פרשת חקת

Bamidbar Chapter 19: The Parah Adumah and Purification from Corpse Impurity

Introduction: Context and Timing

Today we’re reading Bamidbar chapter 19, interestingly being recorded on Erev Shabbos Parah where we read this chapter precisely. But now we’re reading it in the context of Sefer Bamidbar so we have to talk a minute about the context.

The Placement of Chapter 19 Within Sefer Bamidbar

The Preceding Series of Mitzvos

As we’ve discussed, this Sefer Bamidbar has these groups of mitzvos, right? We just came from a group of mitzvos which we explained very well yesterday, how it really is connected with the answer to the question, the establishment of the hierarchy of the kohanim and the leviyim and everyone else in a way in which we can understand by giving this story and explaining how this is really all in response to certain challenges, to certain questions.

But now, this is the last mitzvah in this series. There’s one more mitzvah that seems to not connect to that, although there is one way in which it’s connected as the Ramban notes here, but it seems not to be connected with that. It’s not about like matnas kehunah, it’s not establishing the hierarchy, the levels of access to the Mishkan and things like that—that’s not what it’s doing.

The Ramban’s Connection: The Role of the Kohen

One thing in which it might be connected—I don’t know if this is entirely peshat, but what the Ramban says—it’s connected in one way, which is that the kohen is mentioned here a lot. And also I think the Midrash counted it, it says nine times hakohen, so there seems to be a point in which the kohen is in charge of this, and this may be interesting, maybe it’s important, maybe it’s part of the whole thing.

If we connect it with this context, we’ll say something like: the Mishkan, the Mikdash is protected from impure people or not purified people, not holy people accessing it. One of the main ways in which it’s protected by that is—right, in general, even when he is pure, a Yisroel or someone who is not authorized, not a kohen cannot go, but even a kohen or even in the ways in which a Yisroel could go, when he is impure, when he is tamei lanefesh, especially, he cannot go as we’ve learned in Parshas Behaalosecha, and as we just learned, the one in charge of that is really the kohen. The kohen is the one in charge of mishmeres hamishkan, right? They have to watch that nobody who doesn’t belong should be able to go into the Mishkan, and that’s the job of the kohen.

And here we give the kohen also the other side of the job. So that’s maybe the nice thing, like we’ve been saying: the kohen is not only the one in charge of the harsh hierarchical structure, he’s also in charge of making sure that—taking the responsibility for who will come and taking responsibility for the people that will not come and giving them blessings. So maybe in this sense, the kohen is the one who is creating this taharah, this mechatas, which will purify the one who is tamei lanefesh, the one who was impurified, became not pure by touching a dead body. That’s the kohen in charge.

A New Type of Purification

And this is interesting, because there’s different ways of becoming pure. We learned in Parshas Tazria, there’s kibbos begadim [washing of garments], or going to the mikveh, which are washing with water, as the Torah calls it, and those are things that it’s not the kohen’s responsibility. It’s just, you know, whoever wants to become purified, he has to go to the mikveh, he has to get purified in whichever way he gets purified.

Here there’s a new kind of purification, which the kohen—it’s the kohen’s job to do it. Of course, it’s not entirely the only one that’s like this, because this connects really to a series of purifications that work through korbanos, through a kind of korban.

The Structure: Two Parts

So I think that that’s the simple meaning of this whole story, so we see that there’s two parts in it really. The first part is the hakravah, the kind of korban—it’s not entirely a korban, it works more like a chatas, chatas hanisrefes. In any case, a kind of shechitah, a kind of korban, which then, what is left from that korban, the ash from that korban, becomes the purification. But it’s for sure true still that the shechitah is a korban, and the whole process of sort of creating this efer parah [ash of the cow], it’s a kind of chatas, let’s just call the chatas over here, it’s a kind of chatas, which is similar to the chatas, all the chataos hanisrefes, which over there we sprinkle their blood in the mizbe’ach and so on.

But they all have a similar logic where there’s a korban that causes also a purification. Generally korbanos are not for purification, they’re for something called kapparah, atonement, or for a simchah, like a zevach, things like that. But there are certain korbanos, like the korbanos of miluim, which are also—were done in this book, again in Parshas, well no, mostly in Parshas Sefer Vayikra—but the korbanos of miluim, which are also, their job, or part of their job is to purify. So in a similar way, this is a korban whose job is to purify.

Of course also a nazir has a korban like this, or a yoledes, that are what’s called mechusarei kapparah. Some tumos need also a korban to purify them, just bringing a korban. But here it’s not just bringing a korban, it’s that the korban itself becomes somehow the—we call the detergent, the thing that purifies you. So that’s this parsha.

Why This Mitzvah Appears Here Rather Than in Vayikra

And that’s one way of connecting it to where we’re coming from. Ramban says this, he says that it belongs here because it’s all, to tell us that it’s all a kohen that does it. But in a broader sense this is just really an appendix to the parshas of tumah v’taharah, which are really in Sefer Vayikra.

Even the halachos of this tumah—this is an interesting thing—in Tazria and Metzora we had, like I mentioned, the tzarua, zav and tamei lanefesh are a set that are mentioned in Parshas Naso when we send them out of the camp. And now, sorry, in Behaalosecha when we send them out of the camp we have this three sets. So tzarua, zav, those are things that their way of purification is mentioned explicitly in Parshas Tazria and in Parshas Metzora. But tamei lanefesh, what we call tamei lanefesh, is not mentioned. It’s mentioned that it is impure, we mentioned also that a kohen in Parshas Emor we discussed that a kohen is not allowed to ever touch it, we mentioned it about a nazir in the same way in Parshas Naso, that a nazir doesn’t become impure or nefesh, but we did not mention how to purify it. And this is the only place where the purification of that is mentioned.

So it’s sort of the wrong place, possibly because it’s a longer, complicated process, although the metzora is also a complicated process. It’s there, it’s not clear why it’s here.

Thematic Reasons for Placement in Bamidbar

So maybe the reason that I gave is a reason, or could have to do also with the idea of the expansion that we discussed, that this is the expansion. And in some sense tamei lanefesh is like the furthest, right? Remember, being entirely dead is being not part of the community, unless you’re dead in a way in which you stay part of the community. But in any case, in some sense, and this parah adumah is also something done michutz lamachaneh [outside the camp]—the shechitah, the sreifah, all that is done michutz lamachaneh.

So this might have to do in another way, and it has to do with the general theme of Sefer Bamidbar, which is expanding, expand all the way to the edge of the machaneh. We can also see in some sense, like the story of Korach, or the stories of the challenges to the machaneh, right, the challenge—Shelach, Korach—these are all challenges to the machaneh, to the structure of the machaneh. And therefore in sort of being metaphol, sort of working with what’s outside, and now it goes all the way outside, michutz lamachaneh, and can even purify that. So that’s another way of saying it.

Reading the Pesukim: The Ma’aseh Parah

So anyways, let’s read. So as we said, there’s two parts. The first part is the creation, the ma’aseh parah, and then the second part is the hilchos tumas meis, or the hilchos taharan tumas meis.

Pasuk 1-2: The Introduction and Requirements

So first we have Hashem speaking to Moshe and Aharon, and this is, it’s headers, this is the law—I think chukah doesn’t mean, the law means something like the ritual, the order that is always a set order, it’s called the chukah, or the seder, the order of the—and Torah is a teaching, like Torah is Kohanim, with many parts with the header Torah. So that’s I think chukas haTorah [the ritual law of the Torah]. I’ve written about this at length, to explain chukas haTorah. Chukas Torah says one more time also in Sefer Bamidbar, and this is what Hashem commanded.

