THIS IS THE RITUAL LAW THAT THE LORD HAS COMMANDED. INSTRUCT THE ISRAELITE PEOPLE TO BRING YOU A RED COW WITHOUT BLEMISH, IN WHICH THERE IS NO DEFECT ON WHICH NO YOKE HAS BEEN LAID. YOU SHALL GIVE IT TO EL'AZAR THE PRIEST. IT SHALL BE TAKEN OUTSIDE THE CAMP AND SLAUGHTERED IN HIS PRESENCE. EL'AZAR THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE SOME OF ITS BLOOD WITH HIS FINGER AND SPRINKLE IT SEVEN TIMES TOWARD THE FRONT OF THE TENT OF MEETING. THE COW SHALL BE BURNED IN HIS SIGHT - ITS HIDE, FLESH, AND BLOOD SHALL BE BURNED, ITS DUNG INCLUDED - AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE CEDAR WOOD, HYSSOP AND CRIMSON STUFF, AND THROW THEM INTO THE FIRE CONSUMING THE COW. THE PRIEST SHALL WASH HIS GARMENTS AND BATHE HIS BODY IN WATER; AFTER THAT THE PRIEST MAY REENTER THE CAMP, BUT HE SHALL BE UNCLEAN UNTIL EVENING. HE WHO PERFORMED THE BURNING SHALL ALSO WASH HIS GARMENTS IN WATER, BATHE HIS BODY IN WATER, AND BE UNCLEAN UNTIL EVENING.

                                                                                                                                                 (Bemidbar 19:2-8)

 

Respect for the Dead, the Impurity of the Deceased, and Ritual of the Dead and of Graves

"Or a human bone or a grave" - [The Torah] was more stringent with the impurity [tum'ah] of the human corpse than with all other forms of tum'ah, making it 'the father of the fathers of tum'ah', in order that people should not - out of love - frequent their deceased and mourn too much, or so that they not be among those who inquire of the dead, or consult ghosts, even though it be out of respect to persons. The Torah was most severe regarding their tum'ah, so that they not fashion from their skins waterskins and rugs, nor make from their bones utensils for use, thus dishonoring people. And so said our Sages: "Why is human skin tamei? So that they not use their parents skins for rugs. And why are human bones tamei? So that they not make ladles from their parents' bones - their tum'ah is in proportion to their degree of affection.

(Hizkuni, Bemidbar 19:16)

 

... It may be said that if the intent of the Torah was to distance the ritual of the dead from Israel, then - thanks to all those laws and custom of burial which crystallized in the Halacha - it was reasonably successful. However, it did not succeed in eradicating the inquiring of the dead. Three thousand years after the Torah expressly forbade it, we still find among us the ugly custom of the ritual of holy burial sites, pilgrimages to worship at them, including idolatrous abominations attendent to such rituals. This idolatrous ritual seems to derive from hidden fears people have regarding death and the dead; even the Torah in its strict war against it has not succeed in uprooting it from the Jewish masses until this very day.

 (Y. Leibowitz: Seven Years of Discussions on the Parashat Hashavua, p. 700)

 

 

 

THE POWER OF A WORD

Elisheva Baumgarten

 

In the current parasha we read of the demise of two of Amram's and Yocheved's children - Miriam and Aharon; Moshe survives them, to receive the punishment which determines the time and place of his death, outside the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael, prior to the entry to the Land. This punishment was decreed after Miriam's death: "the Children of Israel, all the congregation, came to the Desert of Tsin, in the first month, the people stayed in Kadesh, and there Miriam died and was buried. The community was without water, and they joined against Moshe and Aharon." (20:1-2). Immediately after Miriam's death in the Desert of Tsin and her burial there, the Children of Israel have to cope with a serious problem - an existential problem - dearth of water. Rashi explains that "all forty years they had the well in Miriam's merit". It follows that immediately after her death they faced an unfamiliar reality.

Following the people's appeal to Moshe and Aharon and the receiving of God's instructions, Moshe and Aharon - the rod in Moshe's hand - move to extract water from the rock. "Moshe and Aharon assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, "Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?" And Moshe raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank." But the Lord said to Moshe and Aharon, "Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them."

The words of Moshe and Aharon to the Children of Israel are a reproach to the nation and a demand that they grant Moshe and Aharon the trust due its leaders. As the Rashbam notes: "When he raised his hand with the rod and smote the rock twice, he told them angrily, Do you believe that from this rock we shall draw forth water?" (Rashbam, 20:10) - from this we see how anger can lead to undesirable behavior.

