Chukas תרל”ו

תרל”ו 1
בְּרָשִׁ”י לְפִי שֶׁהַשָּׂטָן ואוה”ע מוֹנִין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מָה טַעַם יֵשׁ בָּהּ כו’ כָּתוּב בָּהּ חֻקָּה.
Rashi see above
וְקָשֶׁה אִי בֶּאֱמֶת אֵין בָּהּ טַעַם א”צ לְהָאַי טַעַם דְּמוֹנִים אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל רַק לְפִי שֶׁאֵין טַעַם כָּתוּב חֻקָּה.
The answer of Rashi is difficult; if there really is no reason, then it makes no difference what the nations of the world say, it is simply a “chok” because there is no reason? (Rashi implies that the reason why it is called a “chok” is because of the nations of the world. However it is a “chok” because it has no reason, not because of the nations of the world?)
אֶלָּא נִרְאֶה שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהּ טַעַם אַךְ א”א לְהַשִּׂיג הַטַּעַם עַד אַחר תִּקּוּן הַגּוּף.
However it seems that really it has a reason, however the reason cannot be understood until one’s body is repaired.
וּמִצַּד בְּח’ הַחִיצוֹנִיּוֹת אֵין טַעַם לְחֻקַּת ה’.
And from the perspective of the externality (physicality), there is indeed no reason for a chok.
אֲבָל הַמַּאֲמִין סוֹפוֹ לְהָבִין הַטַּעַם.
However, someone who believes will eventually understand the reasoning.
כִּי דִבְרֵי תוֹרָה הֵם הִפּוּךְ דִּבְרֵי עוה”ז
For the Torah works opposite to the physical world.
שֶׁהַטַּעַם מֵבִיא לְמַעֲשֶׂה שע”י שֶׁחוֹשֵׁק לְטַעַם עוה”ז וַהֲבָלָיו עוֹשֶׂה אוֹתָם וְאַחַ”כּ נִמְאָסִים עָלָיו.
For in physical things the taste of the thing is what makes one desire it, and then afterwards, once one gets one’s fill, it all becomes disgusting.
וְתוֹרָה לְהִפּוּךְ ע”י הַמַּעֲשֶׂה אַף שֶׁאֵינוֹ מִתְאַוֶּה לָהֶם זוֹכֶה אַחַ”כּ לְהַשִּׂיג הַטַּעַם וּלְהִתְאַוּוֹת לָהֶם.
However Torah is the opposite. It is through the action that a person does even when he has no desire (no taste), and nevertheless does it, through doing it he will eventually merit to taste it and understand it.
אָמְנָם אֵין טַעַם זֶה מֻשָּׂג רַק לְמִי שֶׁלֹּא טָעַם טַעַם עוה”ז.
However the taste only comes to someone who has not tasted the taste of this world.
וּכְפִי מָה שֶׁפֹּרַשׁ אָדָם עַצְמוֹ מִתַּאֲוַת כָּךְ זוֹכֶה לְהַשִּׂיג טַעַם הַקְּדוֹשָׁה.
And inasmuch as one has separated from the physical desires, can one merit the taste and understanding of the holiness.
וְלָכֵן מרע”ה שנק’ אִישׁ אֱלֹקִים נִבְדָּל מעוה”ז לָכֵן לְךָ אֲנִי מְגַלֶּה טַעֲמֵי פָּרָה וְלַאֲחֵרִים חֻקָּה.
And therefore Moshe Rabeinu who was a man of G-d and separate from this world, was able to understand the reason of “para aduma”, and to everyone else it remained a “chok”.
פִּי’ מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ זוֹכֶה לְהַשִּׂיג הַטַּעַם צָרִיךְ לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ בְּדֶרֶךְ חֻקָּה ועי”ז זוֹכֶה אַחַ”כּ לְהַשִּׂיג הַטַּעַם.
Meaning that someone who has not merited to understand the reasoning should do it as a “chok” without understanding and this will merit him to eventually understand the reasoning!
כְּתִיב שָׂמִים מַר לְמָתוֹק וּמָתוֹק לְמָר פִּי’ ע”י שֶׁשָּׂמִים דבר עוה”ז לְמָתוֹק בְּעֵינֵיהֶם עי”ז מָתוֹק לְמַר שא”י לְהָרָגִישׁ מְתִיקוּת הַתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוָת.
And it says ‘They make bitter sweet and sweet bitter’, meaning that through chasing the sweetness of this world, they change something sweet into bitter. They change the sweetness of the Torah into bitterness because they cannot taste its sweetness!!
וּכְתִיב וּפִרְיוֹ מָתוֹק לְחִכִּי לְחִכַּי דַּיְקָא אֲבָל אוה”ע אוֹמְרִים מָה טַעַם יֵשׁ בָּהּ.
And it says ‘Your fruit is sweet to my pallet’. It is only sweet to my palette, however the nations of the world all say ‘What reason there is, (what taste there is)’.
ובמד’ מִי יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָּמֵא כו’ עוה”ב מעוה”ז. וַדַּאי אֵין הַפִּי’ מִתַּעֲנוּגֵי עוה”ז. רַק כְּפִי מָה שֶׁפֹּרַשׁ עַצְמוֹ מעוה”ז כָּךְ זוֹכֶה לִטְעֹם טַעַם עוה”ב.
The Medrash says only HaShem makes pure from impure, the world to come from this world. For sure the world to come doesn’t come from this world, rather the explanation is that through separating from this world, one merits the world to come (as above).
וּכְמַאֲמַר חָזָ”ל מִי שֶׁטָּרַח עַצְמוֹ בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת. פִּי’ הַתַּעֲרוּבוֹת שֶׁנִּתְעָרֵב תַּאֲווֹת הָאָדָם לַחִיצוֹנִיּוּת עוה”ז.
And as it says one who toils and erev Shabbos will merit Shabbos. The word erev can also mean mixture. Meaning one who toils in this idea of his desires being mixed up into this world (meaning he protects his desires from this world).
וְיֵשׁ לְכָל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵדַע וּלְהַאֲמִין כִּי הַתַּעֲנוּג וְהָרָצוֹן שֶׁבָּאָדָם נוֹגֵעַ בְּמָקוֹם גָּבוֹהַּ עַד מְאוֹד.
And a person must know and believe that his desires and pleasures reach a very high level.
וְהוּא עִנְיֵן הַשַּׁבָּת שנק’ יוֹם מְנוּחָה וְעֹנֶג ובנ”י שׁוֹמְרֵי שַׁבָּת פִּי’ שֶׁשּׁוֹמְרִים הָרָצוֹן שֶׁלֹּא לְהִתְעָרֵב בְּדִבְרֵי הֶבֶל.
This is the idea of Shabbos which is called rest and pleasure that when Bnei Yisrael guards the Shabbos, meaning they protect their desires from getting drawn after nothingness.
וע”ז נֶאֱמַר מִי שֶׁטָּרַח בע”ש כו’.
That is called someone who toiled on erev (the mixture of) Shabbos (i.e. someone who protected himself from using the elevated holy concepts of Shabbos for mundane matters. Not misusing the spirituality for physical gain is called toiling on erev-the mixture of Shabbos)
כִּי בְּימוֹת הַחוֹל הֲוָא הַבֵּרוּר מִלְּהִתְגָּאֵל בְּהַבְלִי עוֹלָם ועי”ז זוֹכֶה לִטְעֹם בְּשַׁבָּת טַעַם עוה”ב כִּי שַׁבָּת מֵעֵין עוה”ב:
Because during the days of the week the purification process is in order to be redeemed from the nothingness of this world. And through that one merits to taste Shabbos the taste of the world to come. For shabbos is a taste of the world to come. (And one who toils on erev Shabbos – protecting oneself, will merit to Shabbos to truly understand the deeper meaning of the spirituality).