Speak to the Bnei Yisrael, they’ll do this, they’ll give you, they should bring you a parah adumah [red cow], a red cow. So that’s the—of course that’s—the parshah is named after the redness, parah adumah. It’s very important that it should be red, probably to symbolize blood or something like that.

It should be whole, tmimah [unblemished], right? Now tmimum, that’s every korban is like that, and it explains tmimah asher ein bah mum [unblemished, which has no defect in it]. There’s the Chachamim understand tmimah to be something to do with the redness—it should be fully red. But I think literally it’s just the same thing as ein bah mum [no defect in it].

And asher lo alah aleha ol [upon which no yoke has been placed], also we have something similar by the eglah arufah. So a parah that has not had a yoke on it. So if it had a yoke, it’s like it’s a work animal. We don’t want a work animal, we want something that is a fresh parah, so it’s entirely sacrificed to this, it’s entirely dedicated to this.

Pasuk 3: Given to Elazar HaKohen

And they will take it—so again this is also a structure that we have many times here by Hashem as Isaac, by other things, the people, it’s sort of their responsibility to bring it, and they give it to Elazar HaKohen. So again Elazar HaKohen, that’s also interesting. We discussed yesterday, in the previous chapter, Aharon HaKohen. This chapter, this story seems to be given in a time when Aharon HaKohen is already older, or less capable of doing everything, so it’s Elazar. Of course, maybe Elazar was always helping him, but there’s some aspect of the giving over of the kehunah to Elazar already over here I think.

And what will Elazar do? He will take out this parah to the outside of the camp, and he will, v’shachat otah lefanav [and slaughter it before him]—he will slaughter it in front of him, apparently someone else will slaughter it in front of him, or he will slaughter it in front of the camp, or something like that.

Pasuk 4: The Sprinkling of the Blood

And then what he will do is, take the dam, as I said, it’s very similar to all the chataos hanisrefes, which we take their blood and we sprinkle it on the paroches, or towards the paroches. Here he’s not doing it literally on the paroches, it already starts, other than the regular chataos hanisrefes, which you sprinkle the blood inside—even the opposite, some of them get even brought inside the kodesh hakodashim. This one, he’s sprinkling the blood towards, towards the penei Ohel Moed [facing the Tent of Meeting], towards the side of the Ohel Moed, but not there, just like in that direction.

So seven times, seven times is the amount of all these kinds of sprinklings. In some sense what this means is that symbolically it’s purifying the Mikdash from the tumas meis, since the Mikdash also would have become impure at least if someone with a tumah would go there, or in general, since the kedoshim—

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The Slaughter and Blood Sprinkling

Apparently someone else will slaughter it in front of him, or he will slaughter it in front of the camp or something like that. And then what he will do is take the dam [blood], as I said it’s very similar to all the chatos and esrefes [sin offerings that are burned], which we take their blood and we sprinkle it on the paroches [the curtain] or towards the paroches. Here he’s not doing it literally on the paroches — it already starts, other than the regular chatos and esrefes, which you sprinkle the blood inside, even the opposite, some of them get even brought inside the kodesh hakodashim [Holy of Holies]. This one he’s sprinkling the blood towards, towards the pnei ohel moed [the face of the Tent of Meeting], towards the side of the pnei ohel moed, but not there, just like in that direction.

So seven times, seven times is the amount of all these kinds of sprinklings. In some sense what this means is symbolically it’s purifying the mikdash [sanctuary] from the tumas meis [impurity of death], since the mikdash also would have become impure, at least if someone was a tamei [impure person] would go there, or in general, since the kedushah [holiness] of the mishkan [tabernacle] spreads to the whole camp, so anyone that’s a tamei meis, somehow that touches the mikdash and makes it impure. So also the mikdash is getting purified by this blood, by the seven times of the sprinkling of the blood of the parah adumah [red heifer], so the zrikas dam [sprinkling of blood].

The Burning and the Three Ingredients

And then he burns it, like all the paros hanisrafos [cows that are burned], he burns the whole thing, all of it — its skin, its flesh, its blood, all of it, its insides, its intestines, it burns all of it, all at once. And then he does something that reminds us of what we did in Mitzrayim [Egypt], by the korban Pesach [Passover offering], reminds us of what we do for Mitzrayim, so again, these seem to be things that have to do with purification.

He takes these three ingredients: etz erez [cedar wood], wood of an erez tree; eizov [hyssop], some kind of grass or some kind of specific kind of grass; and shni tola’as [crimson wool] — shni tola’as we have also in the mishkan, reds, some kind of red wool — and he throws them together, so he burns it along with these ingredients. And that’s basically the process of creation. That’s the ma’aseh parah [the act of the red heifer], and then the kohen [priest] from doing this becomes impure.

The “Paradox” of the Parah — Not Really a Paradox

And of course it’s famously said to be a paradox of parah, but it’s not really a paradox, because like, if you take a detergent and you wash something, and then the thing that you washed with becomes dirty. That’s just how life works. It’s very normal. It’s a very normal thing. So, in the same way, the person that touches this, like, touching dirt, so he gets dirty, so therefore, he washes his clothes, he washes himself, and then he can come back to the camp, and until the evening he will be tamei, so this is what we call tvul yom [one who has immersed but awaits evening], so in other words, he is purified, but he still has to wait until the end of the day, because in some sense, like, the day became impure for him.

So that’s the kohen, and now we see that the kohen himself didn’t do all of this, as we said, he supervised it, or he’s the one responsible ritually for it, but he’s not the only one, there might be other people helping, the same thing for them, they have to do the same things.

The Third Person: Gathering the Ashes

So now, there’s another step, now, after this whole process was done, after the parah was slaughtered, it was burnt, and the people taking care of that would finish that out, finish their part of the work, now we have a third person — it might have been the same person, but there’s a third step — after it’s all burnt, a pure person comes and gathers the ashes of the parah, and he puts it in a pure place outside of the machaneh [camp], and now it becomes mishmeres [something watched over there], we call it mei niddah [water of sprinkling], water of sprinkling, water that we sprinkle, chatas [sin offering], mei niddah or mei chatas [water of purification], both names of this thing, these are waters that will purify other things.

Now this person, this third person, also the same thing, he becomes tamei, he has the same halachah [law] as the previous two people. Now this will become a law forever, for the Bnei Yisrael [Children of Israel], for any strangers, any that live within them, will be the same law, this will be.

The Laws of Purification: Seven Days and Required Sprinkling

So now we have the story of how we made this ingredient, this thing, mei niddah, mei chatas, and now we’re going to learn what we do with it, right? So what we’re going to learn is, if someone touches a dead person, he will be impure for seven days, and what that means is a minimum of seven days really, because he doesn’t just automatically become pure after seven days, unlike maybe some other things which might happen that way, but no, he has to, his chatas, he has to be cleaned with this mei niddah on the third day, and therefore on the seventh day he will become purified, that’s the literal way of reading it.

The chachamim [sages] understand that we have to sprinkle also on the seventh day, but that depends on how you read this passage, either bayom hashlishi uvayom hashvi’i [on the third day and on the seventh day], or bayom hashlishi uvayom hashvi’i yithar [on the third day and on the seventh day he will be purified]. In any case, if you will not sprinkle on the third day, then you will not become pure on the seventh day. I think this is really saying what I just said — there are some things, maybe a niddah [menstruant], again, can be discussed, after seven days they automatically become pure, no, it’s not, or like someone before, the evening he becomes pure, of course, if he washed himself during the day, so there is also something he has to do. In the same way here, if you do the mei niddah, then on the seventh day you become pure, otherwise you don’t.

