Numbers 19:1-22:1
The enigmatic law of the Red Cow introduces a ritual that defies simple explanation, highlighting the limits of human understanding. The deaths of Miriam and Aaron mark the passing of a founding generation, while Moshe himself stumbles at the waters of Meribah. Chukat confronts mortality, mystery, and the cost of leadership.
The Red Heifer and the Ritual of Paradox
It was an astonishing experience. While on a lecture tour in New York, I was approached by two non-Jewish American soldiers who had returned home from Vietnam. They told me something deeply disturbing: though they had come from moral, religious homes that taught the sanctity of life, war had corrupted them. Not only had they […]
In Parashat HaShavua and Parashat Chukat
For the sake of later generations—who would need to know that the ways of the Torah are ways of pleasantness, of the gentle word and not the hard strike—God denied Moshe the merit of living in the land. He made it clear to all that leaders who seek to turn Israel into a holy nation by way of threat or by force may very well bring disaster to themselves and their people.