CHUKAS, NUMBERS 19:1–22:1, PART 2
In the Parshah at 20:12 we learn that Moshe will not be entering the Promised Land. I think that Moshe, a matchless charismatic leader who led us from slavery and out of Egypt and who truly loved the Bnai Yisrael has lost much of his following. The ten spies exhibited a loss of confidence in him, likewise the Korach rebellion shows the discontent among the Tribes, of the firstborn, of the Reuvenites, of Dathan and Abiram, of the Leviim and in all of the Bnai Yisrael across the board.
Tragically the time for a new leader is approaching.
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At Numbers 21:1 we learn that the Canaanite king of Arad waged war against us. And he took captives. We wanted to fight back, but first we made a vow to Hashem…Hel[p us and whatever cities we capture we will consecrate them to the Lord. Hashem heard our voice and we defeated the King of Arad.
In this instance the Israelites did not have to fight for themselves, something of a new situation. We had to fight the enemy without having a miracle, completely naturally.
Do you think this change advantageous or disadvantageous for the nation?
What we understood was that although victory could not be attained without God’s help, in war we have to fight on our own with natural tools, a test of our independence.
The bottom line is victory can only be achieved if we remember the
source of our strength and success.
The Haftarah portion is from Judges 11:1-33. It is the story of Jephthah, a renown warrior from the land of Gilead which is under attack from the Ammonites. Gilead is east of the Jordan River and is the portion given by Moses to the Tribes of Reuven, Gad and the half Tribe of Manasseh. Gilead had been taken from Sichon and Og.
Jephthah
had been driven out of Gilead by his brothers, 1:3:
וַיִּבְרַח
יִפְתָּח מִפְּנֵי אֶחָיו, וַיֵּשֶׁב בְּאֶרֶץ טוֹב; וַיִּתְלַקְּטוּ אֶל-יִפְתָּח
אֲנָשִׁים רֵיקִים, וַיֵּצְאוּ עִמּוֹ.
“Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and there were gathered to Jephthah men with nothing to lose, and they went out with him”.
If Jephthah and his men will fight against the Ammonites, and will be successful, he will be the leader of the Gileadites...and so it happened.
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MAX’S PARSHAT CHUKAS QUIZ QUESTIONS
Max has come up with a quiz that relates to Parshat Chukas. Attached are his questions. Do your best.
1-WHAT DID THE RITUAL OF PARAH ADUMA INVOLVES?
2-HOW MANY REASONS DID SHLOMO UNDERSTAND FOR
EACH MITZVAH?
3-WHICH TZADIKIM BURNED THE 8-PARAH ADUMAHS TO
DATE?
4-WHO WAS THE ONLY PERSON THAT UNDERSTOOD THE
PARAH ADUMA?
5-WHY WAS THE PARAH ADUMA A FEMALE ANIMAL?
6-WHICH TUMAH DID THE PARA ADUMAH REMOVE?
7-WHY DO DEAD PEOPLE BECOME TAMEI?
8-HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE MOAVIM WERE NOT
HOSPITABLE?
9-HOW MANY AHARONS WALKED IN THE LEVAYA OF
AHARON HAKOHEN?
10-WHY WERE SNAKES SENT TO ATTACK JEWS IN THE
DESERT?
11-WHY IS THE FAMOUS MEDICAL SYMBOL A SNAKE ON A STAFF?
12-HOW MANY DAYS IT TAKES TO PURIFY A TAMEI
PERSON?
13-HOW MANY TIMES DID AMALEK ATTACK THE JEWS
IN THE DESERT?
14-WHEN WERE BOATS USED IN THE DESERT?
15-WHICH MOUNTAINS IN THE DESERT WERE MOT
FLATTENED?
16-WHAT WAS MOSHE SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THE ROCK?
17-WHICH INFAMOUS KINGS WERE EVEN WORSE THAN
PHARAOH?
18-WHY WAS THE TORAH GIVEN IN A DESERT OF ALL
PLACES?
19-WHY DID KING CHIZKIYAHU DESTROY THE COPPER
SNAKE?
20-WHICH "AIRCRAFT"WAS THE BEST
MILITARY WEAPON USED BY JEWS?
21-WHAT HAPPEN TO THE LANDS OF EDOM, AMON,
& MOAV IN FUTURE?
22-WHY IS THE DEATH OF MIRIAM JUXTAPOSED TO
THE RED COW?
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ASSIMILATION: A CONSEQUENCE OF EXILE
This we began the month of Tammuz, a month named for a Babylonian deity. It is an example of how assimilated we became
when we were exiled to Babylon in the 6th century BCE.
Psalm 137 tells of our profound sadness and longing
for Jerusalem at that time.
I
like Boney M's rendition:
Tammuz is the god of the harvest; he was loved by the goddess Ishtar. She was known as the goddess of prostitutes, and her alternate names of Har and Hora gave rise to the terms “harlot” and “whore”.
Tammuz was killed by a boar. Ishtar was devastated by his death. When Tammuz died, all vegetation died. Humans animals would no longer mate, and the Earth, herself, was dying. Ishtar journeys to the netherworld and revives Tammuz saying: "Great Tammuz is reborn, the fruits of the Earth are ours once more. Bring them forth, let us enjoy them!"
