Shalom from Beta Vikai and thank you for joining me in the study of Parashat Khukat. You can also listen to this class on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platform. So today we're going to talk about sin and punishment. The Torah describes a very sad story. So they are going around and around in the wilderness as a result, obviously, of the sin of the Meraglim. And they go around and around and tikzar nefeshaam badarich, which means their soul was shortened. It was just like enough. So the people start talking about Moshe and about God Himself. Why did you take us out from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, there is no water. And our soul again. It can be a rotten bread, it can be a bread which is different or strange, and it can be lechem kal, which means it's light. There's nothing there. So they are basically talking about two things. A, we are here for basically wandering in this wilderness, aimless, uh purposeless, which is going to die here, and also the food is terrible. And Hashem is getting angry. So Hashem sends these those serpents, and they basically cause tremendous damage within the Jewish people, and many people are being killed. So the people themselves approached Moshe. We have sinned. Because we spoke about you and about God. Please pray to God, and he will remove those serpents from us. And Moshe prayed for the people. So you would think that that's it. Hashem will stop the plague. But no. So Hashem says to Moshe, make for yourself like a serpent from copper, basically, and put him on a on a stick. And everyone that would look at this serpent that you made, he will be alive. So Moshe made a serpent made out of copper, and he put him on a on a little stick. And if a serpent damaged a person and he looked, they beaten nechash nechhoshet, and he looked at that serpent made out of copper on this little stick, vakai, and he was alive. And obviously, when you look at that, when you think about what we read now, there are obviously a few things that we need to pay attention to. First and foremost, we see that the people are frustrated. This is the generation who is about to die in the wilderness. They know that their children, the next generation, will enter the land of Israel, but they are going just to die and just wandering around for 38 more years and with no purpose in life. So obviously we can understand some kind of frustration. However, the claim itself of the food is terrible and we don't like the manna is very ungrateful. Because the mana was everything. Besides the fact that it was food from heaven, it sustained them. So what was wrong with it? In addition, we see that after the plague, they are the ones to come to Moshe to ask him to pray for them. Which is a little bit of an anomaly because until now, Moshe prayed for them without them asking him. For example, after the golden calf, Moshe was the one to besiege God without the people asking him. Even after the Meraglim, he was the one, after the spies, he was the one to approach God without the people approaching him. Here we see a bit of a change. The people themselves come ahead, go ahead and approach Moshe to pray for them, and he does. The prayer itself is not sufficient. God says to him, You need to do A, B, and C, and then the plague will disappear. Which is very interesting to see that there is a human initiative, and also Moshe had to do something, and prayer was not enough. So let's try to understand what's going on exactly in this narrative. So Rashi says, Eretzedom, everything started with what? That was the opening statement of this paragraph, which was what? That they went around Eretz Edom, the land of the Edomites, which was mostly according to our tradition, is around where Asav was. So Rashi says, the Edomites will not allow the Jewish people, Am Israel, the people of Israel, to cross through their land, through their territory. So they had to go around. But the Kzar Nefesha Ambadarh, so says Rashi, the Torah Khaderh Shuk Shalem, it was difficult. Just imagine, instead of going straight, you need to go and to do a detour. And you talk about a detour of almost two, three million people going around with your families, with the flag, everything and everything. It's difficult. Amru, so they said, we were that close to going to the land of Israel. Now we need to go back, to go backwards. So Rashi gives us a totally different light on the story. We're not talking about the older generation. They are already gone. We are talking about the generation who is about to go into the land itself. This is the new generation. It's not like what we read just like that, and we thought we are talking about the old generation. We're talking about the new generation. Parashat Chukat is already after, so to speak, all this generation that came out from Egypt is gone. We're talking about the new one. Or anyone who was 20 years old and uh and under, younger than 20 years old at the time of the spies. So what do we have here? We have the new generation who is about to go into the land of Israel. They want to go through the land of the Edomites, and the Edomite says to them, No, sorry, you need to go around. You're not coming through my territory. So this generation is thinking and says, Rega, Rega, wait, wait, what's going on here? It reminds us of what happened with our ancestors, which basically they went around and around and around and they died in the wilderness. So therefore they become frustrated. And they said, We thought that we will go into the land of Israel directly, straight. And now there is a challenge. So we need to go around. To go around, the association of going around was a terrible association for them. And therefore they became so frustrated, and they said what they said. Now, if we follow Rush's commentary, we can, I think, have a little bit of a different perspective on their claims. It's not to justify what they said, but to explain it. And there is a difference between justifying and explaining. By giving an explanation does not mean that we are justifying what they did or we agree, but at least we can hear where they