Parshah Hukkat Drash

Drash given by David Haymer on July 13, 2024

Parshah Hukkat

The name for this Parshah is often translated as “laws” or “decrees”. According to
Richard Friedman’s commentary on the Torah, this Parshah can be viewed as an elaboration of
the laws given at Sinai. However, Friedman also says that this Parshah might be called
“transitions”, referring to the fact that it includes several major changes in our story.
The first transition can be seen in how God to speaks to us to impart information.
Previously, when God says: “Instruct the Israelite people…”, he speaks only to Moses.
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה
In this Parshah, we hear in the very 1 st line (for the first time in the Tanach): God spoke
to Moses and Aaron
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר

God said: This is the ritual law that the Lord has commanded: “Instruct the Israelite
people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke
has been laid. You shall give it Eleazer, the Priest to be taken out to be slaughtered…” Eleazer is,
of course, Aaron’s son, and the red cow is the infamous “red heifer”.
I will come back to the red heifer later, but for now the inclusion of both Aaron and
Eleazer in these direct instructions presages that Moses is no longer the sole central figure in the
life of the Israelites. They will have to begin the transition to other leaders.
Later in this Parshah, we have another major transition of leadership occurring because of
the deaths of both Miriam and Aaron. Furthermore, it is also here that we learn that Moses is
told here that he will die before entering the promised land.
There is a lot we might say her about the different treatments given to the deaths of both
Aaron and Miriam. The death of Aaron extends over several versus, but the death of Miriam
gets only one simple verse with no elaboration. Given the importance of Miriam in our history,
this hardly seems fair. After all, most recently, Miriam led the singing and dancing when the
Israelites successfully crossed the Red Sea without drowning, and this was the last time we saw
the Israelites happy about the whole escape from Egypt. After that, we hear nothing but
complaining from them about how bad conditions are. But, to go back to the idea of transitions
in this Parshah, I would like to look at why God decides at this point to tell Moses about his
future – meaning that he would not be allowed to enter the promised land.
It all starts with – surprise, surprise, the Israelites complaining again about their
conditions living in the desert – specifically about having no water. It is noteworthy to mention
that their complaints are now directed to both Moses and Aaron. In response, they are both told
by God to take a rod and order the rock to yield water for them and their beasts. But instead,
Moses loses his cool and strikes the rock twice with the rod, and out comes copious amounts of
water.

Apparently, this was enough for God to say that because Moses did not trust him enough
to directly follow his instructions, God would not let him enter the promised land. I think this
was a setup, though, because the entire community had been told previously that no one of the
generation that left Egypt would enter the land. Moses, as important as he was, was also clearly
part of this cohort. And, try to imagine what would have happened if Moses had been allowed to
enter the promised land – how different our history might have been! Moses might have been
made into something like a deity – and this would not have been a good thing. No, the time was
ripe for the Israelites to find their own way with new leadership.
Anyhow, for now let’s get back to the Red Heifer. This concept of having a cow without
blemish has been the source of hundreds of commentaries in our literature. Much of this
controversy stems from defining exactly what “without blemish” means. If you look closely
enough, you might find one white hair amongst all the red ones. Does this mean it is
unacceptable? No! But, if you find two white hairs in close proximity, the cow is not acceptable.
Other controversies have to do with why this cow and the ritual treatment of it is so
special. It is here that our own Etz Hayim book describes a Midrash where King Solomon says:
“I have labored long to understand the word of God, and have understood it all, except for the
ritual of the red cow”.
This of course reflects a deeper quandary as to what we are supposed to do when we read
a section like this in the Tanach, including of course the rules for the laws of Kashrut. Do we try
to justify following them for some health related or other reason, or do we follow the dictate:
These are laws and decrees from God, and we have no right to question them (or even worry
about trying to understand them)?
Of course, as Jews, we tend to enjoy routinely violating this rule by endlessly discussing
and debating the meaning and rationale for such passages. So, in this spirit I will offer my own
perspective here on the ritual of the red cow as it relates to the general practice of animal
sacrifice. First, it is widely believed that one of the great values of the Biblical emphasis on
animal sacrifice was to offer it as an alternative to human sacrifice. And archeological research
has shown that during Biblical times, human sacrifice was widely practiced groups in many
different parts of the world.
The intention of human sacrifice was, of course, to offer something of value to the
“Gods” to placate them. New evidence shows that many times children, and especially twins,
were used for sacrifice precisely because they were deemed to hold the greatest value in many
societies.
I believe this relates directly to why so much attention is paid to the red heifer. This heifer
is an incredibly rare and valuable animal, and as such it is given special treatment. Other
sacrifices were divided up to provide food for the Levites and the broader community, but here
the entire body of the red heifer is completely burnt – its hide, flesh and blood – and its dung
included, as part of the ritual. Between the rarity of this animal and the special treatment it was
given was specifically intended to elevate the value of the sacrifice of the red heifer to a point
where it could be used to replace the great perceived value of child sacrifice.
Finally, one last element of this Parshah I find fascinating is found in 21:6 where God
sends out snakes to bite people that had again been complaining too much. Moses again
intercedes with God on their behalf, and God tells Moses to mount a copper snake on a standard,
and anyone bitten by a snake could look at it and be cured.

This, of course later became the Caduceus, the universal symbol of the medical
profession as healers.

But, I am bothered by the magical powers conferred to this symbol by God, as it seems to
bring it dangerously close to a form of idolatry. I am bothered because we all know this is
something we are supposed to avoid. For now, however, we will have to leave this as another
discussion for another time.
Shabbat Shalom!