Parasha Jukat - David Hannaia Pinto

 Parasha Jukat

The Study of Torah Purifies Man

Our parsha discusses the impurity resulting from contact with a corpse, and how it can be rectified. When we think about it, this mitzvah leads to many restrictions. A person who became impure through contact with a corpse should separate himself from people who are not impure, lest he render them impure by touch. He should also not touch utensils or objects that are not impure, lest he render them impure as well. If someone were to extend his hand to greet him, he would have to say: “So as not to become impure, don’t touch me.”

Several questions arise when we think about this mitzvah, questions that we will now examine. Why does the Torah decree that a person becomes impure upon touching a dead body, since there is a mitzvah to care for a corpse and bury it? If impurity is decreed on someone who cares for a corpse, it may lead him to avoid this responsibility, for he may not want to isolate himself from people and things for seven days.

We may also ask why it is precisely the ashes of the red heifer that purify a person. That being said, since we no longer have these ashes today, and since we are constantly in a state of impurity due to contact with the dead (despite all the tevilot and netilat yadayim), we remain impure. Therefore how can we become holy in our time? We also have to understand why the Sages said, “Even as the red heifer procured atonement, so does the death of the tzaddikim procure atonement” (Moed Katan 28a). What connection is there between the atonement procured by the ashes of the red heifer and the death of the tzaddikim? We shall try to explain everything as best we can.

When Hashem created the first man, He created him in a state of perfection and with great wisdom. He put everything in the mind of the first man, to the point that he understood all the secrets of Creation and gave each creature a name whose root reflected its essence. He also gave a Name to the Holy One, blessed be He. The first man was called Adam, for he was taken from the earth (adama), and he was wise enough to name Chaya, the mother of all the living (Genesis 3:20).

Furthermore, the tzaddik and kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Petaya Zatzal stated that the first man was a great sage, for he was wise enough to understand what death was, even though nothing had yet died. When Hashem told him that he would die if he ate from the Tree of Knowledge, how could he have been afraid of death if he didn’t understand what it meant? This signifies that in his immense wisdom, Adam knew enough to fear death, even before understanding its exact nature. Thus Hashem placed him in the Garden of Eden to work and keep it (Genesis 2:15), and He commanded him not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. In fact Hashem wanted man to use the great wisdom that He endowed him with, not to seek answers from the Tree of Knowledge. It was not meant to make him wise, for Hashem did not want him to possess that kind of wisdom. Therefore He prohibited him from partaking of it. However the man did not stop there, and he brought death and disaster upon humanity. What happened to the first man also contains a lesson for every Jew today: The Holy One, blessed be He, gave us His Torah (the written Torah and the oral Torah), and the Sages prohibited us from studying the wisdom of the Greeks and other philosophies (Yalkut Shimoni, Mishlei 937), for we must content ourselves with the wisdom of the Torah, which contains everything and all means to perfection, as it is written: “The Torah of the L-RD is perfect” (Psalms 19:8).

Since we have reached this point, we shall explain the meaning of the ashes of the red heifer. This week’s parsha begins with the declaration, “This is the decree of the Torah” (Numbers 19:2), an allusion to the fact that a person must cleave solely to the decrees of the Torah, not to other kinds of wisdom, for in this way he will form a bond with Hashem. This is also what the parsha alludes to further on: “When a man dies in a tent” (v.14), concerning which the Sages have said: “Words of Torah are firmly held by one who kills himself for it” (Berachot 63b). This refers to the tent of Torah, meaning that a person must give himself entirely to the wisdom of Torah, not to try and have it both ways by absorbing, in addition to the Torah, foreign wisdom. Our entire focus should be on the holy Torah, as it is written: “Go over it again and again, for everything is in it” (Perkei Avoth 5:22).