This act of Moshe and Aharon, like other acts of the two brothers and their sister Miriam in our parasha and elsewhere, teach us the importance and the power of words. Miriam is a fascinating character in the exodus saga. Miriam appears a number of times - it is she who helps Pharaoh's daughter find a wetnurse for the Jewish infant found on the banks of the Nile; following the crossing of the Reed Sea, it is Miriam who leads the women with tambourines and dance. But Miriam is also punished and isolated from the people when she is afflicted with tzaraat. Miriam's tzaraat results from words exchanged with Aharon regarding Moshe ("And Miriam and Aharon spoke about Moshe regarding the Cushite woman which he had taken, for he had taken a Cushite woman. They said, Has God spoken only of Moshe? Of us too has He spoken, and God overheard" (Bemidbar 12:1-2). In our parasha, we can understand the sin of Moshe and Aharon as a continuation that earlier incident, for just as Miriam used words in improper fashion, so Moshe and Aharon do not speak appropriately, and even replace words with force. Moreover, even Aharon's death can be read as a symbol of the power of words, for Aharon - according to a well-known tradition - was known to be one who pursued peace and established love between antagonists and between man and wife.

The power of words, their ability to harm in certain cases and to rescue in others, stands out also in the Haftara of Parashat Hukkat - the story of Yiftach, of Gilead, who waged war against the Ammonites. In this chapter we can see how Yiftach's use of words leads to tragic consequences. Yiftach, son of a harlot and a brave warrior, is presented as one driven from his father's house by his brothers. The story begins with Yiftach being ostracized, compelled to exile to the land of Tov, to dwell there in the midst of men of low character. He returns to become a leader in times of adversity, when his brothers battle the Ammonites and come to ask him to be their leader in battle. Yiftach agrees to conduct the war, but only after the Elders of Gilead promise him that if he succeeds, he will be appointed their leader. Yiftach declares, "And Yiftach said to the Elders of Gilead, If you appoint me to battle the Ammonites, and the Lord delivers them to me, I am to be your commander" (Judges 11:9) From this first meeting with Yiftach we detect his proclivity to making vows and taking oaths.

On his way to war, Yiftach returns to his home, and while at Mitzpeh he vows his second vow, "If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me upon my safe return from Ammonites shall be the Lord's and shall offered by me as a burnt offering" (Ibid. 30-31). Yiftach is successful in battle. But then discovers the magnitude of his vow, as his daughter is the first to come out to greet him, with tambourines and dance. His immediate reaction when he comprehends the consequence of his hastily uttered words is to cry out and to rend his garments. Our Sages said:

Four vowed; three requested improperly, and God answered them properly, one ask improperly and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, answered him improperly. Eliezer, servant of Avraham, Caleb, Saul, and Yiftach... Yiftach requested improperly, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, answered him improperly. He requested improperly, as is written, "And Yiftach made a vow to the Lord, then whatever comes out of the door etc.". Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to him: If a camel or an ass or a dog would have come out, would you have offered it as a burnt offering to me?! What did The Holy One, Blessed Be He, do to him? He answered him improperly, he arranged that his daughter . . and he could not nullify his vow."  (Vayikra Rabba, Ed. Mordecai Margaliyot, 5743, 37:4)

The author of the midrash continues and explains that the problem was not only with the vow of Yiftach, but with the unwillingness of Yiftach and the high priest (Pinchas) to talk to each other; each insisted that because of his high station he would not be the one to initiate dialogue. Yiftach could have requested nullification of his vow, "but Yiftach said: I am king - I will not go to Pinchas; Pinchas said, I am the high priest, I will not go to a commoner... (Ibid.) In the end, the sacrifice of Yiftach's daughter was the price paid for the two leaders' obstinate refusal to meet, to talk and discuss the vow and its problematic nature. The magnitude of Yiftach's sacrifice is emphasized by repetition of the passage (not recited by most congregations in the Haftara), "She was an only child, he had no other son or daughter." Yiftach's reaction to his daughter's coming out of the house is painful: "On seeing her, he rent his clothes and said, "Alas, daughter! You have brought me low; you have become my troubler! For I have uttered a vow to the Lord and I cannot retract." Yiftach is not prepared to retract his promise, nor is he willing to ask anyone else to release him from his vow. Yet more, he does not fully comprehend his responsibility for his action, for in speaking to his daughter, she accuses her: "You have become my troubler".

