Questions tagged [chukas]
The weekly Torah portion of Chukas (Numbers 19:1–22:1)
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Original version of Parshas Parah
According to Rashi, quoting Chazal, the mitzvah of Parah Adumah was given at Marah and was included in the ספר הברית that Moshe wrote before Matan Torah.
In the Torah as it was eventually given, it's ...
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Sources that Parah Adumah shows love between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem
I'm looking for sources that Parah Adumah shows love between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem.
(I know that there are recent sources that say this. I'm looking for earlier sources, preferably Rishonim or ...
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Speaking to the Rock. Why bring the staff?
In parshas chukas (20:8), right before Hashem tells Moshe to speak to the rock, Hashem instructs him to take his staff. Why instruct Moshe to take the staff, if he was supposed to speak to the rock ...
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Is there a connection between the serpent in Eden and the brass serpent in the wilderness?
Often unrelated stories are related to each other, (sometimes even despite non similar words). In this present case, one particular animal has a (some kind of) central role to its development. In the ...
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Parah Adumah water: different names used in the Torah ("mei niddah") and Chazal ("mei chatas")
When discussing the mixture of the Parah Adumah ashes & water, the Torah calls it "mei niddah" (see: Numbers 19:13, Numbers 19:20, Numbers 19:21).
However Chazal use a different phrase ...
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In Parshas Chukas, why is first mention of Parah Adumah "פָרָה" instead of "פָּרָה"?
The first mention of the Parah Adumah in Parshas Chukas (Numbers 19:2) is:
דַּבֵּ֣ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֣וּ אֵלֶיךָ֩ פָרָ֨ה אֲדֻמָּ֜ה
Instruct the people of Israel to bring you a red cow ...
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The amount of Parah Adumah ashes and water ("mei chatas") required to purify a person
This week's parsha teaches us all about the Parah Adumah and how it can purify a person.
Namely, that in order for a person who was ritually impure via a dead body to become pure, said person ...
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How can we say "it would have been enough" when Bnei Yisrael were demanding it?
There are a couple of stichs in Dayeinu which seem to be patently false. We say that it "would have been enough" without them, yet we find Bnei Yisrael demanding that they receive them. How could it ...
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Is the Ramban's observation of "images of young dog pups in urine" recorded by anyone else?
The Ramban notes in his commentary on Bamidbar 21:9 the following:
(Source from Sefaria.org)
וכבר הזכירו דבר מנוסה מפלאות התולדה כי נשוך הכלב השוטה אחרי שנשתטה בחליו אם יקובל השתן שלו בכלי זכוכית ...
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Nehushtan destroyed
Could someone explain to me why we read in Melachim II 2:18 that the brass serpent that Moses had made had been kept al this time?
And how or why did the people became to honor it; for until that ...
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Serpants (snakes) or Seraphim (heavenly beings of some sort)?
I read different questions on this matter from 'mi yodeya' but I couldn't find my answer:
In Numbers 21:6 HaShem brings הנְּחָשִׁים הַשְּׂרָפִים upon the people...
In Numbers 21:8 HaShem commands ...
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Why is there a difference in who sent messengers to the King of Edom vs. Sihon
In Bemidbar 20:14 Moshe sends messengers to the King of Edom. But, in Bemidbar 21:21, Yisra'el sends messengers to Sihon, King of the Emori.
Why this difference? Who is meant by stating Yisra'el in ...
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Why would Klal Yisroel have killed Moshe?
The Midrash Tanchuma Chukas (18) records the episode when Moshe descended the mountain following Aaron's death
אִם אַתֶּם מְבִיאִין אוֹתוֹ, מוּטָב. וְאִם לָאו, נִסְקֹל אֶתְכֶם - If you bring him ...
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Why sprinkle on the third day?
Parshat Chukat describes the purifying ritual of the red heifer and records that one is impure for 7 days, but the process requires that one sprinkle on the third and seventh day. Aside from one ...
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Why was it so important that the Kohen preparing the Parah Adumah be a tevul yom?
Mishnah Parah 3:7 (with translation/explanation from Sefaria):
וּמְטַמְּאִים הָיוּ אֶת הַכֹּהֵן הַשּׂוֹרֵף אֶת הַפָּרָה, מִפְּנֵי הַצְּדוֹקִים, שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיוּ אוֹמְרִים, בִּמְעֹרְבֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ ...
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Why would it be disrespectful to G-d to say Miryam died "al pi Hashem"?