As for the ashes of the red heifer, which procure atonement, this tells us by allusion that in sanctifying and purifying ourselves, we become as pure and upright as the first man before the sin. The Holy One, blessed be He, created him from dust, which is also called ash, as it is written: “They shall take for the unclean person some of the ash” (Numbers 19:17). Similarly, the word adam (“man”) is formed from the initials of efer (“ash”), dam (“blood”), and mara (“gall”), as the Sages have said (Sotah 5a). This teaches us that the degree to which a person fulfills all the laws related to the impurity of the dead and to his purification – without arguing over the mitzvah – is the degree to which he is purified.

Yet today, when we no longer have the ashes of the red heifer, we still have a way to purify body and soul, namely through the study of Torah. This is because the Torah cannot contract impurity, as the Sages have said: “Words of Torah are not susceptible to impurity” (Berachot 22a). On the contrary, the Torah elevates a person from the level of liability to the level of gain. As the Sages have said, “Why are ‘tents’ mentioned alongside of ‘streams,’ as it states: ‘[How goodly are your tents, O Jacob…] as streams stretched out, as gardens by the river side, as aloes planted…’ [Numbers 24:5-6]? To tell you that just as streams bring a man up from a state of uncleanness to one of cleanness, so do tents bring a man up from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit” (Berachot 15a-16b). Rashi explains that tents refer to houses of study.

From here we learn that the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that both Temples would be destroyed and that there would be neither altar, nor priest, nor ashes of the red heifer. Hence at the beginning of the parsha He states, “This is the decree of the Torah.” Actually, if a person has strayed by going off to study other wisdom, he can rectify this situation by abandoning that wisdom and devoting himself solely to the study of Torah. Conversely, if he neglects the study of Torah, he will eventually stumble and become impure by a corpse. In other words, when he demonstrates a weakness in Torah study, it will lead to impurity. His purification consists of putting an effort into studying Torah and performing mitzvot, by the ashes of the red heifer, so he can return to the state of a newborn baby.

The Song of the Well: Wells that the Princes Dug

It is written, “Then Israel sang this song: Come up, O well, announce it…” (Bamidbar 21:17). The commentators ask why Moshe’s name is not mentioned in this song. They also ask why the Children of Israel sang a song for the well, but not for the manna or the clouds of glory. We should also be surprised by the fact that they felt the need to sing about a well after 40 years had passed, as they were about to enter Eretz Israel, since they knew that it would dry up as soon as they entered the land, where they would have bread and water.

In fact why did the Children of Israel not sing this song at the very beginning, when they merited such things? All these things were outside the laws of nature, for the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them food and water in a place of serpents and scorpions.

There is something else that we need to understand. In the book of Devarim, we do not see Moshe mentioning the song of the sea, whereas he mentioned the Ten Commandments as well as other things that happened to the Children of Israel. For example, he mentioned the subject of the spies and Korach, but not the sea and the miracles that happened there, nor did he mention the song of the sea. We do not see that Moshe mentioned any of these subjects.

The Song of the Well Came Through Effort

I would like to explain why Moshe avoided singing the song of the well with the Children of Israel at the end of their 40-year journey in the desert. He avoided singing this song, despite having sung the song of the sea with them, as it is written: “Then Moshe and the Children of Israel sang” (Shemot 15:1). Our Sages have said (Shemot Rabba 23:9) that when the Children of Israel left Egypt and were standing by the sea, Moshe wanted to teach them the ways of Hashem. He wanted to constantly thank the Holy One, blessed be He, for the miracles that He had performed for them, which is why he began to sing the song of the sea, and the Children of Israel repeated it after him. They did not put an effort into singing it, but simply repeated after Moshe. Furthermore, they were all influenced by the Holy Spirit that rested on Moshe. Since Moshe had taught them this song as soon as they left Egypt, he does not begin to sing it here, for he wanted the Children of Israel to put an effort into it. Henceforth, they should be the ones who spontaneously start to sing, for a song that we do not put an effort into cannot be compared to a song in which we do. The former is merited through others, instead of being merited by ourselves.