The rest of the story indicates that his action towards his daughter is not exceptional. He does not hesitate to spill blood in order to keep those words he uttered or did not utter. According to the Bible, his war with the sons of Efrayim resulted from their complaint that he did not invite them to participate in war against Ammon. Yiftach insists that he did call them, but they refused to come to his assistance. The author of the Yalkut Shimoni explains that here, too, an attempt at compromise could have calmed the conflict; he connects the conflict with the sons of Efrayim to the sacrifice of Yiftach's daughter: "Yiftach of the Gilead vowed an improper vow, to offer up his daughter on the altar. The sons of Efrayim gathered together to contend with him. Pinchas should have told them, To cancel his vow you did not come, you came to quarrel. But he did not protest against the sons of Efrayim, and he did not cancel Yiftach's vow. (Yalkut Shimoni on Neviim, Shoftim 11, 247:68). This parasha concludes with the deaths of Yiftach's daughter and of 42,000 sons of Efrayim.

According to the Midrash, both Pinchas and Yiftach were punished because they could have spoken and changed the consequences of the rashly spoken words of Yiftach, but, out of irrelevant considerations, they chose to have blood spilled rather than concede their vainglory. Pinchas was punished by losing his holy spirit (as per I Chron 9:20 "Pinchas son of El'azar was the chief officer over them in time past; the Lord was with him") whereas Yiftach's punishment for not having sought a way to cancel his vow - but, instead, immediately determined that "I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot recant", - is expressed though the short passages appearing at the end of Chapter 12. Towards the end of his life, Yiftach became a judge who led Israel for six years. The son of the harlot and brave warrior became an integral part of his surroundings and led the nation, but on the personal level he paid a high price - both in his own death and in the sacrifice of his daughter. According to Chazal, Yiftach was interred in the hills of the Gilead, for because of the sacrifice of his daughter, he was not buried in one place, but his organs fell from his body and were buried in different locations (Vayikra Rabba, ibid.). The fact that Yiftach died childless, after having lost his one and only child, is further emphasized in the closing passages of Chapter 12, where three judges who succeeded Yiftach are listed. The Bible tells us nothing of their accomplishments, but the author found it important to tell us about one point which differentiated between them and Yiftach. These judges, in contrast of to Yiftach, had many children; Ivtzan of Bet Lechem had thirty sons and thirty daughters, and Avdon ben Hillel the Pirathonite had seventy children.

The different deaths recorded in Parashat Hukkat and in the Haftara, and the actions of the leaders from Moshe till Yiftach, teach us the importance of speech, the willingness to meet halfway, to sometimes forgo pride, to try and reach the necessary compromises and solutions. The price, as we see from Moshe's being unable to enter the Land, and from the story of Yiftach and his daughter, is high - not only for enemies distant persons, but also on the closest personal and family plane.

Dr. Elisheva Baumgarten teaches history in the Faculty of Jewish History and in the Gender Studies Program at Bar Ilan Univ.

 

 

Brotherhood Obligates Consideration of - and Sensitivity to - the Other's Basket

From Kadesh, Moshe sent messengers to the king of Edom: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardships that have befallen us; that our ancestors went down to Egypt, that we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and that the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our ancestors. We cried to the Lord and He heard our plea, and He sent a messenger who freed us from Egypt. Now we are in Kadesh, the town on the border of your territory. Allow us, then, to cross your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from wells. We will follow the king's highway, turning off neither to the right not to the left until we have crossed your territory.

                                                                                    (Bemidbar 20:14-17)

 

"Your brother Israel" - Why did he find it necessary to mention brotherhood? In order that Edom take pity on Israel, a kindred people, descendents of twin brothers, Esav and Yaakov.

                                                                 (Abarbanel, ibid., ibid.)

 

"You know all the hardships that have befallen us" - they [Moshe's messengers] replied to him [the king of Edom], You know that when The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to Avraham "Know, yes know, that your seed will be a sojourner... and they shall be enslaved, etc." (Bereishit 15) - we were enslaved and you were free, etc. To what may this be compared? To two brothers whose father owed money. One of them paid the debt. At a later time, he asked to borrow something from his brother, saying: You know that the debt which I repaid was our joint obligation; I paid it, therefore do not refuse the favor which I ask.

 (Tanhuma, Hukkat, 12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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