The Torah states that both Moshe (Devarim 34:5) and Aharon (Bamidbar 33:38) died al pi Hashem, by G-d's mouth. Rashi quotes the Talmud (Bava Basra 17a) that this means they died by a neshikah meitah, ...
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Why was Miriam not allowed to enter the Promised Land? [duplicate]
In Bamidbar 20:1 we read of the account of the death of Miriam. She being the oldest of the three siblings, Miriam, Aaron and Moshe, was she under the same judgement as the nation of Israel brought ...
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Why "כָּל הַבָּא אֶל הָאֹהֶל וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל" and not the reverse?
Chukas 19:14, with Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's translation (brackets in his original):
זֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אָדָם כִּי יָמוּת בְּאֹהֶל כָּל הַבָּא אֶל הָאֹהֶל וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל יִטְמָא שִׁבְעַת יָמִים.
When ...
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What is the purpose of the Torah mentioning the parable in Bemidbar 21:27 - 30
Bemidbar 21:27-30 includes a "parable" (I'm assuming that that is the translation of the phrase in verse 27 - "על כן יאמרו המושלים " - Therefore those that tell parables say") about the city of ...
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What if you miss the time of the sprinkling?
In parshat chukat it says that if you become tamei due to a dead body, you become pure again by being sprinkled with red-heifer ash-water on the third and seventh day of your impurity, but if you don'...
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Moshe doubts G-d in Numbers 20:8
In Numbers 20:8 G-d commands Moshe to speak to the inanimate rock for water.
Was this really a reasonable command for G-d to make?
Even Moshe seems to have thought this was an impossible ...
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What were Moshe and Aharon supposed to say to the rock?
B'midbar 20:8 shows that G-d instructs Moshe and Aharon to speak to the rock, and it will bring forth water.
Usually, when G-d instructs Moshe to speak to B'nai Yisra'el he indicates what Moshe ...
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Why was Aharon punished at Mei Meriva?
In parshat Chukat, we see that it was Moshe who hit the rock instead of speaking to it, as G-d had commanded him. Yet, Aharon was punished with dying before entering the land of Israel, receiving the ...
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How tall was Moshe Rabbeinu?
The Gemara in the last Perek of Berochos (referenced by the last Rashi of Parshas Chukas)tells about the encounter of Moshe with the giant Og...
Moshe was ten Amos tall - (between 15-20 feet, based ...
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Why singular "וְלֹא הָיָה מַיִם" in Bamidbar 20:2?
The word מַיִם is, as far as I know, pretty consistently grammatically plural in Chumash (and, incidentally, in more modern Hebrew also). That is, the adjectives that modify it are plural adjectives, ...
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Why is there a difference regarding the water drinking request between Edom and Moav?
Regarding the request that B'nai Isra'el made to Edom,
Numbers 20:19:
וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֵלָ֥יו בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֘ל בַּֽמְסִלָּ֣ה נַעֲלֶה֒
וְאִם־מֵימֶ֤יךָ נִשְׁתֶּה֙ אֲנִ֣י וּמִקְנַ֔י וְנָתַתִּ֖י ...
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Parshas Chukas: Hitting the rock vs. Talking to the rock
Hashem is angered that Moshe hits the rock instead of following His specific instruction to speak to the rock. “Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon: Because you did not believe in me to sanctify me in the ...
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Why was the law about Para Aduma given in Mara? [closed]
Why out of all the 613 mitvot was the para aduma chosen to be 'given' in Mara? 'Shom som lo 'chok' umishpat'. Chok refers to para aduma and why is it only mentioned so late in the torah after Korach....
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What do we learn from Miriam's demise being juxtaposed to the Red Heifer?
What precisely does the demise of righteous people atone for, and who gets the atonement?
Background:
In Parshat Chukath - במדבר פרק-כ - we learn from Rashi that the demise of the prophetess Miriam ...
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Red Heifer Sprinkling and Missing a Day
Numbers 19 discusses administering of the Red Heifer's ashes by way of sprinkling water. People who become impure from contact with the dead must be sprinkled by the water on the third and seventh ...
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Were Impure Vessels Sprinkled on the 3rd and 7th Days, or just once?
Numbers 19 discusses administering of the Red Heifer's ashes by way of sprinkling water. In verse 14, we see that vessels as well as humans can be impure from the dead. In verse 18, we see that ...
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How Was the Red Heifer Water Administered in Israel?
Numbers 19 discusses administering of the Red Heifer's ashes by way of sprinkling water. From verses 11 through 21, it seems that impurity contracted by the dead is dispelled by sprinklings on the ...