The Patriarchs are Called “Princes”

Be that as it may, although Moshe did not begin the song of the well, all the Children of Israel knew that they had reached a level of prophesy – a level that allowed them to sing the song of the well – only by the power of Moshe. They could only sing now because Moshe had sung for them at the sea and started that song for them, as it is written: “Then Moshe sang.” In this way, the Children of Israel had merited for the Holy Spirit to rest upon them by the well, and they began singing on their own, as it is written: “Then Israel sang this song.” What did they say? “Wells that the princes dug.” Our Sages say (Tanchuma, Chukat 21) that this refers to the merit of the Patriarchs, who are called “princes,” thereby teaching us that they attributed the song to the merit of the Patriarchs and the merit of Moshe, as it is written: “ ‘When you have rested upon the lawgiver’ – the lawgiver is Moshe” (Zohar Chadash, Chukat 83a).

This is why the Children of Israel only sang the song of the well after 40 years, for “it may take a person 40 years to know the mind of his teacher” (Avodah Zarah 5b). Since 40 years had passed, the Children of Israel recognized that they only merited all these miracles because of Moshe, and they could only sing this song by his strength. Just as he had taught them to sing and express their gratitude for they miracle of the sea, they again sang after 40 years out of gratitude for the miracle of the sea and the well.

Prophesying Without Knowing Why

Here we should ask: Was the well dug by men? They had a stone, not a hole in the ground! Therefore what is the meaning of, “Wells that the princes dug”?

By saying this, the Children of Israel were alluding to the fact that they only merited prophesy because of Moshe, who had taught them to put an effort into attaining it. Now Moshe had already dug and prepared the well. When did he do this? At the time when the Children of Israel encountered their first well, near the sea.

Why did Moshe not mention the song of the sea in the book of Devarim? It is because the song contains the statement, “You will bring them in and implant them on the mount of Your heritage” (Shemot 15:17). Now since there was a decree preventing Moshe from entering Eretz Israel, he was afraid that the Children of Israel would lose hope by thinking, “Just as Moshe did not enter the land, how much more will we not enter it?” Hence he did not repeat this verse, in order not to disturb them.

In reality, no falsehood escaped Moshe’s lips, as the Gemara states: “It is not written, ‘You will bring us in,’ but ‘You will bring them in.’ This teaches that they prophesied, but did not know what they prophesied” (Bava Batra 119b).

Nevertheless, Moshe gave them this song as an allusion, using enigmatic language. He said, “I implored Hashem at that time, saying…” (Devarim 3:23). We need to understand this, for nowhere do we find that Moshe implored Hashem at that point in time. In fact he wanted to say the same thing as in the song of the sea: “You will bring them in and implant them.” Since there was a decree preventing Moshe from entering Eretz Israel, G-d said to him: “Enough! Speak to Me no more of this” (Devarim 3:26). Hence in order not to disobey the Holy One, blessed be He, Moshe did not repeat this song. He only mentioned it by allusion, for the term va’etchanan (“I implored”) has the same numerical value as shira (“song”), because in the song of the sea Moshe implored Hashem to let him enter Eretz Israel.

This is the Decree of Those Who Study Torah

The Midrash has King Solomon saying, “I studied the passage on the red heifer. I asked questions, I reflected, and I said: ‘I will be wise,’ but it was far from me [Kohelet 7:23]” (Tanchuma, Chukat 6). The Midrash also says, “It is not the dead that defiles, nor water that purifies. The Holy One, blessed be He, merely says: ‘I have laid down a decree, I have issued a law. You are not allowed to transgress My law,’ as it is written: ‘This is the decree of the Torah’ [Bamidbar 19:2]” (Bamidbar Rabba 19:8).

It is also written, “From where do we learn that words of Torah are firmly held by one who kills himself for them? Because it says, ‘This is the Torah, when a man dies in a tent’ [Bamidbar 19:14]” (Berachot 63b). Now can a dead man study Torah? This teaches us that a man must feel as if dead when learning Torah. Just as the dead do not perceive the sweetness of honey or the taste of salt, one must study Torah and fulfill mitzvot without any thought of a reward. He must also do so without any ulterior motives, and without calculating which reward will be greater or less. A person must not be content on just fulfilling the mitzvot whose reasons he understands; he must also fulfill those whose reasons he does not understand, for we fulfill them only to bring satisfaction to the Creator.