The Punishment for Failing to Purify

And there we have a punishment, if you do this, you touch a dead person, and you did not purify yourself, then you metamei es hamishkan [defile the sanctuary], and you get karet [spiritual excision], because you did not purify yourself with the mei niddah, and you are still impure, so that’s the law of how the purification of the tumas meis works.

The Two Parts: Chukah and Torah

We still didn’t learn the laws of what is, who becomes impure, how it becomes impure, or what else becomes impure, and that’s the second part, so this is the law, maybe we could understand that until now it’s chukas [statute], like it said chukas olam [eternal statute], and now it’s the torah part, so there’s two parts, chukas o torah [statute or teaching], there’s the chukah part, and the torah part, and the torah is just the instructions of who becomes impure and how, and therefore we’ll need this purification.

Expanded Sources of Tumah

Tumah in an Ohel [Tent]

So before we just learned about someone who touches, now we’re going to learn that not only someone who touches, but also someone who is in the same tent, the same ohel as the dead person, then he becomes impure, anyone who, any person who is in the ohel, or anything, any vessels, anything in it. Now specifically which vessels, only open ones, only an open vessel which doesn’t have a closed cover, tightly closed on it, that becomes tumah, but if it’s closed, then sort of like the tumah doesn’t go into it.

Tumah in the Field

Now this is not only a way of becoming impure in a tent, that’s one way if someone dies in a tent, but sometimes people die outside, especially in war, they die in the field, we’ll see later in the story of milchemes Midian [the war with Midian], but that’s the implementation of this halachah. So if you touch a dead person in the field, whether it was a chalal cherev [one slain by the sword], someone was killed by the sword in a war, or just someone died, or a third way in which someone might find a dead person in the field, if he doesn’t find a dead person, he finds the bones of a dead person, or a grave of a dead person also, those graves are usually in the field. So also, you will have the same halachah, you will be impure for seven days, and they will do the same exact thing, they will take this efer [ashes] of the, here it’s called the afar [dust], like the sand, but it’s the same thing, it means the ashes.

The Detailed Sprinkling Procedure

And now we have some more instructions of how it’s done, interestingly, before that we just said yizchatu [they shall sprinkle], and now it gives you more details of how you do it. You put fresh water, mayim chayim [living water], water from a living source, from a spring, into a vessel, and you take an eizov, again, not the same eizov that was burnt in it, a new eizov, and you dip it into the water, and with that you sprinkle it on whoever needs to be sprinkled.

Again this entirely reminds us of what we did in Mitzrayim, where we sprinkled with an eizov, and it gives you water, and it adds, the pasuk [verse] tells you, we sprinkle it on all these things that we just discussed, the ohel, or the things that were in the ohel, or the people that were in the ohel, or someone who touched a bone, or a dead person, or killed a dead person, or just a dead person, or a grave.

The Fourth Person: The Mazeh [Sprinkler]

And it has to be done by a pure person, so this is the fourth person, right, we had the kohen, we had the soref [burner], we had the osef [gatherer], and now we have the mazeh, the person who sprinkles the water, he also has to be pure, and he will also become impure, right, same thing, the person who is mazeh also becomes impure, that’s what it says here at least.

Final Summary: Chain of Tumah and Punishment

And again we have this repeat of the punishment if you don’t, so in other words it includes all these details, if you are impure in any of these ways, and you did not purify yourself, the same thing, you go to the mikdash, you are still tumah, and all of this is again, a continuous order, it’s not something that was just once.

And here we have these four people, a summary of these four people who become impure: the one who sprinkles the water, the one who touches it, so that’s another thing, someone who touches it, or anyone who an impure person touches also becomes tumah, so if you touch a dead person then you yourself become tumah, the next person you touch becomes tumah, but the person who touches that is not tumah forever, only until the evening.

And that’s the simple meaning of this parashah [Torah portion], and that’s how we finish this parashah.

Bamidbar Chapter 20: The Narrative of the 40th Year — Miriam’s Death and Mei Merivah

Introduction: The Third Section of the Desert Narrative

We are reading Bamidbar chapter 20. This chapter is straight back into the narrative, or maybe in a certain significant sense, this is where the narrative switches to the third part of the narrative, which is what we call the narrative of the 40th year of the Midbar — the narrative of Bnei Yisrael getting closer to Eretz Yisrael and what happens at that stage.

Of course, there is an interesting connection between that and the mitzvah that we’ve just come from, which is the mitzvah of Parah Adumah [the Red Heifer], which is the purifier from Tumat Met [impurity from a corpse]. Because this chapter has a bunch of deaths — at least, I mean, the chapter has two deaths in it, and actually talks also about the thing that caused Moshe’s death. So in some sense it has three deaths in it. But of course, the chapter is not an organic division of the text. But it does — we do for sure have the death of Miriam right after, and of course the Midrash already noticed this connection. But I think that that’s some kind of association.

The Structure of the Desert Narrative

But really we’re getting back to the narrative, and the division that I’m making within the narrative is something that we can see and is also very clear again in Sefer Devarim, where Moshe gives his famous speech in the beginning of it, where he divides it this way. Because we have the kind of — although there was the narrative of their travel that started in Parshat Behaalotecha, where they’re traveling to Eretz Yisrael, that narrative sort of finishes in Parshat Shelach, where the Meraglim [spies] caused that plan to be abandoned, to be pushed off for a full generation.

Then the Machloket [dispute] of Korach might have happened before that or after that. It’s not clear, but definitely doesn’t have much to do with the end. Of course, we have these people over there complaining that Moshe is not bringing them to Eretz Yisrael. So maybe a response to what happened with the Meraglim, or in any case, thought that belongs to that series of events. We can see it as the beginning of the journey in the desert. Now we’re getting to the end of the journey and starting to discuss the actual giving over of the generations. This generation, including its leaders — Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam — are going to die, and we start getting to the next generation, which is going to Eretz Yisrael.

So that’s really where it starts, and the location where it starts is this place called Kadesh. Very clearly in Sefer Devarim we see that Kadesh is where the second part of the story starts. Of course, the Meraglim might have been sent already from there, so — but then they went back. So in any case, Kadesh is the place where this part of the story starts.

The Contents of Chapter 20

So let’s just read. There’s a few — like I said, this chapter, we could see some kind of organic whole in it because of what I discussed. It has the stories of Miriam dying, and then the story of Mei Merivah [the Waters of Strife], and then the story of the attempt to go through Eretz Edom [the land of Edom], and then also the death of Aharon in the same place, or in Hor HaHar, which is around next to Edom. But that’s just the chapter division that makes that sound connected. It’s of course also one parashah, Parashat Chukat, but in general, this is where we’re up to.

The Death of Miriam (Pasuk 1)

So let’s start from the beginning. So they come to a place called Midbar Tzin, and within that, apparently a city or an oasis, a place called Kadesh. And in the first month — it doesn’t give us which year; we’re to assume this is in the 40th or the 39th year of the journey of the desert — they come there, and over there Miriam dies and is buried there. So Miriam’s grave, so to speak, is in Kadesh, somewhere, wherever that is.