בפסוק עשה לך שרף כו’. במשנה וכי נחש ממית כו’ מחי’ אלא בזמן שמסתכלין כלפי מעלה ומשעבדין לבם לאביהם שבשמים מתרפאין. וקשה הי’ צריך להיות הסתכלות לשמים בלבד למה נחש נחושת. אכן באמת הי’ הנחש מסוגל לרפואה זו ששם הקב”ה בו רפואה זו וכמ”ש רמב”ן ז”ל שדרכו של הקב”ה למתוק מר במר לכן אף שדרך הטבע מי שנשוך מכלב ורואה אותו מזיק לו יותר שם הקב”ה כאן להיפוך שע”י הראי’ יתרפאו ע”ש. אעפ”כ זה הרצון שבהיותו עוסק ברפואה הגשמיי יסתכל ויהי’ לבו לשמים ע”י שמיישב עצמו וכי נחש מחי’ וזה שאמר מסתכלין ומשעבדין לבם. פי’ אף שהם רחוקים מעולם העליון ועוסקים בטבע אעפ”כ ישעבדו לבם פי’ להסתכל לשמים ולהראות שחפצים לצאת ממאסר עוה”ז והטבע ולהתדבק בו ית’. וזהו עשה לך שרף הוא התלהבות האדם לדבוק בו ית’ כנ”ל:

https://www.sefaria.org/Sefat_Emet,_Numbers,_Chukat_6.3

When there was a plague of poisonous snakes, HaShem commanded Moshe to make a copper snake and place it on a banner high up. When someone was bitten, they would look up to the copper snake and be healed. The Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 3:8) asks why looking at the snake is necessary, since the snake neither kills nor heals. The Mishnah answers that when the children of Israel looked upward and directed themselves to their Father in heaven, they were immediately healed.

