A Thought on Parshas Chukas

A Thought On Parshas Chukas A Thought On Parshas Chukas Our parsha introduces the perplexing paradox of the parah adumah. The Torah teaches us that there is a remedy for some forms of contracted impurity which require a ritual, central to which are the ashes of the red heifer. The perplexing part is that application of those ashes in a specific formula will remove impurity, yet the one who processes that mixture will contract impurity through contact with its ingredients. So, as our sages put it, 'it cleanses the impure ones and contaminates the pure ones.' There is another puzzle in our parsha. Following the incident of the serpents in the desert, where many people were bitten and affected by lethal venom, Moshe is told to construct copper snakes and to raise them on a pole. (Anyone who has ever looked at the symbol used by Medical Associations will see an image of those snakes on a pole, which has come to represent in the minds of many the idea that mortals can heal). Those who were infected by the venom would look at those metal statues and be healed. Those who did not look up at them would die. Our sages hasten to point out that the healing was not emanating from the snakes, but rather, those who looked up at HaShem and turned their eyes to Him could be healed. Those who looked at their injuries as purely natural and failed to see a Divine hand in them, went the course of their illness and died. Addressing these two matters, Ibn Shu'aib ponders. Whatever the mystery of the parah adumah is, granted that our sages say that it is beyond our comprehension, what are we to derive from the process at an inspirational level? Whatever the mystery of those "healing snakes" is, granted that our sages say that the healing had nothing to do with those actual snake statues, what are we to derive from the fact that the snake was chosen as the emblem for directing people's attention above? So ibn Shu'aib observes that there is a relationship between the two topics. He begins with a review of how in Eden, the Snake represented temptation, and how temptation (yetzer ha'ra) has its place in the world: without it we do not create, we do not build, we do not initiate and we do not drive and motivate ourselves at many levels. We can also "give in" to those energies and drives and live a greedy, immoral, selfish and exploitative life. Yet, the reality is that the passion and temptation are given to us in order to redirect those energies - the procreative, the creative, the aggressive - in order to enhance humanity by living by HaShem's instructions. Can't live with it alone, but cannot live without it. The paradoxical properties of the parah adumah teach us that in this life, everything can be utilized and reconstituted in the pursuit of purity. We can derive this from seeing how a contaminating source can actually be drawn on to generate purity. The concept of the snake figures is similar: it is absolutely true that it is HaShem, and not those snakes, Who brings about healing. Why are the snakes needed as an intermediate symbol? The explanation here, says Ibn Shu'aib, is that we must look up to the Heavens and also look at our own "inner snakes": we can make the mistake of viewing our challenges and struggles as being beyond our control, as if they have a life of their own and are an external force; or better, we can accept that our internal struggles are meant to be understood and mastered. We are meant to fuel our holier and purer strivings with the energies of passion, whether in our thoughts, our emotions or our physical sensations. We do this by "partnering" our selves, our struggles and Shomayim. The parah adumah process and the snake process are there to inspire us that we can turn ourselves around, we can grow through what we have inside, and that even those most vile and base elements of character can be reshuffled in the pursuit of living a better existence. Snakes alive! Good Shabbos from Jerusalem, where this parsha was read last week. D Fox