Friday, Tammuz 8, 5785 / July 4, 2025
B"H
Friday, Tammuz 8, 5785 / July 4, 2025
As mentioned yesterday, in this week’s Parsha, Chukat, the Torah tells about the passing of Moshe’s sister, Miriam and of his brother, Aaron. Miriam was 125 at the time of her passing and Aaron was 123.
After Miriam’s passing, the well, embedded in a rock, went dry. It accompanied the Jewish people throughout their 40-year journey in the desert and supplied them with fresh water for all those years.
Not having any water to drink, the people gathered against Moshe and Aaron, saying angrily to Moshe; “Why did you bring us to this desert so that we should die here from thirst?”
G-d told Moshe, “Take the special staff and together with your brother Aaron, you should assemble the congregation and in their presence, SPEAK to the rock and it will produce water..”
Moshe was angry at the people, calling them rebels. As a result of his anger, instead of speaking to the rock as G-d commanded, Moshe HIT the rock. When the water didn’t come out, Moshe hit the rock a second time and water came flowing forward.
Our sages say that Moshe’s mistake of hitting the rock instead of speaking to it came as a result of his anger. This mistake cost Moshe and Aaron dearly. G-d punished them that they were barred from going into Israel. G-d said to Moshe and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in Me to sanctify Me in the presence of the Children of Israel (for you hit the rock instead of speaking to it), therefore you will not bring this congregation into The Land…”
Forty years earlier, right after the Exodus, when they didn’t have water, G-d told Moshe to HIT the rock. However, this time he was to speak to the rock.
All of Moshe’s pleas to rescind the decree didn’t help. As a result, Moshe and Aaron died in the desert. In this Parsha we will read about Aaron’s passing. Moshe’s passing is recorded at the end of the Torah. Miriam, Aaron and Moshe all passed away in the span of one year.
Q.Why did G-d tell Moshe to hit the rock forty years earlier and now to speak to the rock?
A. All of this was to serve a lesson to the people. The staff represents fear of punishment. One may fulfill G-d’s commandments in one of two ways; As a result of fear or as a result of love for G-d. When Jews first came out of enslavement, they were not yet expected to observe G-d’s commandments out of love for G-d. It was enough if they did it out of fear of punishment, just as the rock gave water as a result of being hit by Moshe. But now, at the end of forty years, as they were ready to enter into Israel, G-d wanted to teach them that observing the commandments should be for the love of G-d, not as a result of fear of punishment. This is why G-d told Moshe this time to speak, not to hit the rock.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 8:28 / Shabbat ends: 9:43
OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW
Thursday, Tammuz 7, 5785 / July 3, 2025
B"H
Thursday, Tammuz 7, 5785 / July 3, 2025
In this week’s Parsha, Chukat, we read about the passing of two of the greatest leaders of the Jewish people: Moshe’s sister Miriam, and his brother Aaron, the High Priest.
All three of them passed away within the period of one year - in the 40thyear after the Exodus. Miriam passed away first on the 10th of Nissan; Aaron passed away four months later, on Rosh Chodesh Av. Moshe passed away less than a year after Miriam, on the 7th of Adar. Miriam and Aaron’s passing is recorded in this week’s Parsha, Chukat. Moshe’s passing is recorded at the very end of the Torah.
As leaders of the people of Israel, Miriam, Aaron and Moshe contributed not only to the spiritual welfare of the Jewish people, but also to their physical welfare. To a Jew, physical and spiritual are connected.
Q. What were their contributions to the physical welfare of the people during their 40 years in the desert?
A. Throughout the 40 years which the Jewish people were in the desert, a wellwas imbedded in a rock, which traveled with them and supplied the Jewish camp withthe water they needed. When Miriam died, the well became dry. In Aaron’s merit, Jews were surrounded with “clouds of glory,” which protected them from the elements and from enemy danger. With Aaron’s death the clouds were gone. In Moshe’s merit they had their daily manna from heaven for forty years.
Q. From where did they get their water supply after Miriam passed away?
A. The story is told in this week’s Parsha. After Miriam’s passing the Jewish people complained that they had no water. G-d told Moshe to take his staff and together with Aaron speakto the rock and it will give water. However, instead of speaking to the stone, Moshe hitthe rock twice. Water began flowing from the rock again but because Moshe and Aaron didn’t obey G-d’s commandment to speakto the rock and hit it instead, Moshe and Aaron were punished and barred entry into the Promised Land.
Q. Why was the water supply for the Jewish people given in the merit of Miriam?
A. G-d rewards measure for measure.When Moshe’s mother placed him in a basket at the river’s edge, 120 years earlier, due to Pharaoh’s decree to drown all Jewish males, Miriam stood by the river to watch over her brother. Miriam made sure that Moshe was protected. Because of her dedication to Moshe at the river, she was rewarded that the water supply to the Jewish people was in her merit.