That’s one note, and like I said, it’s an important note. Miriam was obviously the oldest of the three siblings — Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam. You can see that Miriam was, if she’s the sister that watched over Moshe already when he was a baby, she’s the oldest of the siblings. So she dies first, and this is, I think, symbolizing how the generation is finishing, dying, including its leaders. Of course, everyone died, but we don’t talk about the plain people so much. We talk about the leadership. And now, next story.

The Water Crisis and the People’s Complaint (Pesukim 2-5)

Of course, again, the connection between this story and Miriam’s death is something that the Midrash has elaborated on a lot. Apparently Miriam has something to do with the well. This is a plausible idea, but it’s not explicit in the text. It’s an association that’s built out of it.

The Recurring Pattern of Water Complaints

But what the story is more reminiscent of is the same stories that we’ve had at the beginning of the Midbar. Also they’re called Merivah sometimes. Masah or Merivah might be a different place, might be the same. There was some parshanim [commentators] that understood this the same story, but it’s not necessarily so. It’s definitely the same structure. The physical story might have happened more than once. The desert is obviously a place with no water, and sometimes they somehow survived, they found water somehow all the time, but every time it’s a new challenge. But the challenge can repeat itself again and again.

So it’s not the fact that it repeats itself isn’t really a problem. Even the fact that it’s the same kind of complaint, the same kind of Merivah, the same kind of sign — it’s also not something that’s really a problem, because that’s to be expected from the story. If you know the story, you would expect that. So that’s not really a problem. But I’m just mentioning that this is a story that belongs to that series of problems.

The Complaint Itself

Very basic story problem: you’re going to desert, one big problem is that there’s no water. So that’s what happens. They’re in Kadesh, there’s no water. The Edah [congregation] has no water, so they gather to Moshe and Aharon, and they fight. This is the language — I think this language is in another place — Vayarev [and they quarreled]. They complain, and here they fight with Moshe. Vayarev ha’am im Moshe means they literally fight, or they have an argument with him. Of course, this language, like I said, is in Shelach, and the story of the rock and the water is the same language.

And what do they say? Velu gavanu bigva acheinu lifnei Hashem [Would that we had died when our brothers died before Hashem]. Where’s this lifnei Hashem? I’m not clear what are they talking about.

Then they complained. They say, why did you bring Kahal Hashem [the congregation of Hashem]? So again, we see this thing of Kahal Hashem beginning from Korach already — how they consider themselves Kahal Hashem. We’re not just — Moshe is this one that has connection with Hashem and we just need him and therefore we can’t complain. No, we’re also Kahal Hashem. And Moshe, to bring Kahal Hashem to the Midbar where they will die along with their animals.

Why did they go? So that’s one thing. And the same thing: why did they take us out of Mitzrayim to bring us to this bad place, which is not a place of planting, not a place with any figs, any grapes, any pomegranates, u’mayim ayin lishtot [and there is no water to drink]? So there’s no trees, there’s no water.

Interpreting “Lifnei Hashem”

But where’s this lifnei Hashem? Where they want to have died — they might mean something like, we should have taken our complaint earlier about Korach until the end and then died lifnei Hashem, like the people that died in — Rashi says on this lifnei Hashem, some kind of death by fire or by plague, which is called lifnei Hashem, and dying of thirst is worse than that. It’s like you die just from not having water.

Or lifnei Hashem means they should have died in the desert like — sorry, in the time like they said in Shelach. They said we should have died in Mitzrayim, or there’s nothing — there’s no point in coming to the Midbar, in any case.

Moshe and Aharon’s Response (Pesukim 6-8)

And Moshe and Aharon act in the similar way as they always act. They come to Petach Ohel Moed [the entrance of the Tent of Meeting], they fall on their face, and the Kevod Hashem [glory of Hashem] is revealed to them, Vayera aleihem Kevod Hashem.

And here, other than in other places, Hashem doesn’t complain about much. So this is the fascinating story. I can’t give theories in this shiur [class] about what is really going on. Actually, I will give a slight theory. But remember that in this series of complaints in the desert, always the same structure: people complain about Moshe, and Hashem takes over the complaint. He says, you’re complaining about me. He listens, he punishes the people. Here’s something very different happens, and let’s hear what happens.

Hashem’s Instructions

What happens is, first Hashem speaks to Moshe: Kach et hamateh [Take the staff], take your rod, your stick. Gather the people together with Aharon, and speak to the rock — vedibartem el hasela [and you shall speak to the rock] — and he will give you water. You will bring water out from the rock, and you will give them to drink, them and their animals. And that’s what he does. He takes them out mei hamerivah [the waters of strife]. So this is a mateh Elokim [divine staff], something that has some kind of powers.

Moshe Strikes the Rock (Pesukim 9-11)

And he brings them together, and he tells them: Shimu na hamorim [Listen now, you rebels]. Hamin hasela hazeh notzi lachem mayim? [Shall we bring forth water for you from this rock?] That’s what he says. And this is Moshe rebuking them, which is something we expect. They’re complaining. He says, you’re complaining all the time. Look, we can get water out of the rock. That’s basically how it should be read, I think.

Or he’s saying, like, maybe he might be saying something similar to what he said mimacharat [the next day] — what do you want from me? Should I give you water out of a rock? We’re in the desert. We’re trying to get to Eretz Yisrael, we’re trying to do something, but you are just being rebellious. That’s literally basically what he’s saying.

And but Hashem told him he’s going to do that. So this is why it becomes interesting, right?

So this is in Pasuk 10. And he raises his hand, he hits the rock twice, and water comes out, and they all drink. So we solved the problem of water.

The Divine Rebuke: Moshe’s Sin (Pasuk 12)

Now, instead of Hashem complaining about the people or being angry at the people, Hashem is angry at Moshe and Aharon. And he says: Ya’an lo he’emantem bi lehakdisheni le’einei Bnei Yisrael [Because you did not trust in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of Bnei Yisrael]. In other words, Moshe — and I think this is a peshat [straightforward reading] on the chumash [Torah] — Hashem is saying to Moshe: Vayomer Hashem el Moshe ve’el Aharon.

Understanding Moshe’s Failure

It seems like at this point, Moshe put — screamed back or returned the complaint of the people to them. They’re saying, why do you take us to the desert? There’s nothing to drink here. Moshe says, what do you want from me? It’s a desert.

And Moshe forgot that his job was to say: No problem, a desert. That’s not a problem for Hashem. That’s a problem for other people. Hashem doesn’t have a problem.

And of course, it’s not that Moshe didn’t do that. Of course, he himself went with the stick and brought water from the rock. But he was frustrated with them, and he was upset at them for sort of expecting this miracle and being upset that there’s no miracle right away.

Of course, maybe this was originally the plan — they’re going to get water out of a rock. That’s the plan. There’s no other plan. There obviously must have been a plan. But Moshe spoke to them in a way which signified that he is somewhat on their side. He’s somewhat agreeing with the argument that there’s no water in the desert. And what do you want from me? He’s using it to say, like, what do you expect? Why are you complaining all the time? Why are you just being rebellious?

But the tone was that Hashem can’t. And Hashem was upset at Moshe and he said: You did this, therefore you will have the same fate as them. Remember, they were punished not to come to Eretz Yisrael because of the Meraglim — because they did not have the same kind of trust. Because they said we’re not going to be able to.

And now Moshe is saying we can’t go in the desert. Although he’s saying it to them, in some sense he is saying that he’s not worthy. So he’s lost his confidence. He lost his courage. He lost Hashem’s confidence in him. Therefore, you will not bring this [generation into the Land].