are coming from. You have a new generation that saw that their parents died in the wilderness. They know that the punishment for the sin of the spies is over. They are about to go into the land of Israel. However, they realize that it's not that easy. And they still need to go around. The first two things that come to mind for them was A, why did you take us out from Egypt? Not only us, but this entire generation. If we are not about to go into the land of Israel and also to go around and around in the wilderness, so what's the point? And B, we had enough from this mana. We were promised to go into the land of Israel, land that is filled with milk and honey. We want to walk, we want to have food which is okay and not manna. We don't want to rely on this miracle every day. We want to live natural life. So we can understand where they are coming from, especially when they anticipate so much to go into the land of Israel. After 40 years, just imagine. If you were 17 years old at the time of the spies, it means that you will survive. So 40 years later, you are already 57. For 40 years you were wandering around. Now you are age of 57. You want to go into the land of Israel, you want to see this territory, you want to see the land. And then you go into the Eretzed Dom and they tell you, now, sorry, you can't go, and Hashem doesn't help you. So you become frustrated. So that's what Rashi wants to claim. The Uruchim says the following. It says, even though they knew that everything that Moshe does is based on God's commandments. Moshe does not make up things. So why were they upset with Moshe? They could be upset with Hashem. They could say to Hashem, why did you take us out from Itzaiim, from Egypt? Why didn't you allow us to go straight through Eretzedom, the land of the Edomites? Why are they complaining about Moshe? When they know that it's not Moshe, it's God. Says the Orachim. It's unbelievable. Basically, it says we understand that Moshe does everything that Hashem says to him, but you don't need to accept it. Moshe, we expected you as our leader to argue for us and to say to Hashem, God, if they need to go through Eretzedom, the land of the Edomites, let them go. Let them get to the land of Israel. Why did you, Moshe, just were waiting along and basically going along with God's commandments, you should intercede on our behalf and say to Hashem, just let them go, let them go straight. Why did you agree for that delay? He says, this is very different from the older generation. When they said, Why did you take us out from it? It does not mean that they want to go back to Mitzheim. Like the older generation did. This is a new generation. They want to go into the land, they want to conquer the land. They are upset that there is a delay. Not because they want to go back. They want to go forward. And they were upset with that Moshe didn't understand it. They come with a complaint to Moshe. Why didn't you really, why didn't you fight for us? But when they spoke about Moshe like that, that's Lashonara. Why it's Hashonarah? Because Moshe couldn't do it. If that was God's plan, that was God's plan. And this is why Hashem sent those serpents, because the serpent, the snakes, are basically a punishment for Lashonarah for evil tongue or for gossip. We know it from Mushe Rabinu. If you go back to the beginning of Shhmot, when Moshe spoke badly about the nation of Israel, saying that they will not believe him, Hashem brought this serpent, and Moshe had to run away to flee from him. So, says the Oakhaim, this claim is a very different claim. The claim that the complaint of the new generation don't copy-paste it to the old generation. We are talking about two totally different complaints. The first generation that went out from Itzheim always wanted to go back. This generation wants to go forward. Totally different complaints. He says, it's not about that there is no food, because they by their own admission they say we have lechem. What they were lacking, what they were missing was just regular food. Meaning they had enough food from heaven. But they wanted just regular food. But this kindness, this divine kindness, caused them to be bored. Just the same day, every day, same thing, not doing much, just going from your tent, collect your mana, coming back to the tent, cooking, baking the same thing, having the same thing. It's true. There's tremendous advantage. You don't need to do shopping, you don't need to do much, you don't need to do too much work, but it's boring. That becomes like a routine. Because they were so angry and so upset, because they were so bored, and they when you see a miracle the day after day after day, it becomes a routine. You don't see anything special. So they they unjustified in an unjustified way, they basically also degraded the quality of the man. They call it lechem klokel, which means what? This is food that is being digested very lightly. It becomes like part of who you are. The mana was food without content, without anything tangible. It's like almost like a pill. So you are satisfied and you don't need to walk for it, but you don't chew it, you don't feel it. They wanted to live in a natural way. Which, if I will pause here for uh for just a second, I will just say that according to Rapsim Show Nephail Hirosh, it's again it's the description of the new generation. The new generation says we don't want to live in a miracle. Contradictory to the older generation. If you remember, in Parchat Schlach, when we talked about the spies, one of the ideas that the commentators talk about when they talk about the Pansha of the Meraglin, the Pasha of the spies, is that they didn't want to go into the land of Israel because they didn't want to be engaged with natural life. They wanted to be in the desert being led, protected, guided by miracles. This generation does not want it. This is a new generation that says we want to conquer it, we want to toil the land, we want to plow the fields, we want to create an army and a government, we want to live in a natural life. But it also was a problem because just the timing. God said you will, but you