The meaning of the name of today’s Sidra is LAW. Our Rabbis interpreted the Hebrew concept of Chok to refer to a law whose reason has not been revealed to us. The Sidra begins with the law of the Red Heifer, which has always been regarded as mysterious. It simply very difficult to understand why the purification process requires the sprinkling of water mixed with the ashes of a perfectly Red Heifer. Why does this mixture have this kind of power? It seems like magic. Yet, we observe this law because we wish to obey God. Nowadays, we find that many of the laws of the Torah are perplexing in terms of understanding the reasons for them. For example: Why are we not allowed to wear a garment which contains flax and wool sewn together? Or, why is it forbidden to eat milk together with meat? These laws are probably connected with ancient Canaanite idolatrous practices, which the Torah regards as abominable, and from which Hashem wanted to wean us away. Nowadays, the Canaanites do not exist and these practices have disappeared. We can also find symbolic or ethical meanings for them, which may have some relevance to us. However, ultimately, finding reasons for keeping these laws is speculative and we observe them as a mark of our obedience to the divine decree.
Our ancient rabbis discovered beautiful symbolic meanings in every aspect of the ritual of the Red Heifer. Rashi mentions them, in his commentary, in the name of the great mediaeval preacher, Rabbi Moshe, the Darshan who interprets the entire Mitzvah of the Red Heifer as an act of purification for the great sin of the Golden Calf. In the Bible the colour red symbolises sin. The Heifer represents the mother of the calf, which is expected to be the atonement for her child who caused so much disgrace. The Red Heifer was burnt to remind us of the burning of the Golden Calf, by Moses, when he came down from the mountain and returned to the Israelites Camp. The Israelites were instructed to preserve the ashes of the Red Heifer with great care. This serves as a reminder of God’s warning that the sin of the Golden Calf would be remembered for all times. Finally, just as the Golden Calf caused the whole of the Israelite nation to become impure, so the Red Heifer caused everyone who prepared it to become impure. By contrast, its ashes purify the individual in the same way that Moses purified the nation with the ashes of the Golden Calf, after he had burnt it.
Chapter 20 returns to the narrative of the journey in the desert. It begins by telling us that Miriam died in Kadesh, where the Israelites stayed for 39 years after God’s decree that the generation that had left Egypt would not enter the land of Israel. Miriam died in the 40th year, on the 10th day of the first month, Nissan.
The report of Miriam’s death follows naturally from the law of the Red Heifer which deals with the impurity of death. Some explain that death itself is a Chok, like the Law of Red Heifer. The hardest experience in life is death. It is totally incomprehensible to us. The Talmud teaches that there were two sages, Rabbah and Rav Chisda. Both of them were extremely righteous. One of them lived until the age of 92, was wealthy and lived to see 60 weddings of his offspring; the other lived until the age of 40, was poor and saw the funerals of 60 members of his family. We don’t know the reason why their lives were so different. Only the Almighty knows. It is our task to have faith and trust in Him.
The Sidra moves on to one of the most famous, but enigmatic stories of the whole Torah; Moses’ and Aaron’s sin. The people complained about the lack of water. As a result, Moses and Aaron were extremely upset, distanced themselves from the people and stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They fell on their faces and prayed. At that point, the glory of the Lord appeared before them, in a form of a cloud, so that He could address them and give them instructions as to what they should do. The instructions were clear. Moses was told to take the staff, which was placed in the Tabernacle, hold it in his hand and speak to the rock in the presence of the entire nation, in order that it should yield its water. It is interesting to note that Moses was not told what to say to the rock, which may have been one of the reasons for his confusion. It is clear, that, by the time Moses came back to the people, he was angry and called the people ‘rebels’. He said: “Do you really think that we can produce water from this rock?” In other words, ‘you are complaining against us because you don’t have any water, but what do you think we can do about it? You know that rocks cannot produce water”. According Maimonides, Moses sin was that he became angry. A prophet has the unfailing duty to communicate God’s message and reflect His mood. Since God was not angry, Moses had no right to become angry. Rashi says that Moses’ sin was that he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. This, also, demonstrated his fury at the people.
Some commentators are puzzled as to why Aaron was punished for this sin, since nothing is mentioned about his contributions to these events. The answer seems to be that he was with Moses all the time and acted as his spokesman.
The Almighty’s response was swift and uncompromising. Moses and Aaron were accused of failing to show faith in God and of sanctifying him in the eyes of the nation. Moses and Aaron were both punished. They were not allowed to lead the Israelites into the Promise Land. The place became known as the Waters of Contention. The passage of this dramatic story concludes with the brief sentence: Vayikkadesh Bam, which means that, despite the grave sin, God’s name was sanctified through the waters which flowed out of the rock, so miraculously.