Moshe’s Punishment and the Loss of Confidence

But he was frustrated with them and he was upset at them for sort of expecting this miracle and being upset that there’s no miracle right away. Of course maybe this was originally the plan, they’re going to get water out of a rock, that’s the plan, there’s no other plan, there obviously must have been a plan. But Moshe spoke to them in a way which signified that he is somewhat on their side, he’s somewhat agreeing with the argument that there’s no water in the desert and what do you want from me? He’s using it to say like, what do you expect? Why are you complaining all the time? Why are you just being rebellious? But the tone was that Hashem can’t and that Hashem was upset at Moshe and he said, you did this therefore you will have the same fate as them.

Remember they were punished not to come to Israel, why? Because of the miracle, because they did not have the same kind of trust, because they said we’re not going to be able to. And now Moshe is saying we can’t go in the desert. Although he’s saying it to them, in some sense he is saying that he’s not worthy so he’s lost his confidence, he lost his courage, he lost Hashem’s confidence in him, therefore you will not bring this community to the land which I have given to them.

So that’s the punishment and this is why, this is really the parasha that predicts Moshe’s death and Moshe being part of this curse of the desert, part of this curse of the generation of the desert, that they’re not going to Israel, Moshe also not going because of the story of Mei Meriva [the Waters of Strife]. And as the passage finalizes and finishes, these are the waters of strife, the waters of fight that people, the people of Israel fought with Hashem and God was sanctified in them, in other words God in the end did bring water, but Moshe didn’t participate in this correctly and therefore Moshe and Aharon died in the desert.

The Transition of Leadership

So this is a very important parasha which finally sort of kills off the main characters, it’s not that they didn’t die but telling that they will die, the main character is Moshe and Aharon and there will be someone else to bring them to Eretz Yisrael. So that’s the end of this chapter and that’s why I think this piece is this parasha where very clearly the ground is laid for the generations and the leadership of the generations to change and not Moshe bringing them to Eretz Yisrael.

But Moshe is still the leader at this stage, Moshe is still the leader and he’s still the military leader of the people, he’s still bringing them closer to Eretz Yisrael.

The Edom Episode: A Second Detour

Geographic Context and Historical Parallel

Now that they’re in Kadesh, so if you look in the geography you’ll see that from Kadesh if you pass through Eretz Edom, right there you get right to Eretz Yisrael. This is very interesting because right at the beginning of the parasha of Beshalach already, they could have went through Eretz Plishtim when they were afraid, so therefore they had to go around through the desert in a different way. And now there’s one more detour, sort of, very interesting, one more detour where they can’t go through Edom. Moshe and Sefer Devarim has a slightly different version of this story, but this is what he tells us here.

The Diplomatic Mission to Edom

So Moshe sends messengers or we could translate malachim [malachim] I think would be a nice translation, would be ambassadors, always an important messenger, like he carries a message from the king. He sends the messengers to the king of Edom saying, כה אמר אחיך ישראל [koh amar achicha Yisrael — this is what your brother Israel says], so Edom is considered a brother of Yisrael, of Yaakov, so they’re literally treating each other as brother, sibling nations, so he’s asking him for permission as a brother to let them through.

You’ll remember of course that Eisav already asked Yaakov this once in the parasha of Vayishlach and Yaakov refused in a nice way and this is sort of the repercussions of that.

The Appeal to Compassion

And they tell him, look, you know all the hardships that we’ve went through, we went down to Mitzrayim, remember you didn’t go to Mitzrayim, you went to Edom, but we went down to Mitzrayim, our parents, and we were there for many days, the Mitzrayim hurt us and our parents, right, because our parents were in Mitzrayim, we’re just their descendants, but we’ve screamed to Hashem and he’s heard our voice, he sent a messenger, so interesting, he sent a messenger, we sending you a messenger, and Hashem sent a messenger and took us out of Mitzrayim. The messenger obviously is Moshe himself, but he’s speaking in the name of Yisroel, he’s not speaking in the name of himself.

And here we are in Kadesh, next to your border, and we’re asking you, therefore we’re asking you, so they’re sort of like being me’orer rachamim [me’orer rachamim — arousing compassion], they’re trying to arouse the compassion of Bnei Edom, their brother, saying look, we’ve struggled so long, finally we’re getting close to where we’re supposed to get to, let us go through your land.

The Promise of Peaceful Passage

And they promise them, we’re not going to go through your fields, your vineyards, in other words we’re not going to take your food, we’re not going to ruin, right, when an army passes by a land, the first thing they do is they ruin the countryside, they ruin the food and the vineyards, they think we’re not going to do that, we’re going in derech hamelech [derech hamelech — the way of the king], we’re going the highway. Derech hamelech means literally the way of the king, but what this means is like the highway, the king’s responsible for like having highways which don’t go through fields and that, we’re not going to go right or left, until we go through.

Edom’s Refusal

Bnei Edom didn’t trust them, and he said, do not pass, I will come cross you with a sword, in other words, with the military, he doesn’t accept this offer for peace. Of course, it’s hard to say that he’s entirely wrong because, you know, these people are, as we’ve mentioned many times, they’re traveling as an army, they’re not really traveling in peace, and to let an army go through your land is a dangerous thing, it’s not simple, they might have, they probably meant it seriously, that they’re not going to act that way, but it’s not clear what they would give him to make them trust him.

The Second Appeal with Additional Concessions

And they ask him again, which again means something like, we’ll go in the, in the paved ways, we’re not even going to make our way, we’re not even going to go in derech hamelech, we’ll go in some paved ways, and they promise something else, they say, we’ll drink, so first they said, we’re not going to use your, we’re not going to drink your wells, we’ll somehow have our own water or something, now they’re promising even better, no, we’ll use your wells, but we’ll pay you for it, just, we’re not going to do anything, just let us go through with our feet, in other words, we’re not going to bring, what we say, heavy artillery, we’re not bringing along any, any horses, any guns, anything important, we’re just walking through.

The Final Refusal and Military Confrontation

But it didn’t help, Edom said, do not go, and he also followed through on his promise, he went, he came out in front of them with, with a heavy army, the strong hand, in other words, armed, and they showed very clearly, they backed up their threats with actions, and didn’t let the Yisroel pass through.

And therefore, they couldn’t conquer him, they couldn’t fight with him, as it says in Sefer Devarim, that Hashem told Moshe not to fight with him, so it’s not only they couldn’t, it was also, Hashem said that Edom belongs to Edom, we should not fight with them, and therefore, they went around the other way.

The Death of Aharon at Hor Hahar

The Divine Decree

So, now, going the other way, they go from Kadesh, and around Eretz Edom, they come to a place called Hor Hahar, and now, Hashem speaks to Moshe and Aharon in Hor Hahar, and Hashem tells them, Aharon will die. So, ye’asef Aharon el amav [ye’asef Aharon el amav — Aharon will be gathered to his people], Aharon will be gathered to his people, which means, to his dead people, right, to his family, to his, he’s going to go back apart, so, in some sense, when you’re born, you’re separated from your greater family, which includes the living and the dead, you go, you’re dead, you go back where you came from with your family.

Because, he’s not coming to the land, as we’ve discussed five seconds ago, because, al asher maritem et pi [al asher maritem et pi — because you rebelled against My word], because you’ve rebelled against my word at Mei Meriva, so, here, we see, very clearly, Aharon is considered together with Moshe, maritem et pi [maritem et pi — you rebelled against My word], they didn’t follow what Hashem said, or they didn’t believe in him enough, trust him enough.

