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Home -> 5786 -> Chukas

ותמת שם מרים ותקבר שם

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5786

And Miriam died there, and she was buried there. (Bamidbar 20:1)

Miriam HaNeviah is a study in contrasts, a striking paradox of leadership without fanfare.  While she is known for her far-from-passive leadership and for her merit in sustaining the nation with water for forty years, she did not seek recognition.  Indeed, it is under such tension – true leadership and devotion to truth – that her greatness emerged.  Her most outstanding merit, which she manifested time and again, was her unyielding emunah, faith in Hashem.  She did not wait for a miracle to buttress her faith.  She anticipated it as if it were already a reality. Let us peruse a…

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Home -> 5785 -> Chukas

ויראו כל העדה כי גווע אהרן ויבכו את אהרן שלשים יום כל בית ישראל

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5785

When the entire assembly saw that Aharon had perished, they wept for Aharon thirty days, the entire Bais Yisrael. (20:29)

Aharon HaKohen was niftar, and all of Klal Yisrael mourned his passing. Rashi underscores the fact that all of Klal Yisrael mourned, because he touched the lives of all Jews. As the paragon of peaceful coexistence, as the ohaiv shalom v’rodef shalom, one who loved peace and pursued peace, he made it his goal to encourage people to get along. At the slightest whiff of discord between friends, between husband and wife, Aharon was present to patch things up and convince the two parties to move one with life and live together in peace. Thus, when he died, everyone sorely…

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Home -> 5785 -> Chukas

קח את אהרן ואת אלעזר בנו והעל אתם הר ההר

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5785

Take Aharon and Elazar, his son, and bring the up to Har HaHor. (20:25)

How is Moshe to “take” Aharon on his last journey? True, his time to return his lofty soul to its Heavenly Source had come. Aharon was not a person who lived in this world. He was a Himmel mentch, one who lived in the Heavens Above, one who was very comfortable in his ruchniyos, spirituality. To him, death was truly traversing the gesher ha’chaim, bridge of life, from this world to life in the Heavenly sphere. Yet, Moshe had to convince/comfort him with words. Rashi says b’divrei nichumim, comforting words. What were these words? What could Moshe convey to Aharon…

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Home -> 5785 -> Chukas

זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5785

This is the teaching regarding a man who would die in a tent. (19:14)

Chazal famously derive a deeper, homiletic l miskayeim esson from this pasuk. The Gemorah (Berachos 63b), states: Ein divrei Torah ela b’mi she’meimis atzmo aleha, “The words of Torah are upheld only by one who ‘kills’ himself over it.” This metaphor refers to the self-sacrifice one must be willing to expend for the sake of Torah study. Meimis atzmo aleha means dedication, diligence, abnegating comforts and worldly pleasures, all for the purpose of Torah study, its understanding and internalization. True growth requires a form of self-sacrifice, whereby one “kills” his personal desires in pursuit of spiritual achievement. Famous Torah scholars…

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Home -> 5784 -> Chukas

זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5784

This is the teaching regarding a man who would die in a tent. (19:14)

Chazal (Shabbos 83b) teach, “A person should never be absent from the bais hamedrash, nor ever refrain from studying Torah – even at the moment of death. For it is stated, Zos haTorah adam ki yamus b’ohel, ‘This is the Torah – a man who dies in a tent.’ This pasuk teaches us that, even at the moment of death, one should be involved in the study of Torah.” Reish Lakish adds, “The words of Torah are not retained, except by one who kills himself (by refraining from unessential physical indulgences). As it is stated, ‘This is the Torah of…

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Home -> 5784 -> Chukas

ויקחו אליך פרה אדומה תמימה

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5784

And they shall take a completely red cow which is without blemish. (19:2)

The Aderes Elyahu cites a yalkut that posits, Parah zu Yisrael; “Parah (Adumah), this is Yisrael.” Apparently, Chazal identify a metaphysical connection between the Parah Adumah and the Jewish People. Horav Mordechai Ilan, zl (Mikdash Mordechai), observes that Klal Yisrael demonstrated their spiritual mettle when they stood by Har Sinai and proclaimed, Naaseh v’nishma; “We will do and we will listen.” Hashem offered the Torah, with all of its qualities and demands, to which we committed ourselves without question. Hashem had previously offered this gift to the other nations, who had rejected it. They felt that the Torah’s demands did…

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Home -> 5784 -> Chukas

זאת חקת התורה

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5784

This is the decree of the Torah. (19:2)

Being that the Torah, which is our blueprint for life, is Divinely-Authored, it is understandable that it is intrinsically “beyond human cognition.” Whatever we think we understand of it is the result of interpretation by mentors throughout the generations. They have plumbed its depths and transmitted their knowledge to future generations. Nonetheless, one does not know the actual, reason that Hashem chose a specific mitzvah for us to perform, or not to transgress. The reasoning that our gedolim have transmitted to us throughout the generations is only to make it easier for the human mind to accept. While some mitzvos…

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Home -> 5783 -> Chukas

ויראו כל העדה כי גוע אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5783

And all the nation saw that Aharon was dead. (20:29)

When Miriam Ha’Neviah died, her loss to the nation became apparent, as the well (B’eirah shel Miriam) dried up. Likewise, when Aharon HaKohen died, his death was marked by an external manifestation; with the removal of the protective Ananei HaKavod, Pillars of Cloud, which traveled with them throughout their journeys. Chazal teach that there were three parnasim, providers, in whose merit Klal Yisrael benefited. Miriam, in whose merit they were sustained with water; Aharon, in whose merit the nation traveled without fear, as the clouds fended off any danger or obstacle; and Moshe Rabbeinu, in whose merit we were sustained…

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Home -> 5783 -> Chukas

יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5783

Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of Bnei Yisrael. (20:12)

Due to the nature of the sin of mei merivah, waters of strife, its ramifications for Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen, and, by extension, Klal Yisrael, it is understandable that multiple commentators weigh in on the subject. We will focus on Rashi’s commentary, which is the most basic, and, thus, one to which we can all relate from a practical point of view. Rashi (both here and in Sefer Devarim 32:51) explains that they sinned by striking the rock, when Hashem had instructed them to speak to it. Had they spoken to the rock and water emerged from it, Hashem’s…

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Home -> 5782 -> Chukas

ויעלו אל הר ההר ... וימת אהרן שם בראש ההר

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5782

And they ascended Mount Hor … Then Aharon died there on Mount Hor. (20:27,28)

Rashi translates Har Hohor as Mountain of the Mountain, explaining that it was given its unique name due to its unique configuration.  It was like that of a small apple perched on top of a large one, or like one mountain on top of another.  The concept of apple and mountain with mountain above mountain or apple above apple begs elucidation.  Horav Aryeh Leib Heyman, zl, offers a penetrating insight into understanding the double mountain/double apple relationship to Aharon HaKohen.  He posits that Aharon integrated the middos, attributes, of Avraham Avinu with those of Yitzchak Avinu. Avraham was the paradigm…

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