STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
CHUKAS 5777
“FATAL ERROR”
Rabbi
Yecheskel Levenstein zt’l[1]
was once in a taxi in Yerushalayim. The driver was a secular Israeli who had
served in the army years earlier. Seeing that he had a distinguished rabbi in
the taxi, the driver related a personal story:
After he
completed his army duty, he joined a group of non-religious soldiers on a
safari trip to South America. One day, while on their trip, the group heard a
blood-curdling scream from one of the members of the group. They ran over to
help him and saw a horrific sight. A boa-constrictor had wrapped itself around
their friend and was slowly squeezing the life out of him. The group began
throwing rocks and sticks at the snake, but to no avail. With his last
remaining breath, the man yelled, “Shema Yisrael”. As soon as he said those
words, the constrictor inexplicably loosened its grip and slithered away. As a
result of the miraculous event, the man joined a yeshiva as soon as they
returned home, and today is completely Torah observant.
After
listening to the driver’s incredible story, Rabbi Levenstein asked him, “What
about you? After seeing such a miracle why didn’t you became Torah observant?”
The driver looked at the rabbi incredulously, “Kevod harav, the snake
wasn’t wrapped around me!”
Traveling
through the desert for forty years was not only fraught with dangers and
external challenges, but there were also many internal confrontations as well.
The Torah relates that the nation became restless from their travels and they voiced
their dissatisfaction. “Why has He brought us up from Egypt to die in the
desert, for there is no bread and there is no water, and our souls are repulsed
with the insubstantial bread.”
G-d’s
retribution was swift, and the camp was overrun with venomous snakes which
fatally bit many people. “And the people came to Moshe and said: we have
sinned… And G-d said to Moshe, ‘Make for yourself a venomous snake and place it
upon a tall pole, and it shall come to pass that anyone who is bitten, let him
look upon it and he will live. And Moshe made a copper snake…”
Rabbi
Samson Rafael Hirsch zt’l explains that the purpose of the snakes was to make
the nation realize the omnipresent dangers that surrounded them in the desert.
A desert is a naturally hazardous place for any individual, and even more so
for an entire nation, of men, women, and children. The nation was now
complaining that their life in the desert was uneventful and trite. When the
snakes attacked however, the nation realized that the insipidness of their
travels was the greatest blessing, and was a result of the protective Hand of
G-d.
Rabbi
Hirsch continues that G-d informed Moshe that anyone who was bitten must gaze
at the copper snake, so that this idea would become entrenched in their mind. The
mental image of the snake would help the victim remain aware of the vast
dangers that surround him constantly, and that it is only G-d’s Protection that
saves him from them.
Rabbi
Matisyahu Salomon similarly noted that, unlike the plagues in Egypt where G-d
miraculously caused animals to gather en masse in Egypt, during this event G-d
did not miraculously bring together snakes from afar as punishment to the Jews.
Rather, he merely removed His Divine protection. When that happened, nature
took its course, and the surrounding snakes which naturally habituate the
desert invaded.
Rabbi
Salomon added that we must view our contemporary situation in the same vein.
When, G-d forbid, a terrorist attack occurs[2]
it is not that G-d allowed the terrorist to penetrate. Klal Yisroel has so many
enemies that our daily survival is unnatural and miraculous. Rather, it is that
He has removed a certain measure of His Divine Protection from Klal Yisroel.
When that occurs and nature is allowed to run its course, tragedies are almost
inevitable, heaven forefend.
One of the
mainstays in the life of a Jew is reciting blessings. The gemara[3]
relates that one is obligated to recite one hundred blessings every day. What
does it mean to bless G-d? How can a temporal mortal of flesh and blood bless
the Eternal, King of Kings?
Rabbi Yosef
Dov Soloveitchik zt’l explained[4]
that when one recites a blessing he is espousing his cognizance of G-d’s hidden
Hand in this world. “When one recites a blessing over food, for example, he in
essence is saying, “Master of the Universe, you are hidden behind a cloud; no
one sees you. Yet, as I eat this food, I reveal Your Presence. The very fact
that I can eat, that my body absorbs food, that I can digest, indeed the entire
biological process behind food consumption and the very creation of food itself
is testimony to Your presence. Through this recognition I am removing the
obscuring cloud; I am revealing You.”
Blessings
are addressed to G-d in the second person: Blessed are You, rather than Blessed
is He, in order to affirm G-d’s Presence among us. It as if we are saying
that we are testifying about G-d’s Presence through the object which we are
blessing. The purpose of a blessing transforms the hidden into Presence. Thus,
a Jew becomes a partner with G-d’s revelation of earth, every time he recites a
blessing.
Rabbi
Hirsch concludes that a person who comprehends this idea, will never be
dissatisfied with his lot. He will realize that the mere fact that he is not
destroyed by the “venomous serpents” that ubiquitously surround him is itself a
tremendous gift from G-d.
The reason
why the plague occurred with snakes is because the snake is the symbol of ingratitude
since time immemorial. G-d had hidden the venomous snakes of the wilderness,
and concealed from the nation the dangers that were ever-present. But when they
failed to appreciate that gift, G-d simply removed that shield. The remedy for
anyone bitten by a snake was to implant in his mind the image of the snake,
which reminded him of G-d’s protection.
The symbol of modern medicine, the caduceus[5],
depicts a short staff entwined by two serpents in the form of a double helix.
Although many explanations are purported, it is likely that the original source
of the symbol stems from this event in the desert.
In a sense, it is an appropriate symbol.
The purpose of the copper serpent was to arouse the people to recognize the
miracles that were occurring constantly around them without their realizing it.
All the gifts of life – including health - which we so often overlook are all
miracles.
The wise person does not wait for tragedy
to strike. He realizes and thanks G-d for all he has every day of his life.
“Anyone who
is bitten let him look upon it and he will live”
“Blessed
are You, Hashem, our G-d”
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein, known as Reb
Chatzkel, (1895 - 1974), was the mashgiach
ruchani of the Mir yeshiva in Europe, and later of Ponovezh
in B’nei Brak.
[3] Menachos
43b
[4] Rosh
Hashanah Machzor