The Transfer of the Priestly Garments

So, Hashem tells Moshe, take Aharon and his son Elazar, take them up to this mountain, take Aharon, take off Aharon’s clothing, in other words, the bigdei kehunah [bigdei kehunah — priestly garments], put them on Elazar, so, this is very clearly, as we’ve seen, in Parshat Tetzaveh, in Parshat, later, in Parshat Naso, in other places, we saw, very clearly, that the dressing, the kohein, in these clothing, in the bigdei kehunah, is what constitutes, in some sense, his power, his being the kohein, so, this is the succession, you take it off from Aharon, and you give it to Elazar, so, he succeeds him.

And that’s what he does, they go, and they, Moshe takes off Aharon’s clothing, puts it on Elazar, and, basically, everyone, very publicly, everyone sees that Elazar is now the kohein after Aharon, Aharon dies, and they both come down, Moshe comes down with Elazar, they show that Elazar is now the kohein.

The Mourning for Aharon

And we have the report of the aveilus [aveilus — mourning], the crying, they all see that Aharon died, they cry for him, thirty days, all the places, all the people cry for Aharon, this is the reports that we’ve had, for Yaakov, we’re going to have it for Moshe, when an important leader dies, there’s reports of the people crying for him, for thirty days, which is the accepted amount, in other places, it says shiva yamim [shiva yamim — seven days], right, so, that’s why we have shiva yamim, with different levels of mourning, but in any case, there’s this report of the crying of the mourning for Aharon, since he died, and that’s the end of this chapter.

Bamidbar Chapter 21: Fragmentary Narratives at the Threshold

Introduction: The Third Section of Bamidbar

As I’ve mentioned, or I might have not mentioned, so I’ll give this preface to this chapter and many of the chapters or the stories in this part of the book. As we’ve said, this is sort of the third part of the narrative, the third part of the chronology if we say the first part is the first year, the establishment of the Mishkan and the camp around it. Second part would be the beginning of the travel through the Midbar and the complaints and stories that have to do with it. And the third part is the end of the travel through the Midbar and the wars and also complaints and tests and challenges that happened with that.

As we saw yesterday, we already had the deaths of two of the three main leaders of the people during this first generation, all the way from Mitzrayim, which are Miriam and Aharon. So we’re left only with Moshe, so to speak. And of course, Moshe’s death was already talked about in the previous chapter, Moshe is going to die in the desert, not going to take him into Eretz Israel because of the sin of Mei Meriva. So we’re very clearly at the turning point of the new generation. But we still have some parts to go through, some stories and even some conquests and some successes of Moshe at the threshold of the land of Canaan and the land of Israel. So we hear certain successes and certain not fully successes.

The Fragmentary Nature of These Narratives

And as we’ll see, I think one of the best way to look at all these stories is that many of them are fragmentary. We have very little information. Of course, like, for example, the beginning of the story, the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim, the parashat Shemot is at length the story of Moshe overcoming the challenges of Mitzrayim and all the 10 Makkot and all of that, the whole story of the establishment of the Mishkan and the camps around it were told to us in great length. There’s no detail missing or even many details that we say are, we think are superfluous, they’re extra, there’s a huge amount of detail.

But when it comes to this, in particular, this part of the story, the last few wars that Moshe fought, the last few stories that happened, there’s something very, very fragmentary in the way that they’re told and the way that they’re recounted to us. We’re missing sort of most of the narrative. There’s even explicit references in this chapter and possibly in some other chapters to some books or some sources which apparently have more of these narratives and more full, but we don’t have those books or we don’t have those writings or those songs or those sources. So we’re kind of missing the main context, the main part of the narrative of the story. We have only like little parts, but this is what we’re going to read.

The War with the King of Arad (Pesukim 1-3)

The Initial Attack

So the first thing is we hear another war with the Canaanites, the king of Arad. Arad is somewhere to the south of Israel. Of course, the Negev are somewhere there. Not clear when this happened. This is something we saw something very similar already in the end of Parshat Shelach, when the Meraglim went and הכנעני יושב בנגב [the Canaanite dwelling in the Negev], and Arad is in the Negev, and they fought with the people of Israel that went up to the land after the Meraglim, after they decided that they will go. And this might be some repeat or some version of that same story or just another thing that happened again.

In any case, he hears that the Canaanite who lives in Negev, the king of Arad, this is the exact Canaanite that we discussed, hears that Israel came there to Atarim, so some way over there called Atarim. This is some way or some place where they went and he comes to fight with them and he captures some captives. So apparently he was successful, at least in his initial battle, he captured some captives from Israel. So there’s a problem.

Israel’s Neder (Vow)

And therefore, in response to this crisis, what they do is something that we see very many times, not so much in the Chumash, but many times in Tehillim and Tanakh, where one of the things someone does in a crisis is he makes a neder, he makes a promise. Of course, we’ve read in the stories of the Avot many times the concept of a neder, as I’ve told you then already, the main concept of a neder is when someone is in a crisis, someone is in a situation that is hard, he promises Hashem that if we’ll get better, if we’ll get out of this, he will bring a korban, he will do something for Hashem.

So Israel, in general, the collective makes a neder and they say, if you will give this people in my hands, this is a kind of korban we’ll see in Sefer Yehoshua, something similar to the concept of a cherem. In other words, I will not take it for myself, I will give it to you, I will give it like we learned earlier, כל חרם בישראל לך יהיה [kol cherem b’Yisrael lecha yihiyeh — all cherem in Israel shall be yours], it goes to the Kohanim, it goes to the Mikdash, and so on. That’s saying that’s going to be the fulfillment of their pledge of their neder too.

Victory and the Name Chormah

And Hashem listens, וישמע ה’ [vayishma Hashem — and Hashem listened], because Israel is a very nice request. We have a lot of times we listen to the voice of Hashem, but Hashem listens to the voice of the people and He gives ויתן את הכנעני [vayiten et haKena’ani — and He gave the Canaanite], in other words, it’s implied, they win the battle and they make a cherem for the Canaanite, for their cities, and that’s why this place is called Chormah.

The interesting thing is, of course, that Chormah was the exact name of the place where the Canaanite fought the battle and won against the Ma’apilim, the name of the place is mentioned in other places also, so there’s some complication with this word Chormah, there might be more than one place called Chormah, named after the same idea of like Chormah being the place where a cherem was made. It’s giving this name a reason, that it was called Chormah, because this place was called cherem, because it was a neder that the people made.

So that’s one very fragmentary report, it’s not clear what this war is about, I mean obviously later they’re going to go into Eretz HaKena’an and Sefer Yehoshua and conquer also this Canaanite, it’s explicitly mentioned if I remember, Melech Arad or Melech Chormah. So there’s something interesting about this story, there’s Midrashim that tried to deal with what’s going on here and fill in some of the background and tell us what’s happening, but that’s what the report that we have here.

The Complaint, the Serpents, and the Copper Snake (Pesukim 4-9)

A New Model of Response

Now we have one more story of a problem, of a complaint, and a very interesting response. So we’ve discussed several models of the complaints and the response that the Hashem has or Moshe has to the complaints. What we have here is a new kind of model, or maybe the most similar to what happened after Parshat Korach when there was a Maggeifah, and Moshe had a, we could call something like a segulah, some kind of technique to solve the problem, and here also we’re going to have a solution. Hashem is upset and therefore causes a problem and Moshe doesn’t just do teshuvah or doesn’t just beg Hashem to relent, he has a certain solution, a technical solution to the problem and of course everyone knows the Mishnah that discusses what kind of solution this might be to reinterpret it in the moral terms, but that’s what happened.

