From: netvort@aol.com <netvort@aol.com>
<br>To: "joshhoff@aol.com" <joshhoff@aol.com>
<br>Sent: Friday, July 15, 2016, 10:34:11 AM EDT
<br>Subject: I Don’t Get It: Netvort, Chukas 5776

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I Don’t Get It
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 By Rabbi Joshua (resignedly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
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                Parshas Chukas begins with the laws of the Parah Adumah, the red heifer, whose ashes are used in purifying someone who became defiled through contact with a corpse. Although recorded at this point, these laws were given earlier, as the Parah Adumah was needed to purify the Levi’im, something which occurred much earlier, as recorded in chapter eight of Bamidbar. Moreover, most of the laws of purity and impurity are recorded in the book of Vayikra. We would therefore expect the laws of Parah Adumah to appear in that book, as well. Why, then, are they brought here, in Bamidbar, and why in this particular section of Bamidbar?
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                The Torah refers to the laws of Parah Adumah as chok, a law whose purpose is not discernable. Parah Adumah, is, in fact, the quintessential chok, that even the wisest of all men, Shlomo, failed to understand, the rabbis tell us. One mysterious aspect of these laws, is that the kohein who sprinkles the mixture of ashes and water on the impure person in order to purify him, becomes impure. According to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the mystery of Parah Adumah is the mystery of death, and mortality, something that people cannot deal with, and this is symbolized by the fact that while in other processes of purification, it is sufficient to immerse oneself in a mikvah, which is in one’s control, for impurity contracted through touching a corpse, haza’ah, the sprinkling of the mixture of ashes and water, done by an outside force, is required. Ultimately, it is only through connecting oneself to God, who is external, that man can come to terms with his own mortality.
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                However, we identify the mystery of Parah Adumah, we need to understand why there needs to be such a law in the Torah. Why can’t all the laws be easily discernable? Rabbi Yosef Salant, in his Be’er Yosef, explains that the purpose of chukim is to attune us to observe mitzvos simply because God commanded us to do so, to thereby realize that God’s ways are not revealed to us. By this notion, we will not question, on a wider scale, the way that God runs the universe and not ponder the age-old questions for why the righteous seem to suffer and the wicked seem to prosper, questions the rabbis tell us, were asked by Moshe at Mt. Sinai, and, as the Rambam explains God’s answer in his Moreh Nevuchim, it is only after all of history has unfolded that these matters will be understood. 
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                Following the Be’er Yosef’s explanation, we can understand the placement of the laws of Parah Adumah in parshas Chukas. These laws are followed by the death of Miriam, and the consequent need for water, since the be’er, the well, that provided the people with water, was provided to them through her merit. This led to the incident of the Mei Meriva, the waters of strife, in which Moshe, responding to the people’s complaints for water, did so in a way that brought about his death. What exactly he did wrong is debated by the commentators. The Ohr HaChaim mentions ten different theories of what Moshe’s sin was, while Shadal, Rav Shmuel David Luzzatto, mentions thirteen, concluding that the most responsible explanation remains that of Rashi, who explains simply that Moshe hit the rock instead of speaking to it. Even this explanation is difficult, however, as Rashbam points out, as God did tell Moshe to address the rock with his mateh, his staff, and, moreover, once before God had told him to provide water through hitting a rock. The multiplicity of explanations, all of which have various difficulties, points to the fact that, ultimately the reason for Moshe’s death is a mystery, just as the laws of Parah Adumah are a mystery, and that is why these two sections of the Torah are juxtaposed to each other.