need to wait. But they couldn't. And that's why they complained. So then the Orachim adds to this idea. And he says, The Urachim says, you know what? And this is one of the questions that we ask at the beginning of this class, is Moshe is praying and he's asking Hashem to please stop the plague. And Hashem does not stop the plague as a result of the prayer. He says to Moshe, go ahead, make a serpent out of kappa, put it on a stick, and then go around and show it to the people, and everyone who will look at that will be saved. Why? Why the prayer was not sufficient? Why is it that every time, every other time that Moshe prayed, that Moshe recite a prayer, it helped. And here, not. Says the Orachim. God really saw that they did not fully repent. Even though they said we have sinned, he says, yes, they come, they admitted their sin, but they never said, Oh, and we will never do it again, which is obviously part of full repentance, as the Ramba, Maimanadis, codify in the laws of Chuva. That Chuva, you need to recognize the sin, obviously admit it, regret, and accept upon yourself that you will not do it again. So that part was missing. They just admitted that they committed a transgression, but they didn't say we're not going to do it again. And this is the reason why the plague did not stop immediately after Moshe's prayer. This is why Hashem basically created this scenario that Moshe will need to do this serpent. He wanted to help them to do full repentance. Those who didn't, they will need to look at the serpent, and then they will say to themselves, okay, you know what? This is the last time I complain like that. By looking at a serpent, you will need to look really at yourself. And then to say to yourself, not only did I admit that I have sinned, but also I'm accepting upon myself not to do it again. Now we see something very interesting. If we said that the reason, the cause for their complaint was that they wanted to really live more of a natural life, natural life, and not to rely always on miracles. The way that Hashem treats them now is in a much more mature way. You want to be on your own, you want to be independent, you want to live your life, you want to let lead your life in a way that you are more mature, go ahead. Don't ask Moshe to pray on your behalf. Don't let someone else do your job. You want to be mature, you want to be people that I can rely on and trust and give you more responsibilities, go ahead. First test, repentance. There is one thing to admit your sins, which is, by the way, also a progress, because when you compare this sin to the sins of the older generation, most of the time they didn't take responsibility for their sins. So obviously there is a progress. But we need more. We need more. You committed a sin, you admitted it. Don't go to Moshe to fix it for yourself. Go ahead and fix it for yourself. You can't ask someone else to clean after what you did. Take responsibility. If you want to be the next generation that conquered the land, that is going to be to have sovereignty over the land of Israel and to build your own institutions and to build an independent nation, take responsibility. And this is what the Orahaim is saying. You want to be independent, fix it for yourself. Moshe is not going to do it for you. Don't hold the strength from both ends. I want to be independent only in things that are good for me and other things I will ask someone else to do. No, it doesn't work like that. You take full responsibility for all realms of life. Rapshim Shon Rafael Hirsch also tried to understand the idea of those serpents and how is that going to fit into this narrative. And it says, he says, this idea of sending the serpents had only one purpose. It's come to teach and to illustrate to the people that how many challenges and danger and danger there is in the wilderness. And the only reason why the serpents and the scorpions and everything else that is in the desert did not cause any damage to the Jewish people is. It's only because of God's miracles. God, in a way, protected the Jewish people in to the extent that they didn't even know that there is so much danger in the wilderness. Think about it. You go to the trip, you go on a trip to the wilderness. You immediately start putting fire or something like that, so you scare away the snakes and the bears and the scorpions and whatever it is. The Jewish people traveled through this desert for 40 years, they didn't even know that there are serpents there because God's protection. But now, everyone who was beaten by the serpent will immediately remember, oh, there are serpents in the desert. How come? For 40 years they were not here? Welcome to the natural world. In the natural world you have danger around you. And sometimes you are not protected. Sometimes you need to deal with them by yourself. You need to remember it. After this plague is over, you know that it's over only because of God. You need to basically internalize the fact that there are so many times that there is so much danger around you, and the only reason why we don't know about them is because God's protection. So the end result of it will be what? Every breath we take in our life, it will reinforce the idea of being grateful to God, knowing that we don't know what will be tomorrow. We don't know what will be in a second from now. We don't know what kind of a danger we were saved without even knowing. So every moment of our lives we will be grateful and having the feeling of survivors to some extent. Because sometimes just a routine, it's like, okay, you know, if I didn't meet the danger, if I didn't go through the danger, so probably it was not there. It might be, but it might be that there was a danger and you don't even know about it. So in a way, Rapshim John Rafael Hirsch is trying to tell us to live with this tension of you don't need to live your life terrified that every moment something terrible will happen to you. But you do need to be grateful that nothing happened to you. Rapshim John Rafael Hirsch continues. Meaning when we walk and when we go about our life. Yeah, many times life is boring, and