13 Jul PARSHAS CHUKAS BALAK: MIRIAM’S DEATH

Parshas Chukas

begins with the laws

of the Parah Adumah

[Red Heifer]. The

Torah then tells us of

the death of Miriam

[Bamidbar 20:1], and

then goes on to describe the incident

where “There was no water for the

Congregation, and they gathered against

Moshe and Aharon.” [Bamidbar 20:2]

Our Rabbis explain the connection

between the Parah Adumah and the

death of Miriam, and between the death

of Miriam and the loss of well water.

The juxtaposition of the Parah Adumah

and the death of Miriam teaches us that

just as sacrifices atone, so too the death

of the righteous atones. The

juxtaposition of the death of Miriam

and the lack of water teaches us that it

was in the merit of Miriam that the

nation of Israel merited to possess the

miraculous rock-well that accompanied

them during all the years of their

wandering. These two statements of

Chazal dovetail with each other —

there is a connection between them.

When does the death of the righteous

atone? The death of the righteous only

atones when people realize what they

have lost. When the Jews first received

the water from the rock, it was a big

event. But they were in the desert for

forty years, almost two generations,

living with that rock every day. Imagine

how the second generation viewed

receiving water from the rock. A

mother would tell her child, “Listen, I

need some water — go get me some

water from the rock.” Today when we

need water, we go to the tap and the tap

gives us water. In those days, people

went to the rock to get their water —

without giving it a second thought.

People took life — as they experienced

it in the Wilderness — for granted.

When Miriam died and the water

stopped, people realized that

nothing should be taken for

granted. Our very existence in this

world is based on “Your miracles

which are with us everyday”.

Hashem gives us miracles every

single day and we need merit in

order to receive those miracles.

Righteous individuals provide that

merit. When Miriam died and the

water stopped, people realized

that a righteous person does a

tremendous amount for his or her

generation. They realized that they

were hanging on in this world by a very

tenuous string. We need tremendous

mercy, tremendous support from

Heaven (s’yata d’Shmaya) and

tremendous miracles. It is the righteous

of each generation that deserve all of

the above. When a Tzaddik dies and we

lose what we had, we need to look up to

Heaven again — maybe we can have

that merit once more. The death of the

righteous only serves as an atonement

when it impresses people with the

fact that we are here only by the

Grace of Hashem. But if a Tzaddik

/ Tzadekes dies and life “goes on”

without anyone realizing what has

been lost, and with no one realizing

the benefit and merit that this

person provided, then his or her

death will not atone. The paradigm

of the “death of the righteous

atoning” was the death of Miriam.

Tzelafchad’s Daughters Were

Motivated By The Land, Not The

Money Parshas Pinchas The

daughters of Tzelafchad came to

Moshe to ask for their deceased

father’s portion in the Land of

Israel, since their father had died

without sons to inherit his portion.

In tracing the lineage of the

daughters of Tzelafchad, the Torah

seems to provide redundant

information. The pasuk says that

they were “the daughters of

Tzelafchad, son of Chefer, son of

Gilead, son of Machir, son of

Menashe” and then that they were

“from the family of Menashe son

of Yosef” [Bamidbar 27:1]. Why

was it necessary to emphasize the

fact that they descended from

Menashe son of Yosef twice?

Rashi asks this question and

answers that the emphasis

indicates that love of Eretz Yisrael

is genetic. Yosef loved the Land of

Israel and insisted that his bones be

returned there. This love for Eretz

Yisrael ran in his family such that his

descendants (Tzelafchad’s daughters)

insisted that they be given their fair

portion in the Land. The wife of the

Sefas Emes asked her son (the Imrei

Emes) a question on this Rashi: What is

the proof that the daughters of

Tzelafchad loved the Land of Israel?

Perhaps they were just interested in

their inheritance as a monetary matter.

The Imrei Emes gave his mother a very

good answer. There are two opinions

regarding the identity of Tzelafchad.

One opinion is that he was the chopper

of wood [Bamdibar 15:32]. Another

opinion is that he was from the group

who tried to force their way into

Canaan after the decree of the spies

[Bamidbar 14:40]. Either way,

Tzelafchad died in Parshas Shlach,

prior to beginning of the decreed 40

years of wandering. His death occurred

some 38 years prior to the events in

Parshas Pinchas. If Tzelafchad’s

daughters were interested in their

father’s estate from a strictly financial

perspective, why would they have

waited 38 years to ask for it?

Inheritance is not limited to land. What

about his cattle? What about his other

property? Apparently, they were not

interested in that. It was only now,

when they were on the doorstep of

Eretz Yisrael that they came pressing

their claim for inheritance of their

father’s portion. This is the

demonstration of their love for the

Land. They were silent regarding the

cash and moveable property. However,

their inheritance in the Land of Israel

mattered greatly to them. They

inherited this affinity to the Land from

their great grandfather, Menashe son of

Yosef.