What is the reward of one who acts in this way? The Holy One, blessed be He, does good for him even if he is not worthy of it! Although the attribute of strict justice says before Him: “Sovereign of the universe, why have You given him wealth, since he does not deserve it?” He answers: I have written in My Torah, “According to its measure, He contended against her” (Isaiah 27:8), teaching us that in the measure with which a man measures, it is meted out to him (Sotah 8b). In the same way that he does what I have decided for him, although he gains nothing from it, I too will do for him what he asks of Me, although there is nothing to gain from it and although it is not just. This is the sense of the verse, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy” (Shemot 33:19), concerning which our Sages have said: “He may not deserve it” (Berachot 7a).

No Right to Grow Proud

Why is it said that the Torah only endures with one who kills himself for it? Just as the dead do not grow proud, one who wants to conserve what he has learned has no right to grow proud. The Sages have said, “Why are words of Torah likened to water…? This is to teach you that just as water flows from a higher to lower level, likewise words of Torah endure only with one who is humble” (Taanith 7a).

Whoever is humble fulfills each mitzvah even if he does not understand the reason for it. However one who is arrogant only acts when he understands the reason, which is why his Torah learning will not endure. Now King Solomon was very humble despite being very wise, as it is written: “G-d gave wisdom and considerable understanding to Solomon, and breadth of heart as the sand on the seashore” (I Kings 5:9). The Sages have explained that the wisdom of King Solomon was as great as that of all Israel, and he knew the reason behind every mitzvah (Tanchuma, Chukat 6). Yet when he came to the mitzvah of the red heifer, he did not understand the reason for it, and he annulled himself before the sanctity of the Torah and declared: “I said: ‘I will be wise,’ but it was far from me.” In other words: “I thought that I would be able to understand the reasons for the mitzvot, but since I do not understand the reason for this one, it means that I am far from understanding the Torah and I have not yet understood its deep mysteries. Even the mitzvot whose reasons I thought I understood, these are clearly not their true reasons, the proof being that I have not been able to understand the reason for this one.”

An arrogant person, however, will not annul himself before the Torah. He will say: “Since I don’t understand the reason for this mitzvah, it certainly does not contain anything true, and it is impossible to perform.” It is in this sense that the Sages say that Torah only endures with someone who renders himself as if dead for it, meaning with someone who does not grow proud, but instead annuls himself before it. As for an arrogant person, he says of all the mitzvot: “They don’t please me and I do not fulfill them.” Hence the Torah will not endure in him.

Misinterpreting Torah

Furthermore, from the fact that a person fulfills all the mitzvot, he thereby demonstrates that everything he does is for the sake of Heaven. In fact if it were otherwise, he would only perform those mitzvot whose reasons he understood. Yet since he does them for the sake of Heaven, his heart immediately inclines before Hashem, Who commanded him to do certain things.

Rabbeinu Yona wrote, “What misinterpreting Torah refers to is being audacious enough to say things about the Torah that are not true. He says things such as, ‘These verses and stories in the Torah serve no purpose,’ simply because he is arrogant and proud, and he cannot interpret the point being made, and because ‘it is not an empty thing for you’ [Devarim 32:47]. Here our Sages have said: ‘If it is empty, it is from you’ [Yerushalmi, Ketubot 8:11], in that you cannot explain the point being made. The same holds true if you abandon one aspect of Torah and do not acknowledge it. You would be misinterpreting Torah in that case as well. An example would be if you say, ‘What good does it do us to have Torah scholars? For if they learn anything at all, they learn it all for themselves, and we gain nothing from the merit they amass.’ You would thus be rejecting the declaration in the Torah that ‘[G-d] will spare the entire place for their sake’ [Bereshith 18:26]” (Shaarei Teshuvah 3:145).