you know, we don't feel like we are walking on a very tight rope and we are about to fall into the ocean. We think that we are walking on a very wide street and everything is great and nothing will happen to us. You always need to know that what you have, the life that you have, is guarded by God. And it allows us to really live normally. Because without this feeling that Hashem is there for us, and we avoid many, many dangerous situations because we don't even know about them. This is Khesed Hashem, this is God's kindness. And then it would lead us, obviously, we evare Hashem, it will be we will praise God, Shegmalok, that God gave me all this plenty of blessings. Meaning you need to know that danger exists. And the fact that this danger does not meet you, it's because of God's protection. And this is the reason, says Rapshim Shana Faliosh, why the serpents were sent to punish the Jewish people. Because they were ungrateful. And the Nahash was an ungrateful creature. So because the people were ungrateful, he sends those serpents. And in order to rectify it, you need to look to that serpent and to internalize this image of the serpent and to say to yourself, I don't want to be like him. I don't want to be ungrateful. I'm going to be a grateful person. So the purpose of this entire narrative, according to Raphsim Sonafariosh, it's to teach this new generation who is going to be immersed in natural life. And when you are in natural life and you live normally and you are not aware of what is out there sometimes. You plow the field and it grows and you have harvest and everything is great, you don't even know that it could have been that this year will have no rain or that mice will come and eat all your harvest. You don't even know it exists. So you are a little bit less grateful. But if you live your life knowing that everything you have, yes, part of it is definitely your efforts. But part of it is God's protection. And allowing you to avoid all kinds of things, our perception on life will be totally different. And that was the preparation for this next generation who is about to enter the land of Israel. In Bamid Barabah, in this midrash, it says, So they besiege Moshe to pray for them. So this Midrash, and like what Rapshim Son of says, he says, really Moshe, first you learn about Moshe. Even though they spoke about Moshe and they probably were not kind to him, immediately when they approached him, he went straight to God to pray for them. So that teaches us, even if we are being insulted by someone, but he asks for our help, do it. B, they repented. And immediately God also answered to them. So he brings examples that even though Avraham was insulted by Avimelech, or Eyov was insulted by his friends, when they ask for forgiveness, not a problem. And how do we know that if I ask for forgiveness from someone that I hurt, and I'm talking about sincere forgiveness, that the people that I hurt must forgive me? It says, So the example is from Shmuel, from the prophet Samuel, that when the people ask for a king, they insulted him because he was the judge. But after they committed, they admitted that they committed a sin, he says, Don't worry. You admitted your sin, you repented, I'm going to pray for you. So according to the Midrash, there is totally different perspective to the narrative. It's come to teach us about forgiveness. Which is also obviously a very important lesson. Without forgiveness, you can't really move forward. There is definitely need to be a sincere ask for forgiveness. But the people, but the person himself who needs who needed to forgive, he also needs to understand that he must move forward. I'm not saying that he needs to erase it from his memory, but he must move forward. And not to hold grouch and not to try to take revenge. It just really is to move forward with what happened, but to even pray for the other person to help him, which will show the sincere forgiveness. The Rabbi Mirubavic in a way adds one more dimension. And he says also, this incident does illustrate Moses' exceptional character and selfless devotion to his people, which he obviously builds on the Midrash. This point has already been made. So we already know that Moshe is a great person. Rather, Moses' wholehearted forgiveness of the people who slandered him is intended to serve as an example for us. When we forgive someone only officially, we indeed cause him to bespread any divine punishment for his acts against us. But when we forgive him completely, cleansing ourselves of any residual grouch against him, we are moved to pray for his overall well-being and spiritual betterment as well. I think the Rebbe Mulubavic in a way defined it so accurately forgiveness is not only for the person who insulted me, it's also for me. I can elevate myself to look at someone who slandered me. And not only to say, okay, I forgive you, but I don't want to talk to you anymore, but I'll pray for you, I will do something for you, I'll help you. This is the idea of Am Israel, of Kralisrael. It's not only about me, it's about what I do and the effect that I have on so many other people. So I think that this narrative, this the sin of the punishment, that we can read in so many different ways. If we're talking about the idea is forgiveness, also the maturity in forgiveness and the levels of forgiveness, also the understanding of their anticipation to go into the land of Israel and to be independent. And what does it mean to be independent? It's to take responsibility for all realms of life. I think that this Pasha, in a way, is preparing us, the next generation, that when you go to the land of Israel, when you build your country, when you build your state, you need to have this, all those views together. You need to understand what does it mean to be independent, what does it mean to take responsibilities, and what does it mean to offer forgiveness and to accept forgiveness? What kind of maturity level you need to have in order not just to officially forgive someone, but really truly even to pray for them and to make them better and to make our and to make ourselves better. Thank you.