This week, we have a double portion, and a lot of story. In Hukkat, we start with the rules for the red heifer. Then Miriam dies, which starts the people complaining there's no water. Moses in a hissy fit strikes a rock instead of talking to it like God wants. God responds by telling Moses that he's never going to set foot in Israel for that stunt. The Israelites are on the move, when they very politely ask for permission to cross the land of Edom. They are told very rudely if they do, they will be attacked. So they start going the long way. After this, God tells Aaron to ascend mount Hor, where he dies. Then a Canaanite king attacks and takes hostages. The Israelite response is to raze the city involved to the ground. Then after more grumbling there's a plague of snakes. When they get to the land of the Amorites, they politely request of King Sihon to cross the land, promising to keep on the king's road and not damage anything. Deuteronomy tells us Moses even opened the door for a hefty profit by offering compensation for any food set at whatever price the Amorites want. Sihon, not understanding the concept of “tourist rates,” decides to attack the wandering tribes only to be totally annihilated by Israelite troops, and all of the Amorite land is taken. Sihon's neighbor, King Og of Bashan attacks without any provocation, only to find the same fatal fate as Sihon.
Then in Parshat Balak, King Balak of Moab watches all of his neighbors go down to defeat militarily at the hands of the Israelites. Realizing military solutions are a bad idea, he sends envoys to the greatest magician in the area, Balaam, to curse the advancing Israelites. Balaam first refuses and then after a large amount of money and ego massaging, he reluctantly goes. But there is a condition; he can only speak whatever God puts in his mouth. Balaam heads towards the camp of the Israelites, only to be blocked by a rather disturbing angel of the Lord with an even more disturbing sword. Balaam doesn’t see this, only his donkey does, and steers out of the road to avoid this angel, often identified as Satan. Balaam strikes the donkey each of the three times this happens. Then the donkey speaks and asks Balaam why he doesn’t trust her. It is then that Balaam sees the angel, who says if it weren’t for the donkey; he’d be a very dead magician. After this encounter, Balaam meets up with Balak, and sets up the curse. Three times in a row, the curse ends up as a blessing, the most famous being “ma tovu” and Balak is furious. The only ting that does seem to slow down the Israelites, Midianite women prostitute themselves with the Israelites. They seduce many of the Israelites, including senior officials, to start worshipping Baal-Peor. God gets upset with this and starts a plague. One such tasteless coupling happens in front of the Mishkan, in sight of a shocked Moses and congregation. Aaron’s Grandson Pinchas gets up, grabs a javelin and runs them through, ending the plague.
To say the least, a lot is going on, indeed an overwhelming amount to write a commentary about. But starting with the red heifer, we see a theme in these two portions. We read of the red heifer
This is the ordinance of the Torah which the Lord has commanded, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, which has no blemish, and upon which never came yoke; 3. And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may bring it forth outside the camp, and one shall slay it before his face; 4. And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle of its blood directly before the Tent of Meeting seven times; 5. And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; its skin, and its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall he burn; 6. And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. [Numbers 19:2-6]
The red cow without any spots and that never worked is nothing by itself. It must be burned with Hyssop and cedar and the ashes of the three, when mixed with water, becomes a powerful method of removing the spiritual uncleanliness found in death from those who are living. It is not the heifer, but the ash solution that does this. The cow must be transformed by fire.
When in Numbers 17:11 Moses tells Aaron to stop a plague with incense, it is Aaron and Moses that stops the plague. But this week we read
6. And, behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the people of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the Tent of Meeting. 7. And when Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8. And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague ceased from the people of Israel. [Numbers 25:6-8]
It is now Pinchas, Aaron’s grandson, and interestingly, the one designated to supervise the burning of the red heifer that saves the day. Pinchas is the vice-priest, since earlier in the portion, his grandfather dies and his father Eleazar has now become the High Priest [Numbers 20:28]. While Aaron was alive, however, we read in Numbers 19:3, that it is Eleazar who is to make the waters of lustration, thus we can assume it is the next priest in succession that is to supervise the burning of the red heifer, the one who will in time become the high priest, when the high priest dies. And, also interestingly, it is death contamination which the waters of lustration made from the red heifer remove.
The stories of the death of Aunt Miriam and Eleazar’s dad Aaron follow the red heifer. The one most in need of removing death contamination has made that which is necessary to remove it. Getting prepared for death is followed by transforming the preparer into the high priest. All of the next generation becomes transformed and ready for their new role. This next generation often does do their jobs well; Sihon and Og find that out the hard way-- the Israelites are not the cowards of the generation of the ten spies; the lowly grasshopper has transformed into a dreaded swarm of locusts. The number of such transformations are rather incredible: Donkeys talk, Balaam unwittingly transforming curses into blessings, Sihon turns a great opportunity for making a hefty profit by gouging foreign customers into his people's total destruction. These two portions are about transformation and change.
All of this works as a metaphor for how we can change too. I’ve been thinking a lot about change, as I take the next month to do my own makeover and transformation. At my conference last week, I met a man I really liked and admired, and really wanted to be him. Thing was, it was the guy in the mirror, or rather the person I was at the conference. This was a man who inspired others, who was incredibly funny, confident and friendly. This was a man who attracted people to him. For the regular me, the shy boy who is afraid to ask someone for the time of day, to the guy who has such trouble dating, this man at the confrence was a man to be admired. This is the man at the podium or bimah. Put me in front of twenty to two hundred fifty people and I become a different person, many who have seen me in action probably have only seen me as that man. Put me in a room of people, such as a cookout, cocktail party or such, and if I was any more of a wall flower, I’d be able to walk through walls.
I want to be that man at the confrence. Not just some of the time, but all the time. I know he’s in me. I have the potential to transform myself into something special, just like the live red heifer and hyssop and cedar trees have the potential to become the powerfully holy waters of lustration. I believe we all have that potential to become what we want -- to change and transform. Like the waters of lustration made by the one who will eventually transform into the High Priest, there are transformations in transformations. The world is about change.
And over and over in this change we see two important elements we all should remember when undergoing our own transformations. In the plague of snakes (Numbers 21:5-9), it is not Moses who has to yell at the Israelites like evry other time they're doing something wrong, but the people themselves who admit their mistake, taking personal responsibility. While earlier they complained about no water, now they sing while digging. (21:17-18) The first element of change is taking responsibility for the transformation. The only one who transforms us is ourselves. We are the one who have to change inside. Change does not happen by reading a self help book or blog, watching a DVD or motivational speaker. It is not even buying the latest from Revlon, Gillette, or Ford, no matter what the ads say. Change happens when we get up and do it.
Yet in all of those transformations of these two portions, whether directly or indirectly stated, it is clear there is one other very powerful element. God is also involved in these transformations. God is always there and we need God to transform. By knowing and showing that we are close to God, through Torah, Prayer, and Acts of Kindness provides the push to actually succeed in our transformations.
Somewhere deep inside we all have something we want to change about ourselves. It may be losing a few pounds. It may be getting over shyness, or having the endurance to run a marathon. It may be playing a musical instrument, or learning to do art. There are so many things we all want to improve about ourselves. Let us all take the lesson of Torah and remember it is up to us and up to God for us to succeed.
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