetzer horo will rationalize and even try to convince us that
the sin is actually a mitzvah. This was the tactic of the serpent in the Garden
of Eden. That serpent convinced Adam and Chava that if they ate of the
forbidden tree, they would become godlike and be able to serve Hashem on an
even higher level.
The
yetzer horo here in the desert used similar tactics. He convinced Bnei
Yisroel that serving Hashem in this spiritual bubble was not challenging. How
much greater could they be if they had a challenge to their spirituality. The serpent
donned the guise of a talmid chacham interested in serving Hakodosh
Boruch Hu on a higher level. Rabbi Zvi Kushelevsky gives us a guideline in
trying to recognize a sin dressed up as a mitzvah. When we experience some
resistance, the action is more likely to be an actual mitzvah than when we are
suddenly drawn to act without any resistance.
After
forty years of subsisting on manna, why was Bnei Yisroel suddenly drawn to ask
for natural food? Rabbi Schwab suggests that Bnei Yisroel had bought real food,
bread and water, from the Edomites. Having now tasted natural food, their taste
for spiritual food was blunted. As the Netziv z”l points out, once a child
starts eating table food, it is less interested in mother’s milk.
The
snakes’ arrival, however, could be the natural consequence of Bnei Yisroel’s
request, suggests Rav S. R, Hirsch z”l. If Bnei Yisroel wanted to live in a
natural world, outside the spiritual, protective bubble Hashem had kept them
in, then Bnei Yisroel would now experience the dangers of the natural world.
These snakes had been in the desert all along, but Hashem had protected Bnei
Yisroel from them. Now Hashem set the snakes free and sent them among Bnei
Yisroel to do what snakes do naturally, to bite Bnei Yisroel.
Everything
is in Hashem’s hands. While major miracles are more overt, we should recognize
the daily miracles that Hashem does for us and thank Him and praise Him for
all. When someone asks us how we are, our response should be a sincere, “Boruch
Hashem/Blessed be God, I’m well.”
Rabbi
Reiss now takes us in a completely different direction. Certainly, all the
physical needs of Bnei Yisroel were taken care of in the desert. They had as
much bread and water as they needed. But that sustenance was a source of
spiritual stress. Only one day’s ration of manna was provided daily. Perhaps
tomorrow they would no longer merit the manna from heaven or the water from the
rock.
But
Hashem gave Bnei Yisroel only one day’s stipend of manna per day because He
wanted a relationship with Bnei Yisroel. He wanted Bnei Yisroel to converse
with Him daily. On the other hand, Hashem wants no relationship with the
serpent, and so the serpent’s food, the dust of the earth was ubiquitous,
writes Rabbi Schlesinger. Hashem sends the snake into Bnei Yisroel as if to ask
them, “Do you desire a relationship with Me, or not?” Put that snake on a pole and
look up at it so that your eyes will be drawn heavenward, reawakening a
relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. As the Be’er Moshe says, remember
that it’s not the snake who is biting of its own accord, but Hashem Who is
telling the snake to bite.
But
it is important to remember that although Hashem Himself told Moshe to make the
snake and put it on the pole, merely looking at the snake as a magical amulet
would not work unless you turned your eyes and your heart heavenward. Whatever
challenges we go through, adds Rabbi Ezrachi, we have to turn our hearts and
our entire beings toward Hashem, for what will stop the “snake bite” is our
connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, not the “magic” of a copper snake on a pole.
It is not just in challenges, but in every aspect of our lives that we must
recognize Hashem’s presence, writes the Sifsei Chaim. I should see Him
as I look through the windows of my house, visualize Him before me as I make
every phone call, or when I take any action. Especially when we pray, it is important
not just to understand the words, but to try to connect with our Creator
through those words, writes Rabbi Wolbe z”l.
True
healing occurs only when you find the cause of a disease and uproot it rather
than just treating the symptoms, reminds us Rabbi Rivlin. The same is true of
repairing sins. Since Bnei Yisroel sinned with their mouths, with their speech
and their words, Hashem punished them with the bite from the mouths of the
snakes.
Tamuz
is a month for teshuvah, and it is important to uproot the underlying cause of
our personal idolatry. If you cheat other people in your dealings with them,
for example, the root is your love of money. Doing teshuvah should involve more
than regretting the incident; it should include asking Hashem’s help in eradicating
the love of money, our personal idolatry, from our hearts, writes the Mesillot
Bilvovom.
The
Nesivot Shalom gets at the root of Bnei Yisroel’s sin and its connection
to the snake. He says that in the future, the other animals will ask the snake
why it kills. After all, the snake has everything it needs and doesn’t even
derive pleasure from killing. But the snake doesn’t appreciate everything it
has and always wants more. This was also the problem of Bnei Yisroel at this
point. They also had everything, but they lacked appreciation for what they had
and therefore they were unhappy and looking for something else. This
unreasonable discontent was the root of their problem.
Unfortunately,
there are some people with the same problem. They have everything, but they
still complain. All the reasons they cite for their discontent are probably
just excuses, for they are really unhappy about their relationships, writes
Rabbi Pam z”l. Instead of complaining about what you don’t have, thank Hashem
for all that you do have. Then Hashem will continue to bless you. Cultivate the
relationship with Hashem and look up to Him and thank Him at all times. Our job
is to thank Him and praise Him constantly. We don’t need a symbol on a pole.