Also, Miriam had a special feeling and sensitivity for the young. While still in Egypt, under the threat of grave punishment, she devoted herself to taking care of and saving Jewish babies who were born under Pharaoh's death decree. Although Miriam was a prophetess and attained a very high spiritual level, yet she "lowered" herself and was devoted to bringing happiness and life to the "small" children. Thus, in her merit, G-d gave "water", which has the quality of descending from on high to the lowest levels.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW
Wednesday, Tammuz 6, 5785 / July 2, 2025
B"H
Wednesday, Tammuz 6, 5785 / July 2, 2025
This Shabbat we will read Parshat Chukat. The Parsha begins with the words, "Zot ChukatHatorah" - "This is the statuteof the Torah."
The 613 mitzvot in the Torah fall into one of three categories: Eidut, Mishpatimand Chukim.
While the mitzvot in the category of Eidut and Mishpation are mitzvot which we can understand their reason, the mitzvot in the category of Chukim(statutes) are mitzvot which have no logical reasonwhatsoever. G-d commanded us to observe them, without giving us any reason for them.
This week's Torah portion begins with one of the mitzvot in the category of Chukim. The mitzvah of Para Adumah- "Red Heifer."
The Torah tells us that when someone comes in contact with a dead body, they become "Tamei" - "spiritually impure". To become spiritually clean again, the Torah commands that Elazar HaKohen, son of Aaron the High Priest, sprinkle on the person water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer. The Torah describes in detail the entire process of preparing the red heifer and how the purification process is performed.
What is interesting about this mitzvah is that when performing the sprinkling process, the person who was unclean becomes clean, while the Kohen, who performed the purification process, becomes impure!
According to our sages, this is one reason why the mitzvah of "Para Adumah" is called "Chukah" - a mitzvah with no rational explanation to it.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, whose yartzeit was Sunday, the third of Tammuz, explains that although we can't comprehend the logic of this mitzvah, as the Torah didn’t give us the reason for it, yet we can learn a very important lesson from it.
“It teaches us,” says the Rebbe, “that we have to be ready to make personal sacrificesto help another Jew come closer to G-d. We cannot and should not pass the responsibility unto others.”
We learn this from the fact that the Torah commands the Kohen (priest) to personally help this individual even at the cost of temporarily becoming impure himself and being unable to enter the Holy Temple.
From this we learn that when we see a person who is spiritually lacking and we have the ability to help, we should not pass the job to someone else, it is up to us, even at the cost of self-sacrifice, to help them in their spiritual quest.
This was the motto of the Rebbe, of blessed memory, to care about the spiritual welfare of every Jew, throughout the world. May his memory bring blessings to us all in whatever we all need. Amen.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW
Monday, Tammuz 4, 5785 / June 30, 2025
B"H
Monday, Tammuz 4, 5785 / June 30, 2025
This coming Shabbat we read Parshat Chukat. It is the sixth Parsha in the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar). In it the Torah tells of the passing of two of our greatest leaders, Moshe’s sister, Miriamand his brother, Aaron. They together with Moshe led the Jewish people out of Egypt.
Miriam is first mentioned in the Torah in the Book of Exodus (Shmot) in connection with Pharaoh’s decree that every Jewish male who will be born shall be thrown into the river. Miriam, who served as a midwife to the Jewish women, didn’t obey Pharaoh’s decree. Instead, she made sure that the babies lived and were taken care of.
When Moshe was placed in the basket by the river, it was Miriam who stood there to watch over him and through her intervention with Pharaoh’s daughter, he was given back to his mother for feeding.
We also find that after the Jewish people crossed the Sea; Miriam led the women in song. The Torah tells us that she and the women took their tambourines and sang G-d’s praises for His great miracles. Our sages tell us that the women had more faith than the men. They were sure that G-d would redeem them. They prepared tambourines while still in Egypt for this special occasion.
Throughout the forty years that Jews spent in the desert their entire water supply, came from a well embedded in a rock. The well travelled with them wherever they went. This rock-well was in the merit of Miriam. Thus, when Miriam passed away, in this Parsha, the water supply stopped. It returned only when Moshe mistakenly hit the rock, instead of speaking to the rock. The Parsha tells us that for this mistake, Moshe was barred from entering into the Promised Land.
Miriam passed away at the age of 125. Our sages say that G-d took Miriam’s soul via a G-dly kiss.
Aaron’s passing is also in this Parsha. G-d told Moshe to tell Aaron and his son, Elazar, to go up the mountain called Hor Hahar. There they entered a cave. Moshe took off Aaron’s special Priestly garments and he put them on Elazar. G-d wanted Aaron to see his son becoming High Priest.
In the cave there was a bed prepared and a lamp lit. Moshe told Aaron to lay down on the bed; stretch out his feet & close his mouth and eyes. At that moment G-d took Aaron’s soul with a G-dly kiss. When Moshe saw how peacefully Aaron’s soul was taken, he desired to die the same way. Indeed, Moshe also merited to die the exact way Aaron did, via a G-dly kiss.
Aaron was 123 years when he died. The Torah tells us that the ENTIRE house of Israel mourned Aaron’s passing. Yet, with Moshe’s passing, which is recorded at the end of the Torah, it doesn’t say that the entire house of Israel mourned. Our sages explain, that for Aaron, not only the men but also the women mourned. Because Aaron was a peace maker. Whenever he saw people quarreling he would try to bring peace between them. He would especially get involved in bringing peace between husband and wife. Thus, the ENTIREhouse of Israel (men and women) mourned his passing.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW
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