You can see the inroads of assimilation in our texts at least as far back as the prophet Ezekiel. In the Book of Ezekiel at 8:14 consider this verse:
וַיָּבֵא אֹתִי, אֶל-פֶּתַח שַׁעַר בֵּית-יְהוָה, אֲשֶׁר, אֶל-הַצָּפוֹנָה;
וְהִנֵּה-שָׁם הַנָּשִׁים יֹשְׁבוֹת, מְבַכּוֹת אֶת-הַתַּמּוּז
Then He brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz."
At that time
Jewish women were ceremoniously mourning for the pagan god Tammuz..shame on us.
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MAX’S PARSHAT C HUKAS QUIZ
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Max has come up with a quiz that relates to
this week's Parshah. Attached are his
questions and answers. How did you do?
Maybe you have to study more; I do.
> 1-WHAT DID THE RITUAL OF PARAH ADUMA
INVOLVES?
IT INVOLVES THE USE OF CEDARWOOD, HYSSOP, AND
THE THREAD
OF DYED RED WITH THE BLOOD OF A WORM
> 2-HOW MANY REASONS DID SHLOMO UNDERSTAND
FOR EACH MITZVAH?
HE FATHOMED 3,000 REASONS AND 1,005
EXPLANATIONS FOR
EACH MITZVAH BUT COULD NOT EXPLAIN THE RED COW
> 3-WHICH TZADIKIM BURNED THE 8-PARAH
ADUMAHS TO DATE?
MOSHE RABBEINU , EZRA HASOFER, SHIMON
HATZADIK, YOCHANAN
KOHEN GADOL, ELIYAHU-EIRY BEN KUF, CHANANEL
HAMITRI
AND YISHMAEL BEN PEYANI
> 4-WHO WAS THE ONLY PERSON THAT UNDERSTOOD
THE PARAH ADUMA?
ONLY MOSHE RABBEINU UNDERSTOOD ITS SECRETS
> 5-WHY WAS THE PARAH ADUMA A FEMALE
ANIMAL?
LET THE "MOTHER COW"PARAH ADUMAH
COME AND CLEAN UP AFTER
HER SON (THE GOLDEN CALF)
> 6-WHICH TUMAH DID THE PARA ADUMAH REMOVE?
ONLY CLEANSED THE IMPURITY FROM CONTACT WITH A
DEAD PERSON
> 7-WHY DO DEAD PEOPLE BECOME TAMEI?
DEAD PERSON LOSES THE POTENTIAL FOR HOLINESS,
TUMAH SETS IN
> 8-HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE MOAVIM WERE NOT
HOSPITABLE?
JUST AS LOT'S WIFE, IRIS, WAS VERY SELFISH AND
NOT HOSPITABLE
SO WERE HER DESCENDANTS
> 9-HOW MANY AHARONS WALKED IN THE LEVAYA
OF AHARON HAKOHEN
80,000 BOYS NAMED AHARON, NAMED AFTER AHARON
HAKOHEN
"THE PEACEMAKER " ATTENDED THE
LEVAYA
> 10-WHY WERE SNAKES SENT TO ATTACK JEWS IN
THE DESERT?
BECAUSE THEY INSULTED THE MANN
> 11-WHY IS THE FAMOUS MEDICAL SYMBOL A SNAKE ON A STAFF?
MOSHE FASHIONED THE COPPER SNAKE ON A STAFF AS
PART OF THE CURE
> 12-HOW MANY DAYS IT TAKES TO PURIFY A
TAMEI PERSON?
IT TAKES SEVEN DAYS TO BECOME TAHOR
> 13-HOW MANY TIMES DID AMALEK ATTACK THE
JEWS IN THE DESERT?
AMALEK ATTACKED BNEI YISROEL THREE TIMES IN
THE DESERT
> 14-WHEN WERE BOATS USED IN THE DESERT?
MIRIAM'S WELL FLOWED HUGE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT
MADE LARGE
POOLS AROUND EACH TRIBE, THAT REQUIRED BOAT TO
CROSS OVER
> 15-WHICH MOUNTAINS IN THE DESERT WERE MOT
FLATTENED?
HAR SINAI, HAR HAHOR , AND HAR NEVO
> 16-WHAT WAS MOSHE SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THE
ROCK?
TO SAY THE SHEM HAMEFORESH
> 17-WHICH INFAMOUS KINGS WERE EVEN WORSE
THAN PHARAOH?
KING SICHON AND KING OG
> 18-WHY WAS THE TORAH GIVEN IN A DESERT OF
ALL PLACES?
DESERT DOES NOT BELONG TO ANYONE, EVERYONE CAN
FEEL
THAT IT IS FREE FOR ALL TO GRAB
> 19-WHY DID KING CHIZKIYAHU DESTROY THE
COPPER SNAKE?
IT WAS DESTROYED SO THAT NO ONE CAN MAKE IT AN
AVODAH ZARAH
> 20-WHICH "AIRCRAFT"WAS THE BEST
MILITARY WEAPON USED BY JEWS?
THE ARON KODESH FLEW BEFORE BNEI YISROEL AND
CLEANED
AWAY ANY DANGER
> 21-WHAT HAPPEN TO THE LANDS OF EDOM,
AMON, & MOAV IN FUTURE?
LAND OF ISRAEL WILL BE ENLARGED TO INCLUDE ALL
THREE
> 22-WHY IS THE DEATH OF MIRIAM JUXTAPOSED
TO THE RED COW?
TO TEACH US THAT OFFERINGS AS WELL AS THE
DEATH OF THE
RIGHTEOUS BRING ATONEMENT TO THE NATION