Who Knows the Reward for Performing Mitzvot?

It is written, “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Do not fear him, for into your hand have I given him, his entire people, and his land. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelled in Heshbon’ ” (Bamidbar 21:34). The Gemara states that Moshe thought, “Perhaps the merit of our father Abraham will support him,” for it is said: “There came one who escaped, and he told Abram the Hebrew” (Bereshith 14:13). Here Rabbi Yochanan said, “This refers to Og, who escaped the fate of the generation of the flood” (Niddah 61a). Hence Moshe was afraid of fighting against him, until finally Hashem said: “You shall do to him as you did to Sihon.”

We must examine this carefully, and even be surprised by it. Og the king of Bashan was an evildoer, and he wanted to wipe out the entire camp of Israel with a single blow. He went out to fight them, as our Sages say in the Gemara: “He went and uprooted a mountain the size of three parasangs [roughly eight miles] and carried it on his head” (Berachot 54b), his goal being to throw it upon the camp of Israel and bury them under it. Thus Og despised the Children of Israel and wanted to wipe them out. He only did a favor for Abraham because he knew that Hashem would reward him for it. Furthermore, his intentions were selfish, for he hoped that Abraham would die in this war so that he could marry Sarah. Therefore why did Moshe fear that Abraham’s merit would support Og? Can we possibly imagine that the Patriarch’s merit would enable his descendants to be wiped out? If Og, who had done only a small thing, possessed a certain degree of merit, then certainly the Children of Israel, who followed in the footsteps of their fathers, would benefit that much more from his merit and be saved from this evildoer!

Furthermore, Og saw what G-d had done for the Children of Israel. He heard about the splitting of the sea and the war with Amalek, and although he had grown corrupt through his evil ways and wanted to kill the Children of Israel, was it possible that Abraham’s merit would help him to wipe out all the Children of Israel?

We are forced to say that Moshe knew that Abraham’s merit would not protect Og to such a degree that he could wipe out the Children of Israel. Moshe knew that the merit of Israel was greater than that of the single mitzvah performed by Og. Yet because Og had told Abraham that Lot was a prisoner, Abraham immediately went out to fight against kings until Lot was freed, and in the end Ruth and Naamah emerged from him. These two beautiful doves arose to save Israel, and they gave rise to King David and Mashiach, the saviors of Israel. That was the merit which Moshe feared.

G-d did not prevent Moshe from fighting against Ammon and Moab because of this, as our Sages have said: “Two doves have I to bring forth from them: Ruth the Moabite and Naamah the Ammonite” (Bava Kama 38b). Along the same lines, Moshe feared that because Og now possessed the merit of having saved Lot – for those doves could not arise without him, given that he was instrumental in saving their ancestor Lot – Og could perhaps benefit from this merit.

The Reward is Reserved for the World to Come

From all this, we learn that it is possible to perform a single mitzvah whose merit lasts for numerous generations. There is no one who knows the reward for performing mitzvot, for we can perform a single, easy mitzvah and receive a great reward. For example, Og the king of Bashan simply went to tell Abraham that Lot had been taken captive, and the merit of this mitzvah protected him to such a degree that Moshe Rabbeinu feared him.

Along the same lines, Ishmael fathered twelve tribes and was given a portion in Eretz Israel solely by the merit of performing a single mitzvah, namely circumcision. Thus we read, “As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I have blessed him, will make him fruitful, and will increase him most exceedingly. He will beget twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation” (Bereshith 17:20). The holy Zohar states, “[The Holy One] banished the children of Ishmael…and gave them a portion here below in the Holy Land because of their circumcision. They are destined to rule over the land for a long time, so long as it is empty, just as their form of circumcision is empty and imperfect. They will prevent Israel from returning to their own land until the merit of the children of Ishmael will be exhausted” (Zohar II:32a).