However, this explanation is still challenging. What is the purpose of having the copper snake on a banner? Wouldn’t looking up to Heaven and directing oneself to HaShem be sufficient?

Nevertheless, there is a deeper understanding here. The snake indeed possesses the power of healing, as the Ramban explains (Numbers 21:9). HaShem’s way is to sweeten something bitter with something bitter. This means that even though in normal circumstances, if one is bitten by a dog, looking at a dog would be detrimental, here HaShem made it work the opposite way. By looking at the snake, one would be healed. The true intention of HaShem is that when a person is engaged in physical healing, they should still recognize that it is not the snake that kills or heals, but rather HaShem.

The concept conveyed here is that even though one may be distant from higher realms and immersed in the realm of nature and physicality, one should still direct one’s heart to gaze upon the heavens. By doing so, one demonstrates a genuine desire to escape the confines of this world and nature and connect with HaShem. This is the essence of the command, “Make a (copper) snake (‘seraf’) for yourself.” The word “seraf,” connected to fire, alludes to the excitement within a person to connect with HaShem, as explained.

וממדבר מתנה. בגמ’ מי שמשים עצמו כמדבר התורה ניתנה לו במתנה ואח”כ נחליאל כו’ ואם מתנשא מבמות הגיא שהקב”ה משפילו כו’. וקשה זה הסיום למה נאמר תוך השירה. אכן יראה שבנ”י הלכו כל אלה המדריגות שע”י שמסרו נפשם להקב”ה ניתן להם התורה במתנה וממתנה נחליאל פי’ שע”י זו המתנה מתחזק כח האדם בעצמו ג”כ וזה נחלי אל שניתוסף כח האדם ועי”ז מתנשא וכמעט א”א שלא יבוא לידי התנשאות כלל. אך ומבמות הגיא שאחר החטא נאמר הורד עדיך ואח”כ חזרו בתשובה ולכן אמרו אח”כ השירה שהוא תהלוכות בנ”י מראש עד סוף והתיקון שבא אחר הירידה הוא טוב מאוד שא”א לקלקל עוד כענין במקום שבע”ת עומדין כו’ לכן י”ל שלא נכתב מרע”ה בשירה זו כי הוא לא חטא ונאמר עליו עניו מאוד כו’ והבן. ובשם הרב מפרשיסחא ז”ל ע”פ משפיל גאים ומגבי’ שפלים שמשפיל הגאים כדי להגביהם אח”כ בהיותם שפלים כנ”ל:

https://www.sefaria.org/Sefat_Emet,_Numbers,_Chukat_6.4

The pasuk states (Bamidbar 21:18-20), “…from Midbar (lit. desert) to Matana (a gift), and from Matana to Nachli’el (an inheritance from HaShem), from Nachli’el to Bamot (High place), from Bamot to Gai (Valley).” The Gemara (Eruvin 54a) explains this pasuk homiletically, referring to one’s spiritual journey. One who makes themselves like a midbar, a desert, will receive the Torah as a gift and then as an inheritance. However, if one elevates themselves (Bamot), then HaShem will lower them.

Now, this last part is different. Why is it included in the song (which expresses closeness and joy)? It seems that Bnei Yisrael (the Children of Israel) went through all of these stages. When they first submitted themselves to HaShem, the Torah was given as a gift, and from there as an inheritance. This means that a person becomes stronger through their own efforts, although this greatness is ultimately from HaShem. However, this can cause a person to become haughty, leading them to sin. As we see, after receiving the Torah, Bnei Yisrael sinned and their crowns were taken away. Nevertheless, they subsequently repented, and that is why the last part is included in the song, as it depicts Bnei Yisrael’s journey from beginning to end.

This repentance and repair that follows one’s fall is truly commendable, as it means that one cannot fall in the same area again. As it is said, “In the place where those who repent stand, even completely righteous individuals cannot stand.”

That is why Moshe’s name is not mentioned in this song, for he himself did not sin, as he was the most humble of all men.

Similarly, the Rav of Pershischa explains the idea of “He lowers the haughty and raises the lowly,” meaning that HaShem lowers the haughty in order to raise them afterward, while they remain humble. As mentioned above.