Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

This week’s parasha is beloved by
rabbis around the world because is so much in it to sermonize about! The
parasha opens with the ritual of the red heifer. It is a mysterious Biblical sacrifice
that has the power to purify a person who comes into contact with the
dead.  Nobody understands how this
mitzvah works. How can the ashes of a red cow, mixed with water, hyssop and red
dye, have the power to purify? There is a great story about this in the Talmud.
An idolater once challenged R. Johanan b. Zakkai, “These rites that you
perform look like witchcraft,” he said.  “You bring a heifer, burn it,
pound it, and take its ashes.  If one of
you is defiled by a dead body, you sprinkle upon him two or three drops and you
say to him, ‘Thou art clean!’ I never heard of a more ridiculous thing in my
life. ”

R. Johanan asked him, “What do you
do in your religion when a person is seized by madness?” “Well,” replied the
idolater, “We need to get rid of the demon that has possessed him. So, we bring
roots and make them smoke under him. Then we sprinkle water upon the person and
the demon flees.’ Said R. Johanan to him, “Did you hear what you just said!
This is precisely what we are doing. The Water of Purification is
sprinkled upon the person and the unclean spirit flees.’ The idolater was
satisfied with the answer and departed. When he had gone, R. Johanan’s
disciples said to their master, ‘Master! That was a good story to tell him,
but what explanation will you give to us?’ Said he to them, “There is no
rational explanation. It is simply G-d’s law.”

Such a law in Hebrew is called a
“Chok” or a mitzvah that defies understanding. We just do it because it is a
divine law. It is written that even King Solomon, the wisest man who ever
lived, could not discern how this ritual could possibly be effective. In this
week’s parasha, in addition to the death of Miriam and the death of Aaron, we
have G-d’s decree that Moses will not live to enter the Land of Canaan.
Commentators have puzzled for literally millennia to figure out what great sin
Moses committed to warrant such punishment. If a “chok” is a law without a
reason, this seems like a punishment without rhyme.  Some commentators point out that Moses was commanded
by G-d to speak to the rock to bring forth water and satisfy the people’s
thirst. Instead, he struck the rock with his rod. Others say that he took
credit for bringing forth water from the rock, instead of giving G-d credit. The
17^th century Italian rabbi Shmuel David Luzatto writes that listing all
the commentaries on this yield thirteen sins that Moses may have committed. He
himself declined to investigate the matter further lest he find even more sins
committed by Moses and further besmirch his reputation.

My own thoughts on this matter are
that Moses most likely suffered from what we would call today “burnout”. He has
become angry and frustrated by a people that he has been carrying on his back
for forty years. He is not longer able to encourage them, to inspire them, to
support them. “Listen, you rebels,” he says to the people of Israel, “You want
me to get water out of a rock?” G-d needs a leader who will reinforce the good in people, who will emphasize their strengths rather than remind them of their faults as they face
the enormous challenge of conquering the Land of Canaan.

Consider this poem, titled “The Wrecking Crew”. It asks us to look at ourselves honestly and answer the question — do we build others up, or do we tear others down? 

Which are we?  Do we encourage and support others, or do we bring a critical and negative
attitude to our relationships?  Are our
remarks fashioned to help others to grow, or do our conversations with them
belie our envy of their success and their ambitions? Do we bring an optimistic disposition
to our interactions with others, or is our mindset cynical and disparaging? I
am afraid Moses had tipped to the negative pole of these opposite traits, and
that is why he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Shabbat Shalom