Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parasha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”

Moshe is taught the laws of the “Red Cow”, whose ashes purify a person who has

been contaminated by contact with a dead body.

After 40 years of journeying through the desert, Miriam dies and the people

thirst for water. G-d tells Moshe to speak to a rock and command it to give

water. Moshe gets angry at the rebellious Israelites and strikes the rock. Water

issues forth, but Moshe is told by G-d that neither he nor Aaron will enter the

Promised Land.

Aaron dies at Har Hahar and is succeeded in the High Priesthood by his son

Elazar.

Venomous snakes attack the Israelite camp after yet another eruption of

discontent in which the people “speak against G-d and Moshe”; G-d tells Moshe to

place a copper serpent upon a high pole, and all who will gaze heavenward will

be healed.

Moshe leads the people in battles against the Emorite kings Sichon and Og (who

seek to prevent Israel’s passage through their territory) and conquers their

lands, which lie east of the Jordan.

 

” Dvar Torah ”

 

In this week’s Parsha, the Torah talks about the final days of the Bnei

Yisrael’s journey through the desert. Forty years have passed and most of the

generation of Exodus who were twenty years and above have passed away and a new

younger generation are about to enter the Land of Israel.

But not to our surprise, the Torah mentions that once again, the Benei Yisrael

complained to Moshe saying: “Why did you bring us to die in this desert with no

food or water and our souls are disgusted with the taste of the manna!” Hashem

punishes the Benei Yisrael by sending ‘fiery serpents’ to bite them and kill

them. The people realize that they have sinned and beg Moshe to pray to Hashem

to stop the serpent, and so he did. Hashem commands Moshe to make a copper

serpent and to place it on a high pole and whoever was bitten shall gaze at the

snake and will be cured. And so it was. Moshe made the copper snake. Those who

were bitten looked at the snake and were healed. In the Mishna the following

question is raised: Does a snake actually cure? The answer is: of course not! It

explains that it was not the snake that healed but rather the snake was placed

on a high pole so that the people would gaze heaven ward and repent. It was

Hashem who was indeed the healer!

But the question that still remains is: if Hashem is the healer, why did He ask

Moshe to make a copper snake in the first place? Why to put doubts in people’s

mind whether the snake has powers or not? Indeed, several hundred years later,

the Jews began to attribute special powers to the copper snake that Moshe had

used. They began to worship it and offer sacrifices to it. In order to stop this

practice, King Hezekiah crushed the snake. Despite the fact that as a result the

Jews no longer had the copper snake to remind them of the miracle that took

place in the desert, the sages approved of what Hezekiah did. So, why didn’t

Hashem just tell Moshe to tell the people: “whoever has been bitten should pray

to me directly and I will heal them”?! Why, for example, couldn’t a fire come

directly from the Heaven and strike the bitten ones and they’ll get cured

immediately?!

 

Rabbi Kamenetzky gives a beautiful explanation. He says that Hashem is not a

“show off”! He doesn’t like to perform His miracles directly for human beings.

He usually uses a mediator to perform his miracles. He may use Moshe the

greatest prophet of all times to perform his miracles, or he may use a copper

snake who does not even have a body or soul. All the miracles are done in such a

way that they may seem as an act of individual or as an act of nature. And the

reason is that Hashem is testing us to see if we truly believe in him or not. If

all the miracles come directly from the Heaven above, then there is no challenge

to believe or not. Hashem wants to be able to distinguish between the true

believers and those who lack in faith! And this was the test for the people who

got bitten by the snakes. Those who were true believers knew that it was G-d who

is healing them, and those who lacked in faith, unfortunately thought that the

copper snake has the power to heal. So, all those who wanted to be cured had to

look at the copper snake on the pole, but they were supposed to look beyond it

too, at the heaven above, and realize where the real healing is coming from!

 

Yes my friends, we should realize that all the healings and cures come from the

Heaven above. It’s a miracle from Hashem that people get cured. Although we

don’t have the copper snake these days anymore, to stare at in order to get

cured, but there are other mediators who can perform the miracle of “healing”.

And these mediators are called “Doctors”! The view of Jewish law regarding

visiting a doctor is as follows. It is mandatory for an ill person to go to a

doctor to be treated, and not rely on prayers only. One who does not do so is

considered to be spilling blood. The patient should seek out the biggest medical

expert in the field of his illness to treat him. Once the doctor treats him and

he is cured, although he should thank him greatly and be grateful to him, but he

should realize that it was Hashem who has healed him. The doctor is just the

mediator; just like the copper snake!

 

The “Blue Cross Blue Shield” health insurance company uses the copper snake as

their logo. They think that they’ve found a perfect logo. A healing source

directly from the Bible! But I’m afraid that they’ve got it all wrong! It’s not

the snake who heals, but rather, it’s the G-d Almighty himself! Before making

their logo, maybe they should have consulted with the U.S. Treasury department,

since, at least, they’ve got their logo right. Because on every dollar bill it

says: ” In G-d we trust”!!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin