From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 3:13
AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Chukas,
5764
The
Thirst
By
Rabbi Joshua (annually known as The Heifer) Hoffman
This week's
parsha begins with the laws of the Parah Adumah, also known as the Red Heifer.
Immediately following this section, the Torah records the death of Miriam,
shortly before the nation enters the Holy Land. Actually, the laws of the Parah
Adumah had been given long before the death of Miriam, during the second year
that the nation was in the wilderness, and this prompted the midrash to ask why
her death is placed, in the Torah, next to the laws of the Parah Adumah. The
juxtaposition, answers the midrash, teaches us that just as the korbanos - the
sacrifices in the mishkan - bring atonement, so, too, does the death of the
righteous bring atonement. Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher
Rebbe, asks, in his Iggeres HaKodesh, chapter 28, why this lesson is taught in
regard to the Red Heifer. Granted, he says, that it is called 'chatas' - or a
sin ofering - still though, it is brought outside of the mishkan. Why don't we
learn this lesson in connection with a more standard chatas, which is brought on
the altar in the mishkan? This question is also asked by Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin,
in his commentary Oznayim LeTorah. He answers that each time a Parah Adumah was
prepared, some of the ashes produced and used in the purification process were
preserved, as prescribed by the Torah, and lasted for many years. The Parah
Adumah, thus, had a long-term purifying effect on the Jewish people. In the same
way, he writes, the death of a tzadik has a long-term purifying effect on the
Jewish nation. This answer, however, does not explain the significance of the
Parah Adumah for the specific atoning effect of the death of Miriam, which is
something that R. Shneur Zalman does address in his answer.
Although R. Shneur Zalman's answer is suffused with the intricacies of
kabbalah, there are some points which can be gleaned from it which can have
meaning for us on a more basic level. R. Shneur Zalman refers to the divine
effluence, symbolized as water, that comes to the world as a result of the
actions of a tzadik - a righteous person, and then refers to a midrash in Yalkut
Shimoni in parshas Shemini, which phrases the lesson of the juxtaposition
differently from the midrash we quoted previously. The Yalkut there says that
just as the waters of the chatas, consisting of a mixture of ashes from the
burned Parah Adumah mixed with water drawn specifically for this process, bring
atonement, through being sprinkled on the impure person, so too does the death
of the righteous bring atonement. Thus, the emphasis in the atonement process of
the Parah Adumah that is relevant to the lesson we learn from its juxtaposition
to the death of Miriam is focused on the function of water. As we shall, see,
this has special meaning in regard to Miriam and her importance for the Jewish
nation.
The rabbis tell us that the water supply - a well - of the
Israelite nation during its sojourn in the wilderness came through the merit of
Miriam. After her death, this source was gone for a short time, and for this
reason the people complained to Moshe about their thirst. Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim
of Lunshitz, in his commentary Keli Yakar, points out that the reason for the
temporary loss of water was due to the fact that the people did not eulogize
Miriam properly. Part of the idea behind the atonement effected by the death of
the righteous is that through their death, we come to assess their influence on
us, and in this way we make their teachings and example more relevant in our
lives than they were even during their lifetime. When this assessment is not
made, the opposite effect occurs, and we lose whatever residual benefit that
remained from them. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, has pointed
out that water is one of the everyday things in our lives that we take for
granted. When one stops to think, however, he realizes that life would not be
possible without water, and we need to be cognizant of our debt to God for
constantly supplying us with the water we need. It was through Miriam's
righteousness that the people merited receiving their water supply from God
during their time in the wilderness, and they needed to reflect on this fact
upon her death. Their failure to do so led to their loss of that supply. Why,
however, was it Miriam who had this merit?
A sensitivity to the
importance of everyday things, as we have shown from Rabbi Soloveitchik, reminds
us of God's constant providence. Rav Aharon Soloveitchick, of blessed memory,
often pointed out that it is a characteristic feminine trait to be able to find
a deeper meaning in all that occurs in one's life. The Torah tells us, in
parshas Chayei Sarah, that God blessed Avrohom 'bakol' - with everything
(Bereishis 20:1). A number of explanations are given by the rabbis for this
expression, some of which are cited by the Ramban in his commentary. One of
these opinions is that Avrohom had a daughter whose name was 'ba-kol.' The
Ramban explains this to mean that the word 'ba-kol' refers to the eighth of
God's midos, or traits. Although kabbalistic commentators on the Ramban say that
he is referring to one of the sefiros, or divine emanations, Rav Aharon said he
was referring to the eighth of God's thirteen attributes of mercy, the attribute
of truth. This attribute, the Ramban is saying, is called 'bakol', and it is
referred to by the rabbis as Avrohom's daughter because it is a feminine trait.
