פרשת חקת
Toward the end of this week’s Parsha, we find a series of unfortunate events which get the Jewish people into a heap of trouble, but yet again, Moshe Rabenu figures out a way to save them from complete decimation. The Jews complained bitterly about the “boring” Manna that they were forced to eat every single day, and how they longed for a wider variety of sustenance. Hashem responded by bringing a terrible plague of poisonous snakes to come from the desert and strike the Jews, injecting their deadly venom and causing many Jews to perish. Moshe prayed to Hashem for mercy, and Hashem commanded him to place a sculpture of a large copper snake on a flagpole, and whoever would look upon this shrine, would be healed immediately. The Slonimer Rebbe poses two interesting difficulties on this exceptional chapter in the Chumash. Firstly, we don’t find a punishment quite like this one in any other transgression that the Jews had perpetrated. What correlation is there between the Jews’ inappropriate comments, and the toxic snakes? Secondly, every other time the Jews had misbehaved, Moshe prayed directly to Hashem and was able to receive a pardon for their improper behavior. Why now were Moshe’s prayers ineffective, and only through external means were the Jews capable of achieving atonement?
The Slonimer explains very deeply, that there was something fundamentally distinct about this particular sin. Every other time that the Jews had complained, it was because there was a very real, and very present danger facing them. For example, the Egyptians were forcing them into the sea, or they were near starvation in the wilderness. But this time was different. In this complaint, there was no specific danger facing the Jews, they were merely dissatisfied with what Hashem had given them. They had plenty of food, plenty of water, and they had full military security, but they were nonetheless displeased with their lot. Hashem takes this type of complaint very seriously because it is an affront to everything He stands for. Expressing this kind of displeasure is like a slap in Hashem’s face because it is indicative of a deep seated belief that Hashem is either incapable or uninterested in running the world properly. There are very few actions in this world more offensive than a complaint to Hashem about the way He runs the world. With this insight, it is clear what the relationship is between this crime and the punishment. We know that the snake received his punishment because he spoke ill of Hashem to Chava. What more fitting animal would there be to come attack the Jews who had spoken ill of Hashem and His choice of sustenance for the Jews.
Perhaps another link between what the Jews did and the snake can be found in the Gemorah in Taanis (8a). The Gemorah relates that in the future, all the animals will come with a legal claim to prosecute against the snake. Every other predator on this planet kills in order to live. For example, a lion is unable to sustain himself with pineapples or bananas like a monkey, but rather needs to hunt in order to live. The snake, on the other hand, is indeed capable of living off of dust, as the verse says concerning his curse, “And by the dust of the land will you live”. Yet he is not content with that, and kills in order to increase his food supply, or very often just for the sake of killing even though he is incapable of eating his prey. Similarly, the Jewish people were given plenty of rations to be able to maintain themselves and their children. Yet just like the snake, they were dissatisfied with their lot and tried to increase what they were given in an offensive way. It is therefore not a wonder that their punishment came through serpents.
In truth, this insidious character trait of not appreciating the good in our lives can be extremely damaging. The Mishnah in Rosh Hashana, (29a) asks an interesting question. Why did Moshe have to put a copper snake on a banner? Does a snake offer life or take it away? The Mishnah answers that when the Jews would look upward, they would subjugate their hearts to their fathers in Heaven and they would be saved, but if they wouldn’t do this, they would perish. The Slonimer Rebbe asks a powerful difficulty on this Mishnah. If the purpose of the snake was that the Jewish people look upward, why put a snake there at all? Why not just have an empty banner which causes them to gaze aloft? He answers that in order to properly subjugate their hearts to Heaven, it wouldn’t have been enough to merely look upward, they needed to adequately understand what they had done wrong, and atone for it. For this purpose alone was there a copper snake – so that the Jews would have the tools to recognize where they had gone wrong which was essential in their returning to Hashem. In this instance, what they had done wrong was so subtle, yet so harmful that it was imperative they get it right and rectify the situation. Not appreciating our gifts is something which we may pass off as an insignificant complaint, but the frightening retribution which the Jews received was proof positive that this is not the case.
Avraham Avinu was tested with ten very difficult tests. However, when one examines many of them closely, one observes the fact that it is difficult to see in many of his trials exactly where the “trial” was. It didn’t seem like he had any other choice. For example, his wife Sarah was taken away from him twice by the king of the land. What was the trial in that if he couldn’t have prevented what happened? The answer to this question is in the attitude. His choice was how he would take what seemed to be like ill-fated events. Many of us have circumstances in our lives which seem quite inopportune, yet it is not within our power to alter these events. The one thing we can do is receive them with an equilibrium which demonstrates our complete trust in our maker that He would never do anything to harm us, and these events therefore must be to our benefit.
The Gemorah in Berachos (60b) relates that R’ Akiva was once traveling and when night fell, he was in a certain city whose inhabitants were selfish, greedy folk would not offer him any lodging. He was therefore forced to camp out in the nearby forest with his only provisions being one chicken, one donkey, and a candle. In the middle of the night a cat ate the chicken, a lion came and ate the donkey, and a gust of wind blew out the candle. R’ Akiva sighed contentedly and exclaimed with complete faith that everything that Hashem does is for the good. All of a sudden, wild marauders came from their hiding place and killed everybody in the town. R’ Akiva thought to himself, “Had the people of that town given me accommodations, I would have been dead now. And had any one of my three sole possessions still been around, they would have alerted the bandits to my position. Is it not true what I said that everything which Hashem does is for the best”?
I would just like to conclude with a true story which happened recently to R’ Chaim Kanievsky. There was a religious gentleman named Itzik who ran a small vegetable store through which he eked out a very modest living for his family. He worked so hard however, that he was unable to pray with a quorum of men as is proper in Halacha. One day, a large produce chain opened up a branch right next to his, with prices that were so attractive because of the bulk they dealt with, that there was no way he could come close to competing with them. One day, Itzik’s friend stopped by to see how business was coming along, but to his dismay, he found his friend Itzik in a deep depression about his situation. So Itzik’s friend suggested that they go together to R’ Chaim Kanievsky to ask him what to do and receive a blessing. R’ Chaim greeted them warmly, and reassured Itzik that perhaps this happened in order to give him a chance to begin something even better than produce. Then R’ Chaim began to impress upon him the importance of davening with a Minyan in the morning, and how he firmly believed that Itzik should take it on. Well, Itzik skeptically and begrudgingly agreed, not really expecting anything to change. Two weeks after this meeting, Itzik got a call from a major bakery chain who wanted to rent his store from him, and have him be the manager of the bakery. Make a long story short, Itzik now earns more then twice the income his previous job was offering, and he is not allowed in the shop before 10:00 AM, which is just fine by him because before that, you can find him praying at the most relaxed and holy minyan in his entire town, with great fervor and enthusiasm.
May we all merit to trust in Hashem’s goodness with complete faith!