JEWISH SENTINEL

JEWISH SENTINEL • JUNE 18 - 24, 2021 7 In Judaism, It’s ‘We’ Before ‘I’ Parshat Chukat Numbers 19:1-21:1 By SHLOMO RISKIN “God spoke to Moses and Aar- on, saying, ‘This is the ordinance [chukat] of the Torah which God has commanded, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring a completely red heifer, which has no blemish, and which has never had a yoke on it’” (Numbers 19:1-2). I s it more important to devote oneself to personal spiritual development or to work for the good of the nation? I believe that a good argument can be made that commitment to the nation takes priority over commitment to one’s own spiritual needs. One source that makes this point is a Midrash (Shmot Rabah, Chap. 2:80), which links two kinds of animal slaughter - not by blood, but by a common word: chukat. The Midrash has in mind the paschal lamb sacrifice of Exodus and the paradoxical ritual of the red heifer (which purifies the defiled but defiles all those in- volved in its preparation) discussed ing the first, we read ‘zot chukat ha- pesach” (Ex. 12:43), and concern- ing the second we read ‘zot chukat haTorah’ (Num. 19:2). After mak- ing the linkage, the Midrash pon- ders which of the two is the greater and more important ordinance. The analysis takes on the form of an analogy. If two identical women walk in the street, how do we know which of the two is greater? The Midrash explains that if one of the women is ahead of the other, she is greater. Paralleling the case of the identical women, the Midrash guides us back to the case of the identical ‘chukim’ and the origi- nal question. Which is greater, the paschal sacrifice or the red heifer? Obviously, it is the one which is accompanied by the other, the one which leads the other. Although they appear to be similar in stat- ure, the red heifer always accom- panies the paschal lamb, following behind. Before we can eat from the paschal sacrifice we must first be purified, and it’s the red heifer which provides the means of ritual purity, which must be activated be- fore we are enabled to participate in this week’s portion, Chukat, and quoted above. Regarding the paschal sacrifice, the same word, chukat, appears. “This is the ordinance [chukat] of the pesach, no stranger shall eat of it” (Exodus 12:43). Any law in the Torah called ‘chok’ has no rational explanation, as opposed to those which are uni- versally understood as ‘rational, natural laws,’ such as the prohi- bitions against stealing, killing, etc. Rational laws are the key to a society’s survival, but a chok is geared to the Jewish nation and re- ligious ritual, and often cannot be explained rationally. When it comes to the ‘chukim’ of the paschal lamb and the red heifer, their interpretation by the Midrash focuses on two distinct approaches to Jewish life and practice. Interpreting the verse in Psalms 119:80, “May my heart be whole- hearted with your statutes [chukim] in order that I not be ashamed,” the Midrash explains that this refers to the ordinance (‘chok’) of the pas- chal sacrifice and the ordinance (‘chok’) of the red heifer. Concern- in the paschal sacrifice. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik, of blessed memory, my rebbe and mentor, takes this Midrashic in- terpretation a step further. The red heifer enables a person to partici- pate in ritual ceremonies - those commandments which link the individual with God. Thus the red heifer represents individual, spiri- tual purity. O n the other hand, the paschal sacrifice represents the nation- al commitment of the Jewish peo- ple. The commandment to bring the ‘pesach’ was given just when we emerged as a nation, strug- gling to escape the claw of slavery. When the Torah commands the Jewish people to bring the paschal sacrifice, it tells us, in the same verse, that a non-Jew is forbidden to eat of it. Any male who does not carry the indelible mark of being a Jew, circumcision, cannot join in. The entire character of the paschal sacrifice demonstrates that it’s not for individuals, that it may not be eaten by an individual, but rather must be eaten within a familial and national context. And since every single Jew in the community of Israel is commanded to take part, this ritual unites every Jew to his fellow Jew. If the red heifer is about indi- vidual ritual and religious purity and the paschal sacrifice is about national commitment, it becomes clear that when one’s own spiritual development comes into conflict with a national issue, the national commitment must come first; the national commitment is the pur- pose for the spiritual cleansing. The paschal sacrifice is the goal, DVAR TORAH Every member of the Jewish people’s most important task is to subjugate his needs to those of the nation. continued on page 21