The son of David will only come once the merit of Ishmael’s children will be exhausted, as the Aggadah states on the verse, “He fell in the presence of all his brothers” (Bereshith 25:18): “In one place it says, ‘He fell,’ but in another place it says, ‘He shall dwell in the presence of all his brothers’ [Bereshith 16:12]. As long as he does not put his hand on the Temple, he shall dwell. But as soon as he puts his hand on the Temple, he shall fall” (Midrash HaGadol). The descendants of Ishmael are destined to fall at the end of days, when the glory of Israel will arise.

G-d fully realizes that the children of Ishmael will harm Israel in the future, as it is written: “Why is he called Ishmael? Because in the future G-d will listen [yishma] to the cry of the [Jewish] nation for what the children of Ishmael will do” (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer 32). On the verse, “As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him” (Bereshith 17:20), the Midrash also says: “Know that he will father twelve tribal leaders. They will all be kings, and the last among the twelve will be Hagar. He will enact evil decrees against the people, and will reign for a short time. His kingdom will be strengthened at the end, and I will make of him a great people” (Yilamdeinu, Bereshith 79).

We may logically infer the following: If these evildoers received their reward in this world for a single mitzvah – one which they did not fulfill perfectly – then how much more will Hashem reward the Jewish people, to whom He has given 613 mitzvot which they fulfill with all their heart! The reward for the former is given in this world, whereas the reward for the latter is reserved for the World to Come, as it is written: “No eye has seen, O G-d, except You” (Isaiah 64:3).

The Mitzvah of the Red Heifer Leads to Complete Teshuvah

It is written, “This is the decree of the Torah, which Hashem commanded, saying: ‘…they shall take for you a completely red heifer…. Someone shall burn the heifer before his eyes…. The one who burns it shall immerse his clothing. … This is the Torah: A man who dies in a tent, anything that enters the tent and anything that is in the tent shall be impure for seven days. … Anyone who touches a human bone or a grave shall be impure for seven days’ ” (Bamidbar 19:2-16).

We need to think about this mitzvah. What does it all allude to? What does it actually mean? Why a heifer, why red, why burn it, and why sprinkle its ashes upon one who is impure? We need to explain why the Torah decreed that whoever touches a dead body is impure for seven days, and then afterwards, in order to be purified, the ashes of the red heifer must be sprinkled on him. We also need to explain why the person who burns the heifer, and the person who purifies the impure, become impure themselves.

We may recall that the Sages have said, “If a man sees that painful sufferings come upon him, let him examine his conduct. … If he examines it and finds nothing, let him attribute this to a neglect in the study of Torah” (Berachot 5a). In the time of the Temple, since the Torah decreed that anyone who touches a corpse would be impure, people would reflect upon their behavior whenever this happened: “Why did this happen to me? What sin did I commit, such that the Holy One, blessed be He, has shown me that I’ve become impure, since we have been ordered to be holy and pure [Vayikra 19:2]?” People were obligated to tell themselves that they committed a sin and that G-d wanted to open their eyes in order to repent. In fact people would search their souls, discover their sins, and completely repent.

Teshuvah must truly be complete, for semi-repentance is not teshuvah. Since many people fail in this regard by doing teshuvah that is incomplete, the Torah says that we must burn the red heifer and sprinkle its ashes on a person who is impure, thus hinting to him that from dust he comes, and to dust he shall return. As such, he will do complete teshuvah. The Sages have advised us to recall the day of death (Berachot 5a), which is a good way to protect ourselves from the evil inclination.

In regards to the red heifer, we may say that the term parah (“heifer”) is formed by the same letters as rapheh (“weak”), meaning that if someone has become impure, the underlying reason is that his study of Torah has weakened. On the verse, “Amalek came and battle Israel in Rephidim” (Shemot 17:8), the Sages say that the Children of Israel had become weak (raphu yedeichem) in the study of Torah (Tanchuma, Beshalach 25). The term adumah (“red”) evokes the word din (“justice”), meaning that one who weakens in the study of Torah draws the attribute of justice upon himself, and one who has become impure must realize that an accusation has been raised against him because he weakened in the study of Torah.