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Does anyone attribute the copper snake to a mythbuster scheme?
We are familiar with the copper snake in chapter 21 of Parshas Chukkas used to remedy the Bnei Yisrael when bitten by the snakes sent to punish them.
Recently I was made aware of a Greek mythological ...
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Where did the well come from?
Numbers 21:16, on the topic of the "Wars of God", after describing the flow of the streams of Arnon toward the borders of Moab says:
וּמִשָּׁם בְּאֵרָה הִוא הַבְּאֵר אֲשֶׁר אָמַר יְהוָה ...
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Why believe angels' showing Aaron dead after being fooled about Moses?
When Moses didn't come down from Sinai, the Jews requested a replacement leader, explaining (Exodus 32:1) that
this Moses man who lifted us out of the land of Egypt — we don't know what has ...
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Lesson from Moshe's Rock
In Parsha Chukat, Rashi (BeMidbar 20:12) says that, if Moshe would have spoken to the rock instead of hitting it, there would have been a big lesson to the Israelites.
The people would have made a kal ...
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Why did the Jews complain that the mon would kill them after they spent 39 years eating it?
In Bamidbar 21:5, the Jews complained about the mon. Rashi explains that this was because it was entirely absorbed into their bodies, and they had no need to relieve themselves after eating it, so ...
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Was the rock the Moshe hit in Shemos 17 the be'er miriam
Rashi in Bamidbar 20:2 notes that until Miriam died the be'er [literally well] gave water. Was this be'er the rock which Moshe hit in Shemos 17? Or was it a well, and if so where is the first source ...
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What was Moses' staff made of?
What was Moses' staff made of? Copper? What's relationship between Moses' staff being turned into a snake in Parsha Sh'mot and the incident in Parsha Chuckat if there is any?
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What is the difference between the words "tzur" and "selah" (which both mean rock)?
Beshalach (Shmot 17:6):
... you shall strike the rock (tzur) and water will come forth from it ...
Chukat (Bamidbar 20:8):
... speak to the rock (selah) before their eyes and it shall give its ...
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Could Moshe Rabbeinu have made atonement for striking the rock?
See Numbers 20:1–13. Could Moshe Rabbeinu have made atonement for striking the rock, so he could have entered the promised land?
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Why did Miriam die in the desert?
We are told why Moshe and Aharon passed away in the desert (Bamidbar 20:12), but we are not told why Miriam died.
According to Rashi (Bamidbar 1:49, 26:64), only the men who were counted in the ...
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Who did "וַיֹּצִאֵנוּ" in Num. 20:16?
Chukas 20:16:
וַנִּצְעַק אֶל ה׳ וַיִּשְׁמַע קֹלֵנוּ וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָךְ וַיֹּצִאֵנוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם…
In translation:
and we called out to God, and he heard our voice, and he sent a ...
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why cure the snake bites with the nehushtan
In Bemidbar 21, How come Gd cured the Israelites snake bites with the nehushtan? Why cure them that way? Why not just send the snakes away (as the people had asked)?
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Sefer Milhamot Hashem - from Bamidbar 21:14
Does anyone know of any discussion of the the "sefer Milkhamot Hashem" mentioned in Bamidbar 21:14? Someone had asked me about the content of the book and I had no idea of what to answer him.
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Bechor Shor (Ribash) on the Nachash Nechoshet (Copper Snake) of Parshat Chukas [closed]
Does anyone have access to the Mossad HaRav Kook edition of Rabbi Yosef Bechor-Shor's peirush (commentary) on the Torah? Specifically, if anyone is able to scan and upload an image of the section(s) ...
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Nusach of Tefilas Geshem
In Tefilas Geshem we say "Al HaSela Hach Vayeitzu Mayim"
translated by Artscroll as:
Remember the one [Moses] drawn forth in a bulrush basket from the
water. They said, 'He drew water and ...
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Are there two things from which kares can cut one off?
In B'midbar 19:13 the Torah says that the punishment for entering the mikdash while impure is spiritual excision, using the words
וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל. . .
. . .that nefesh ...
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Amalekim's disguise as Canaanites in Chukas
Rashi (in parshas Chukas perek 21 pasuk 1) says that Amalek attacked the Jews, and that the pasuk calls them Canaanites because the Amaleikim had learned the Canaanite language (so the Jews would pray ...
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Why did Moses raise the brass serpent in the wilderness?
I would like to know the meaning for God's command to Moses to lift a serpent of brass and set it on a pole in the desert, so that all those who had been bitten by serpents would look at the brass ...
Ben Masada