Shalom JTF Readers,
I have been busy making Facebook friends which is why I have not been spending as much time here at JTF. I am spreading the Kahanist message far and wide and meeting some very interesting Kahanists. Meanwhile I will continue to post a weekly thread here in the Torah section.
This week in the book of Bamidbar (The Desert) the climax of the breakdown occurs. After being taught the Chuk (law without rational explanation) of the Red Heifer to remove the impurity of death things begin to fall apart.
The well-known portion of Moses being told to speak to the rock, but becoming agitated and hitting it after calling the people rebellious, is in this weeks section. Moses was not allowed to enter the land because of this seemingly minor incident. We learn that the righteous are judged by a higher level standard than the not so righteous.
Aaron dies and the nation once again complains, this time bringing a plague of snakes.... Moses is told to erect a copper snake and it will heal the people...
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2959/jewish/Chukat-in-a-Nutshell.htm
Moses is taught the laws of the red heifer, whose ashes purify a person who has been contaminated by contact with a dead body.
After forty years of journeying through the desert, the people of Israel arrive in the wilderness of Zin. Miriam dies, and the people thirst for water. G‑d tells Moses to speak to a rock and command it to give water. Moses gets angry at the rebellious Israelites and strikes the stone. Water issues forth, but Moses is told by G‑d that neither he nor Aaron will enter the Promised Land.
Aaron dies at Hor Hahar and is succeeded in the high priesthood by his son Elazar. Venomous snakes attack the Israelite camp after yet another eruption of discontent in which the people “speak against G‑d and Moses”; G‑d tells Moses to place a brass serpent upon a high pole, and all who will gaze heavenward will be healed. The people sing a song in honor of the miraculous well that provided them water in the desert.
Moses leads the people in battles against the Emorite kings Sichon and Og (who seek to prevent Israel’s passage through their territory) and conquers their lands, which lie east of the Jordan.
Here is Rabbi Richman of the Temple Institute's latest video on our portion.
Topic: Video Study for Parshat Chukat : Removing the Impurity of Death (Read 2340 times)