The People’s Complaint

So what happens is, they go back from Hor HaHar, so remember they were in Hor HaHar, that’s where Aharon died, and they have to go back to go around Edom because Edom doesn’t let them go through. ותקצר נפש העם [vatiktzar nefesh ha’am — and the soul of the people became short], in other words, they become tired, they become maybe thirsty and hungry, but they become tired from the way, they don’t have any more patience to go through, the way is getting longer and longer here, they’ve faced many obstacles and setbacks.

And therefore they speak about Elokim and Hashem and Moshe, their leaders, so they’re complaining against them and they have their regular complaint that they always have, why did they bring us out of Mitzrayim, we’re going to die in the desert, there’s no bread, there’s no food, yes we have some here, they admit that they have some food, apparently the mahn, but similar to what they complained about the mahn in Parashat Beha’alotcha, ונפשנו קצה בלחם הקלוקל [venafshenu katzah ballechem hakelokeil — our souls are fed up with this worthless bread], with this not good bread, with this spoiled bread or not good bread.

The Punishment: Venomous Serpents

And Hashem in response sends נחשים שרפים [nechashim serafim — venomous serpents], so strong snakes, Serafim many times, over here means a snake, it’s a snake that burns, something like a poisonous snake, something like venomous snakes, and they bite the people and many die from these snakes. Of course, we’re going to see in Sefer Devarim, this is one of the very clear attributes of the desert, that there’s venomous snakes in it, נחש שרף [nachash saraf], that’s the kind of animal that you find in the desert, but obviously this was in response to their complaints that the desert is a bad place, so they got from the dangers of the desert.

Confession and Prayer

Now the people come to Moshe and they admit their sin, they say חטאנו [chatanu — we have sinned], they say Vidui, we spoke about Hashem, so this is not b’einei Moshe or b’einei Hashem, he didn’t hear, the people come to Moshe and say, and sort of apologize to him, they say we’ve spoken against you, against Hashem, please pray to Hashem and He takes away the snakes and Moshe prays, but that prayer is not enough.

The Solution: The Copper Serpent

Hashem tells Moshe, take one serpent, in other words one snake, one sort of snake, put it on a stick, kind of a flag stick, flagpole, everyone who was bitten will see it and become back healthy, וחי [vechai — and live] meaning will be healthy, chai can mean live, but chai can mean also become healthy. So that’s what he does, נחש נחשת [nechash nechoshet — a copper serpent], Hashem didn’t tell him to make it out of copper, Hashem told him to make a snake, obviously means like an image of it, but made it out of copper, it’s a nice alliteration, nechash nechoshet, and he puts it on a stick, a nes, a flagpole, something that you hang something, here not a flag, like a statue or some image, and if any snake bites someone they look at it and they become healed.

And this is like I said something mysterious, what does this mean, what does this happen, why did Hashem give him this solution, something mysterious, and also as we can add all kinds of background to understand it, but this is part of the fragmentary nature of these reports, there’s something unclear here, something not very fully explained what’s going on.

Travel Report: Moving Toward the Destination

Now we have a short report, as I’ve given this title to it, it’s a report of firstly a travel report, so some fragments of something which we have the full version of in the end of Parashat Masei, in the end of this book, with all their stops, all their traveling in the desert, and it seems like this point of this is to get them from where they were, from Hor HaHar, they went to Atarim, all these places, all the way to the end, the end goal of this chapter so to speak, or this part really of the book.

The Mystery of the Copper Serpent (Continued)

The copper serpent — nachash nechoshet — placed on a nes (a flagpole or stick, something you hang something on) — not a flag but a statue or image. If any snake bites someone, they look at it and they become healed. This is, as I said, something mysterious. What does this mean? What does this happen? Why did Hashem give him this solution? Something mysterious. And also, as I said, we can add all kinds of background to understand it, but this is part of the fragmentary nature of these reports. There’s something unclear here, something not very fully explained what’s going on.

HaMasa’ot v’HaShirot — The Travel Reports and Songs

Now we have a short report, as I’ve given this title: *HaMasa’ot v’HaShirot* [The Travels and the Songs]. It’s a report of, firstly, a travel report — so some fragments of something which we have the full version of in the end of Parshat Masei and in the end of this book, with all their stops, all their traveling the desert. And it seems like the point of this is to get them from where they were — from Hor HaHar they went to Hasodim, all these places — all the way to the end. The end goal of this chapter, so to speak, of this part, really of the book, is they will arrive at a place called Aravot Moav [the plains of Moav]. That’s the last stop. That’s where the whole important last part of the story happens. Also Sefer Devarim — all is happening in Aravot Moav.

The Journey to Aravot Moav

So they go first to a place called Ovot. From Ovot they went to a place called Iyei HaAvarim, which is in the desert on the face of Moav from the east of Moav. And then they go to a place called Nachal Zered. Then come to a place called Ever Arnon, which is in the desert going out of the border of the Emori. Because Arnon is a river, a famous river in what’s called Transjordan — the other side of the Jordan — where Moav is. And that river was the border of Moav, between the Moav and the Emori. Emori is one of the seven nations of Canaan. So they went there, and apparently there’s something going on with these borders, right? Some of the people they have a good relationship with, some of them they don’t.

Sefer Milchamot Hashem — The Book of the Wars of Hashem

And over here there is a poem, or a fragment of a poem, quoted. It’ll be in Sefer Milchamot Hashem [the Book of the Wars of Hashem]. So now we get to this place called Arnon. There’s a fragment of a poem said, and then the poem is given a location. It said, “the Sefer from the Milchamot Hashem.” So apparently there was a book or a poem, maybe an oral poem, called *Sefer Milchamot Hashem*, and the *Sefer Milchamot Hashem* has some epic poetry about the wars, the conquests, and the challenges that people had on their way.

And it says like this — I think most literal translation — this is: these are names of places, the rivers Arnon. So these are apparently places, or maybe names for the same place, like the delta of the rivers which go to Arnon. All the *eshed* [delta] — they tend towards Ar. So Ar is famously one of the cities of Moav. Finish on the *givul* [border], even goes to the border of Moav.

Shirat HaBe’er — The Song of the Well

And there, there was also the be’er [well]. So here’s the first time we have this account of a well. Of course, one of the big problems of the desert is that there’s no water, and we had the stories twice, right? Over here last chapter and in Parshat Moshe, hitting a rock and making it into — sort of making it into a bar — but it’s not called a *be’er*. Here’s the first time where there’s a *be’er*. And of course, the most literal meaning would be something like: over there in that area they found some kind of well.

“אשר אמר ה’ למשה” [Asher amar Hashem l’Moshe — Where Hashem said to Moshe]: “Gather the people, now I’ll give them water.” This might mean the water, the well in the sense of became a well, but it was really what — the rock that Moshe made into a well? Or it just a well that Moshe somehow dug or discovered there? Remember, the stories of the digging of the wells in Sefer Bereishit — it’s a big deal when you find a well in the desert or in places that are close to the desert where it’s hard to find. So that’s part of the story.

And it quotes another song, and there’s all this “אז ישיר ישראל את השירה הזאת” [Az yashir Yisrael et hashira hazot — Then Israel sang this song]. So “את השירה הזאת” [et hashira hazot] — this is when they first sang this song, but of course we still sing it. It’s a song that’s repeated or sang later, and the same way there’s — was a song about the *be’er*.

