Torah Weekly: Chukas - Transcending our Limitations

Rabbi Daniel Rowe

The section of the Torah (Hebrew Bible) called 'Chukas' or 'Statute' (Bamidbar/ Book of Numbers19-22:1) opens with the law of he red heifer, the paradigmatic 'Chok' or incomprehensible law about the purification process of one who has come into contact with a corpse. the sprinkling of water mixed with ashes of the red heifer contains a paradoxical law: in addition to purifying the contaminated, it also contaminates the pure! Why is this law given here in this part of Torah?

Next we have some of the most tragic and at times incomprehensible narratives, including Moshe (Moses) striking the rock instead of speaking to it, for which he is barred from entering the land, and the story of the fiery serpents whose attack against the Israelites is thwarted by the seemingly bizarre erection of a pole with a copper serpent atop.

This Shiur (Torah lecture) draws upon the works of Rabbi Chaim of Volzhin, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaan Chaver and others to show how we can make sense of these individually baffling episodes and laws, and uncovers the deep thematic connection between them and other parts of the Torah that we read about in this Sidra (weekly Torah reading). Subscribe for more videos about Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah.

Rabbi Daniel Rowe is a popular Rabbi, philosopher and educator in the UK, who uses deep knowledge of Judaism, science and philosophy to captivate and educate audiences on a daily basis.

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