From Death To Life - From Tzvi Moshe Kantor

Our Parsha this week – Parshas Chukas – is above time in a major way. Two massive chronological anomalies cannot be ignored. By analyzing the confusing timeline of the last few Parshios (we are going back to Shlach) and how they relate to Chukas, hopefully we will come away with the important message of how to deal situations when we feel that we are down and out.

(The following ideas came out of a conversation with my dear Rav and guide, HaRav Amos Luban Shlit’a)

Let’s present our first problem. The jump from Parshas Shlach to Chukas chronologically spans a whopping thirty-eight years - the entire duration of the nomadic wanderings of the Jews in the desert. What happened in all that blank space? What happened in those thirty-eight years, and why don’t we know about it?

A more microcosmic approach lets us in on another problem. Our Parsha begins with Hashem commanding Moshe about a very specific law of spiritual purity – the Para Aduma, the Red Cow. When raised, killed and burned correctly the ashes of this red cow had the ability to release a person from the grips of Tumas Meis - impurity of death. Tumas Meis is the highest level of spiritual impurity that exists. When one comes in contact with a Jewish corpse, that person contracts Tumas Meis with all of its complications. The only way to remove Tumas Meis is through the ashes of the Para Aduma.

Here’s the problem - Chazal tell us that this law was not just given earlier than Parshas Chukas – it was given to Moshe already in Parshas Beshalach - long ago before the giving of the Torah! Why did Hashem choose to surgically remove the laws of Para Aduma and implant them in our Parsha? The Parsha that contains the most bulk about the journeys in the desert – how are these at all relevant to one another?

Let’s begin our analysis by checking out what goes on before, during and after Parshas Chukas.
Before Parshas Chukas, in Parshas Shlach, after the sin of the spies that is described there, Hashem decrees against the Jewish people that all people of age who saw the miracles of Egypt will die. The nation will wander in the desert until the entire generation dies. Everyone has got to go.

We see this pattern continue in our Parsha as well. In Chukas a ‘large portion’ of Jews die due to a plague of snakes (21:6) . The leadership of the Jewish people comes to an end as well. Both Miriam and Aharon die (20:1 and 20:28 respectively). And on top of that Moshe’s death is decreed (20:12)

Our Parsha comes to a close by stating that the Jewish people reached their final stop. The Jewish people reach the Jordan River. The edge of the Jordan River signifies that the last leg of the journey into Israel was complete. But based on the curse from Parshas Shlach, the arrival at Eretz Yisrael can only mean one thing – Everyone had officially died. Everyone present at the bank of the Jordan was from a new generation.

In short, Chukas is the Parsha of death.

In a few weeks from now we’ll read Parshas Dvarim. Chazal tell us over there that for thirty-eight years prior, Moshe had no conversation with Hashem. There was no direct contact between God and the Jewish people. For as long as the generation of the spies was still around God was just ‘killing’ time (and people) in preparation to enter Eretz Yisrael.

Now we have a better understanding of the significance of Chukas. If Chukas is the real-time accounting of what happened from the curse against the spies’ generation until the arrival at the bank of the Jordan then between the lines of the deaths that take place explicitly is more, mass-death. And there is nothing written about it because God wasn’t talking to Moshe telling him what to write!

Like we said. Chukas is the Parsha of death.

This may begin to explain why Para Aduma shows up in the beginning of Parshas Chukas. HaKadosh Baruch Hu introduces the Parsha of fatality with the solution of how to overcome the shackles of death. Let’s analyze it little more closely.

Perhaps we can suggest the following. What is Para Aduma really all about? In a more day-to-day perspective, what is Tumas Meis? What does it mean to be sealed off due to the impurity of death? (The word tuma is cognate to the word "atum" - sealed). The question needs to be asked, well what is death really?

Va’Atem HaDveikim Ba’Hashem, Chayim Kulchem HaYom - If you’re connected to God you are fully alive. And if I, God forbid, connect to sin? I’m called dead even if I’m alive – dead-man walking - so to speak. Life comes through connecting to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Death is the opposite.

Sometimes when I come in contact with a little ‘death’ – when I have a little slip-up in my Avodas Hashem, a snowball effect stops me from breaking the cycle. A little bit of ‘death’ leads to more and more. It’s the saddest things when my mistakes become bigger than me. When I can’t seem to overpower that which I’ve messed up. This is the way I encounter Tumas Meis in my day-to-day.

What’s the solution to Tumas Meis? Para Aduma. What’s going on with Para Aduma? Para Aduma teaches me the important lesson of getting up from the ashes.

We take this young, red cow and we kill it. We kill it and we burn it. We burn it until it’s mamesh destroyed, there’s nothing left of this poor thing – just ashes. Ashes are the ultimate death. There is seemingly no life to found in ash. The cow while it’s alive can’t help purify. It’s only when we pick up the ashes can we unlock purity again.Purity comes from seeing the greatness that comes out of the ashes.

The Passuk says, “Sheva Yipol Tzadik V’Kam” – ‘The Righteous one falls seven times and get’s up.’ The Passuk here is not just telling us what a righteous person can do –it is giving us the very definition of what it means to be a Tzadik! I’m a Tzadik, I’m close to Hashem, I’m achieving greatness when I learn to get back up – when I learn to rise from the ashes. When I fall, when I come in contact with a little bit of death, and I get up – it is there that I achieve the most greatness.

Parshas Chukas – the Parsha of death itself, the Parsha that shows us consequences of distance from Hashem also contains within it the solution. The biggest growth you will ever have will come from your power to get back up. Even if you feel totally destroyed – you can do it. There is potential for life - even in ashes

“Lev Tahor Bara Li Elokim, V’Ruach Nachon Chadesh B’Kirbi” – David HaMelech says “Hashem, You created me with a pure heart - and renew a refreshed spirit within me.” Wait, if I have a pure heart, why do I need a new, refreshed spirit?

The answer is, that even when I’m down and out – the Jewish soul will forever contain holiness. Sometimes I’m not so in touch with that – and that’s ok, we’re human; we fall. But we have the ability to become refreshed, to re-access the purity inside of us,if only we really believe in ourselves that we can.

B’Ezras Hashem we should all be Zoche to tap into this place inside of us. There is an everlasting purity to the Jewish soul that is never extinguished. It may be covered. It may seem unreachable. But it is those moments that we empower ourselves to stand up that we will achieve the highest heights. If we can do this there is no doubt that we will live lives of happiness and meaning, moving closer to the creator and ultimately the redemption!