The song goes: “עלי באר ענו לה” [Ali be’er, enu lah — Rise, well, and answer to her]. So they’re sort of singing to this well, or about this well, or about this great accomplishment that they found a well. And they said: “באר חפרוה שרים” [Be’er chafruha sarim — The well the princes dug it]. “נדיבי עם” [Nedivei am], which is another word for princes, have dug it. The lawgivers, or the people who are digging — “במחקק” [b’mechokek] can mean can mean someone who digs or makes a ditch or a kind of digging in the earth or in something — “במשענתם” [b’mishenotam — with their sticks].

So there’s some play on words with sticks. Of course we discussed where you have a *shevet* [staff], and I see someone who has a stick. But this stick can be also said as like the stick that sort of like a tool that digs in the earth and makes a well and finds water. So that’s the important thing: how they find water.

The Final Stages of Travel

And now we go back to — this also seems to be written poetically, but it’s also a description of more travels, more stops. They go from Midbar to Mattanah to Nachaliel to Bamot to the final stop, which is the valley in the fields of Moav, with the head of this mountain — Rosh HaPisgah — which from which you can see the entire valley and the entire — the plains over there. “Pnei HaYeshimon” [the face of the Yeshimon] — it might be also a proper name, or also just means the plains. And that’s, as I said, that’s the last place where they’re going to. That’s this poem is describing this, like, last few chapters, the last few stops where they get to there.

The Wars with Neighboring Nations

But we still have some — one, two — one, two more important short reports of wars in this chapter, and we have to talk about them quickly. So similarly to — so we’re reading here about three — this in the previous chapter — three important wars that Moshe led, wars or attempted wars that Moshe led with three different nations around Israel.

First War: Edom (Review)

The first was Edom, which they’ve sent a message and didn’t let them go through, so they passed by him.

Second War: Sichon King of the Emori

Then there was another one. The same thing: they sent messengers, and they sent — they sent messengers to Sichon, the king of Emori. So we’ve heard of Moav and Emori, right? Emori is the one on the other side of the Arnon. And they ask him the same thing: we’re going to go, we’re not going to drink your water, we’re not going to go into your fields, into your vineyards, we’ll go on the king’s highway.

And Sichon did not allow them pass by. Unlike Edom, which didn’t let them pass by and came — of course — across to them, came towards them with his army, and the people — the Bnei Yisrael — passed, sort of lost or retreated. For Sichon, they did not retreat. So Sichon, it comes to them, the place called Yahatz. He fights with them there, and they fight him back. They kill him by the sword, and they take his land. They conquer his land from the Arnon until the Yabok — these are two rivers or the two limits of Sichon’s land. Emori, all with — Bnei Ammon is on the other side, apparently, or maybe where the Yabok is, there’s the limit, the boundary, the border of Ammon. And that’s strongly defended; they couldn’t take that. But they took all of the land of Sichon, which is from Arnon to Yabok.

So they took all these cities and they sat in all these cities. Known as Cheshbon and all the daughter cities of Cheshbon — like the cities around it. Not cities and like suburbs — not suburbs in those days, was not suburbs — but they’re like other cities. Cheshbon was sort of the head city, and the other cities called their daughters. They were all taken by the people.

Historical Background: Sichon’s Conquest of Moav

And this doesn’t give some of the historical note: Cheshbon was this city of Sichon, although it was originally his land. Originally it belonged to the king of Moav, because this whole area is called Aravot Moav, the area of Moav, the plains of Moav. But Sichon has fought a war with the first king of Moav and took in his land, all the way to Arnon.

The Moshlim Poem About Sichon’s Victory

And it quotes another poem: “על כן יאמרו המושלים” [Al ken yomru hamoshlim — Therefore the poets say], or the people say proverbs. Have had a poem, and also this poem is very geographical, full of names of a series of places. And apparently this poem was about Sichon’s conquest of Moav. So the Torah is quoting some kind of Sichon poem, some kind of poem that Sichon was singing about. Or the *moshlim* — we’ll see next, in the next week, in the next chapter — is about Bilaam, who was one of the *moshlim*, one of the ancient poets or prophets that would say poems about the nations around them, around Israel.

So similarly, one of these poems was about Sichon’s great conquests of Moav. And as it says: “בואו חשבון” [Bo’u Cheshbon — Come to Cheshbon]. Cheshbon will be built up. A fire came out of Cheshbon, a fire — and there’s these doublings of as and as, as is common in biblical poetry — a flame from the city of Sichon. It ate the land, the city of Moav called Ar, “בעלי במות ארנון” [ba’alei bamot Arnon — the high places of Arnon], which is again the river that’s in Moav. And ate also the great, the high places of Arnon.

And this poem goes on to say: “אוי לך מואב” [Oy lecha Moav — Woe to you, Moav]. You’ve lost. “אבדת עם כמוש” [Avadta am Kemosh — You are lost, people of Kemosh]. Kemosh was the name of the god of Moav, their god. Their people, or *am Kemosh*, is another way of saying Moav, is lost. His children are fugitives, his daughters are captives. They’re all given to the king Sichon, king of Emori.

And they were also lost. “ונירם” [Vaniram] — they’re either a place called Vaniram, or it’s a word for their kingship — was lost from Cheshbon until Divon, or from Nashmal to Nofach, which is next to Medva. But these are all places and cities that Sichon took from Moav, and Israel now — Israel conquered from Sichon and therefore sat in all these places.

Third War: Yazer

So that’s one more war that we discussed. Now there’s even one more, very short report of a very short war: a place called Yazer. Doesn’t say who lived there — part of Emori, but maybe it also belongs to Sichon, but has a separate report of the war. So Moshe sent spies to Yazer and conquered it, and they say all the daughter cities of Yazer, and conquered it from the Emori who lived there.

Fourth War: Og King of Bashan

One more report, which is the next king. They’ve turned around, they went through Bashan. Bashan is somewhat higher, more north, so to speak, and also in the what is now Jordan, Syria, Golan, places like that. And Og, the king of Bashan, comes and fights with them. It doesn’t say that they asked to go through him. Apparently he just unprovoked — or they were planning to go through him anyways. It’s not clear why.

The War with Og, King of Bashan

This war with Og started, and here apparently Moshe was scared, because we have a report of Hashem telling Moshe, don’t be afraid because I’ve given you, I’ve given him and his people and his land in your hands, and do to him what you did to Sihon, the king of Cheshbon.

So in other words, Hashem is reminding Moshe: look, you’re powerful, you’re able to conquer Sihon, you’ll be able to conquer Og in the same way. And that’s what they do — they hit him, they destroyed him, his children, his nation, until there was nothing left from him, and they took his land.

Arrival at Arvos Moav — The Final Encampment

And that is really — the chapter finishes here. But I think we should do, like I said here, one more pasuk. From there they go to Arvos Moav [the plains of Moav], which is on the other side of the Yarden [Jordan River] opposite Jericho. In other words, from the perspective of the land of Israel, it’s on the other side — what we call Trans-Jordan, or the East Bank, the East Bank of the River Jordan. That’s their last stop, and there we’re going to have the rest of the story is going to play out there.

Concluding Observations on Chapters 20–21

So all of these last two chapters were really condensed and fragmentary reports of the second half, so to speak, of the journey of the people in the desert, and that’s the end of chapter 21.