A thought on Parshas Chukas

"...there is no food and water...and HaShem sent serpents..." (21:5-6) "...ain lechem v'ain mayim...va'y'shalach HaShem bo'am es ha'nechashim..." After the nation complained about their limited diet, surviving on manna day after day, the Torah introduces the episode of the serpents which entered the desert camp and killed many people. There are many interpretations on this passage, and even our Mishnaic sages have addressed the incident, culling lessons of faith and spirituality from it. The difficult part is the serpents, or snakes. What was the symbolic lesson which the people were to derive from expressing discontent and lack of appreciation for their miraculous sustenance, and the subsequent onsetof the snake attacks? The Bechor Shor offers a novel insight. Earlier in the Torah (Bereishis 3:15), we read of the punishment given to the primeval snake in Eden: "you'll eat dust all the days of your life". We can infer from there that everything a snake eats tastes of dust. It slithers in the dirt and cannot rise above the ground, so all that it devours is flavored with dust and dirt. In contrast, the Jews were given lechem min ha'Shomayim, manna sent from Above, which our tradition relates had the property to take on all tastes, all flavors, according to each person's imaginative desires. Nonetheless, we complained that it wasn't enough. We wanted real food, not spiritual food which excited the senses and nourished the body while prompting people to sense the Divine Presence with immediacy and realism. Such eating seemed arduous and burdensome. People griped about wanting plain food with no strings attached and no religious conditions. Those who complained missed the point, dismissed feelings of gratitude, overlooked the sense of a focused individualized bond with HaShem, and lost out on the gift and the potential for elevated consciousness of the Divine. What better and more fitting consequence then to encounter the polar opposite: another creature which, no matter what morsel it swallows, can only experience the consistent monotony of tasting dirt. We could savor all flavors while the snake tasted no food flavor, only the torpid taste of terrain. While the consequence was concrete, it was also spiritual, reminding the people that it is HaShem alone Who shapes our experiences. It is HaShem alone Who we can turn to when life is tough, yet also Who we should turn to when life is good. Good Shabbos. D Fox