As the Sages have said, “If a man sees that painful sufferings visit him, let him examine his conduct. … If he examines it and finds nothing, let him attribute it to a neglect in the study of Torah.” When circumstances are such that a person becomes impure, he must reflect upon his actions and determine what sin caused it. If he reflects and find nothing objectionable, he should attribute it to a weakening in the study of Torah. He has certainly grown weak and drawn the attribute of justice to himself, which is the red heifer – rapheh din. Ashes from the heifer are sprinkled upon him, which will make him think of the day of death, and he will do complete teshuvah before Hashem.

As for the fact that the kohen who burns the heifer becomes impure, we have explained this concept at length elsewhere. It happens because the Torah has deeply probed the thoughts of the kohen who burns the heifer: This act is liable to make him grow proud, for among all the kohanim, he alone was chosen to burn the heifer that purifies the impure. In order to remove this pride from his heart, since pride ruins and destroys all that is good, the Torah has decreed that he becomes impure, such that he cannot boast on the inside.

Now that we have explained all this, it seems that we can understand the secret of the red heifer. However the Torah has said, “This is the chukat [decree] of the Torah” (Bamidbar 19:2) – “I have decreed it. You have no right to challenge it” (Tanchuma, Chukat 7), meaning that no one knows the real secret of the red heifer. All we have pointed out up to now are nothing but small allusions.

Midrash Pliyah also asks how Korach could have contested Moshe’s leadership. Korach saw the red heifer, and he knew some of its secrets. In fact this is what he is criticized for. He was aware of some of the allusions contained in the mitzvah of the red heifer, which hints to a person that he should do complete teshuvah and reminds him of the day of death, as well as the fact that he draws the attribute of justice upon himself because he has weakened in the study of Torah. Furthermore, the kohen who burns the heifer becomes impure so as to prevent him from growing proud. Although Korach saw all this, he still did not repent or forgo his pride.

This serves as a lesson to us as well, for due to our numerous sins, we see people who are struck by misfortunes and do not search their souls. We also see people who speak during prayer, which is forbidden (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 124:7), and who speak Lashon Harah despite the fact that the Torah says: “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people” (Vayikra 19:16). Yet instead of drawing a lesson from all this and not saying forbidden things, they continue to sin.

Why does this happen to them? Because of pride. They know that such things are forbidden, and yet their pride does not allow them to search their souls and repent. Indeed, they think that they haven’t sinned at all. We must therefore be very careful in this regard and repent, and we must especially distance ourselves from pride and yield to Hashem.

The Influence of the Street

It is written, “Moshe sent emissaries from Kadesh to the king of Edom. … ‘Let us pass through your land’ ” (Bamidbar 20:14-17).

Why did Moshe want the Children of Israel to pass through the territory of Esav? This decision obligated him to ask for a favor from its inhabitants by declaring: “So said your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that has befallen us” so they would allow Israel to pass through their land. Yet were there no other routes they could take? Furthermore, why was Moshe not afraid of the inevitable and destructive consequences of making an agreement with Esav? In fact by passing through his territory and dwelling there, the Children of Israel might imitate the bad behavior and corrupt lifestyle of their neighbors! Is it possible that Moshe overlooked this? Nevertheless, and despite incessant and repetitive requests, the king of Edom refused to let the Children of Israel pass through his territory. He even threatened them with war by stating, “You shall not pass through me – lest I come against you with the sword” (v.18). Here Rashi comments, “[Edom said:] You pride yourselves with the ‘voice’ that your father bequeathed you, and you declare: ‘We cried out to Hashem and He heard our voice’ [v.16]. But we will go out against you with what my father bequeathed me: ‘You shall live by the sword’ [Bereshith 27:40].” Yet Moshe repeated his request: “We shall go up on the highway, and if we drink your water – I or my flock – I shall pay their price” (v.19). Rashi adds (v.17): “Moshe said, ‘Though we have manna to eat and a well from which to drink, we will not drink from it, but will buy food and drink from you, for your benefit.’ ” However the king of Edom was not swayed, and he reiterated his position: “He said, ‘You shall not pass through!’ Then Edom went out against him with a massive horde and a strong hand” (v.20). Here Rashi states: “With our grandfather’s promise: ‘the hands are the hands of Esav.’ ” Having no other choice, “Israel turned away from near him” (v.21) – as if the people were overcome by fear and therefore chose another route.