Women, said Rav Aharon, are able to find truth and meaning in everything that
happens in life, even in seemingly trivial things. The Torah is telling us that
Avrohom was blessed with this trait, as well. We can perhaps speculate that he
learned this trait from Sarah.
Miriam, too, had a sense for the
importance of everyday things, as we can see from the way in which she cared for
her younger brother Moshe in his infancy. Keli Yakar points out that she was
constantly doing acts of chesed - kindness - for people, and that is why water -
which in kabbalah is referred to as chesed, as elaborated upon by R. Shneur
Zalman in his exposition - was given through her merit. Perhaps we can add that
her understanding of the importance of small, seemingly insignificant details in
life kept her attuned to needs that would otherwise be neglected, and led her to
do the acts of chesed she was known for. This constant awareness of the small,
everyday things in life should, ultimately, direct our attention to God, Who is
the ultimate supplier of our needs. When Miriam died, the people should have
eulogized her, and learned from this important trait that she exemplified, and
thus drawn closer to God. In this way, her death would have brought atonement.
We still need to understand, however, the connection between the Parah Adumah,
specifically, and the lesson we learn from Miriam. I believe that we can
understand this connection by referring to another teaching of Rav Yosef Dov
Soloveitchik.
The mitzvah of Parah Adumah is classified by the rabbis as
the ultimate example of a chok, a law whose reason is not readily understood by
the human mind. What is the mystery of the Parah Adumah, that has perplexed even
the wisest of people over the generations? Usually, this mystery is explained as
coming from the paradoxical law that on the one hand the Red Heifer purifies
those people upon whom its watery ashes are sprinkled, while on the other hand
it causes those involved in its preparation to become impure. Alternatively,
some see the mystery in the fact that this korban is brought outside of the
Temple, even though such a practice is forbidden in regard to other korbanos.
Rav Soloveichik, however, (see Man of Faith in the Modern World : Reflections of
the Rav, Volume Two, pps. 100-116), thought that the mystery lay elsewhere. The
Parah Adumah, he explained, purifies people who had become impure through
contact with a human corpse. Thus, it was the mystery of death itself, as
symbolized by the procedure of the Parah Adumah, that so mystified people over
the generations. Man cannot make peace with the fact that he eventually has to
die, and he needs divine help in order to function with this awareness. This
need for divine assistance is symbolized by the fact that whereas in all other
purification processes one need merely enter into a mikvah to become pure, when
it comes to the Parah Adumah, there is, in addition, a need for a sprinkling
process. The difference here is that while a person is able to enter the mikvah
on his own, he needs another entity to sprinkle water upon him.While man must
make his own effort to grapple with death, as symbolized by the need to immerse
himself in the mikvah, says Rav Soloveitchik, it is God Who sprinkles the
purification waters upon him - as the prophet tells us. "And I will sprinkle
pure waters upon you" (Yechezkel 36:25) - helping us deal with our own
mortality. An awareness of God's presence, which gives us a sense of the
immortality of the soul and a meaning to our existence, despite the fact that we
all, ultimately, must die, is what helps purify man after contact with a corpse,
or, in a wider sense, a sense of his own mortality.
Based on Rav
Soloveitchik's analysis, we can now understand the juxtaposition of the death of
Miriam to the mitzvah of Parah Adumah. Just as the mitzvah of Parah Adumah
directs our attention to God, in our attempt to find meaning in life despite the
reality of our mortality, so too, did Miriam, as the one through whom we merited
to have water in the wilderness, direct our thoughts to God, Who supplies us
with all our everyday needs. An assessment of Miriam's role in teaching us to
have a constant awareness of God in our lives, on a more mundane level, then,
would have an effect similar to that of the Red Heifer, which forces us to rely
upon God on a more spiritual level, assuring us that our lives have ultimate
meaning.
Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman)
with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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