Timeless Torah

I think we can all agree, Moses is having a lousy week. Throughout this entire Biblical reading, he suffers one setback after another. First, (1) his sister Miriam dies. Then (2) ‘Someone’ upstairs (guess Who!) shuts off the faucet from the miraculous well. Consequently, (3) the people complain bitterly and wonder about Moses’ leadership abilities. So, in his anger, Moses strikes the rock (instead of speaking to it) and (4) is censured by G-d for distorting His command. For that slight mistake, Moses is informed (5) that he has forfeited his entrance pass into the Holy land. Next, (6) our cousins, the Edomites, emphatically refuse the Jews passage thru their territory and threaten war. Left with no wiggle room for negotiations, Moses (7) is forced to lead the Israelites on a more circuitous route. Then (8) a terrible blow befalls our beloved leader. His older brother Aaron dies and Moses is truly alone, an old-timer not understood or even completely appreciated by the new generation.
Still there is no tranquility in store for the Faithful Shepherd, for immediately after Aaron’s death, (9) the Clouds of Glory depart leaving (10) the Jews exposed to attack by their former nemesis, Amalek. And though the battle is won, the people (living up to their reputation of never being satisfied) (11) verbally attack Moses, “Why did you bring us to die in this wilderness...our souls are disgusted with the light fare of manna!” So (12) Heaven responds with venomous snakes that effectively silence the protesters.
And just when we thought the week was winding down and we were due for a little R&R, (13) the mighty giant Sichon and his Emorite army give battle. This is followed by (14) the even more fearsome giant Og, King of Bashan, who gets into the ring for a one-on-one, titanic, no-holds-barred, last-man-standing wrestling match with, none other than, Moses
Many leaders would have thrown in the towel and given up. But not Moses! Despite the trials and tribulations he has endured, personally and professionally, he still finds the strength, courage, and most importantly, the love for Hashem’s Chosen; and so once again he leads, pleads, and physically fights for, their cause.
Two questions stand out in this entire narrative. Obviously, all of the above-mentioned tragedies did not historically occur in just one week: Miriam on Monday, Edomites on Tuesday, and Og wraps it up before the weekend getaway! So why do they all appear stuffed together like sardines?
More importantly, different events and topics in one Torah reading are all inter-connected thematically. Traditionally, the theme is expressed by the Torah portion’s title. In our case, the name of the Parsha is Chukas which means, “The Statute” of the red heifer, the parah adumah. This statute is unique among all other mitzvohs, in that its non-rationale has baffled our best brains. Even King Solomon, the wisest of men, claimed to be stupefied by its lack of reasoning, which is why the nations of the world mocked our observance of it.
By now you must see our second question. What do all of the tragedies, deaths, and wars of the Parsha have in common with a complex law whose mysterious symbolism remains an eternal enigma? When faced with such impenetrable questions, a Jew must retreat to the time honored tradition of answering a question...with another question. But first let’s provide some background material.
The red heifer’s ashes were prepared by the Kohanim (priests). Throughout the course of Jewish history, untold Israelites subjected themselves to its purifying ashes and believed with unquestioning faith in the law’s ritual divinity and power. But I have one simple question. Why were these very spiritual laws dealing with the issues of purity and impurity placed in the middle of the Book of Bamidbar? Generally speaking, these sacred and priest-related rules were entirely relegated to Sefer VaYikra (Leviticus), along with the sacrificial offerings and spiritual maladies. Shouldn’t the mystical requirements of the Parah Adumah join those counterparts? Why Bamidbar, and more specifically Chukas, the section that recounts stories of human folly, tragic deaths, malicious uprisings, and enemy battles?
Jewish history is many things to many people. But if there is one lesson that we can all agree upon, it’s this: our survival is incomprehensible. How do we endure the loss of our beloved leaders, our Miriams and our Aarons? How did our nation so stiff-necked and difficult to please not already implode or tear itself apart? How can a lone sheep outlast the giant wolves of prey that attack us mercilessly? And how long can a people journey, yet denied entry into the family of nations, continue to explain its existence?
The answer is Chukas. For the ultimate statute, the supreme brain-teaser is not about a holy cow, it’s about a Holy People. Human calculations cannot clarify our longevity. Yet uncalculating faith in Hashem’s Torah will see us through the finish line.
Hence we have one Parsha, where every possible obstacle, representing all the types of hurdles we Jews will encounter in time, are assembled together. Can they all combined, slow us down and force us to take a detour? Perhaps. But as long as we Chukas, engrave in our hearts and souls His Statutes, we are unstoppable.