To better understand this, let us examine a verse near the beginning of this week’s parsha: “This is the decree of the Torah” (Bamidbar 19:2). This verse is discussing the mitzvah of the red heifer, concerning which G-d said to Moshe: “I have decreed it. You have no right to challenge it” (Yoma 67b). It is therefore a mitzvah whose reasons were not revealed, and concerning which even King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, declared: “I thought I could become wise, but it is beyond me” (Kohelet 7:23). From here we learn that all the wisdom in the world cannot compare to that of the holy Torah, which has no equal. Other wisdom is certainly useful, but it may also do more harm than good. For example, the advent of the nuclear age has been very beneficial, for it has enabled us to harness nuclear energy that powers all kinds of devices used by man. However it also has the power to destroy the world in seconds. The same goes for all kinds of technological progress. Today the development of the Internet and cellular telephones is of great interest to many, but it can also be detrimental and make us descend into a spiritual abyss. There is no doubt that King Solomon, the wisest of all men, could have created and developed everything we have mentioned. Nevertheless he refrained, for he was aware of the serious consequences that would result from it. The wisdom of the holy Torah, on the other hand, is only beneficial, both for us and the entire world. It has no negative or destructive consequences. That is why King Solomon declared, “I thought I could become wise.” From every angle, the Torah possesses extraordinary wisdom. It spreads blessings upon all Creation, allowing us to attach ourselves to the Creator and cleave to Him. I think that Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to show the Children of Israel the abysmal difference between themselves and Edom, the incredible gap that separated their refined and positive culture from the depraved society of the wicked Esav, from whom the civilization of Edom emerged. In order to clearly demonstrate the differences between them, Moshe considered it preferable for the Children of Israel to approach Edom for a short time, for them to cross the border of this territory and live alongside them. At that point they would discover the immense gulf between them, and they would realize that the lifestyle of Jews is destined to elevate and refine a human being. In fact the power of the Jewish people resides in its words, according to the verse: “The voice is the voice of Jacob” (Bereshith 27:22). In other words, the path of Torah and mitzvot teaches us decency and helps us acquire good character traits. On the other hand, by observing the descendants of Esav, the Children of Israel would understand what Esav lost by repudiating the path of Torah and mitzvot, descending to an incredibly low level as a result. In fact the power of Esav’s descendants lies entirely in the sword, for their civilization is completely based on strength of arms. This is the teaching that Moshe wanted to transmit to the Children of Israel by making them pass through the territory of Edom. He wanted them to understand the serious loss that a person can experience by neglecting the path of Torah in order to quench his own thirst in broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

However the king of Edom continued to refuse the Children of Israel passage through his land, for it is a halachah that “Esav hates Jacob.” Why? Because deep down, Esav knows the truth and recognizes that the Children of Israel have adopted the correct and genuine path, one that leads to a good and happy life. Esav knows that it is their attachment to Torah and mitzvot that gives them the merit to be the people chosen by G-d, and he has tremendous difficulty accepting this reality. That is why he hates Israel. Still today, the nations of the world know the truth and realize that Jews are the chosen and eternal people, and that their culture – completely based on the Torah and divine commandments – is the correct and true path. However it is difficult for them to adopt this lifestyle, and they cannot make an effort to follow such a path, for the Torah demands that we restrain our passions and control our desires. Not feeling capable of this, they experience tremendous hatred for the Jewish people.