Sichat Torah – June 19, 2021 | 9 Tamuz 5781

Parashat (Numbers 19:1-22:1) Triennial Reading: Numbers 20:22-22:1 Haftarah: Judges 11:1-33

Summary of Chukat • The laws of the red heifer to purify a person who has had contact with a corpse are given. (19:1-22) • The people arrive at the wilderness of Zin. Miriam dies and is buried there. (20:1) • The people complain that they have no water. strikes the rock to get water for them. God tells Moses and they will not enter the Land of Israel. (20:2- 13) • The king of refuses to let the Children of Israel pass through his land. After Aaron's priestly garments are given to his son Eleazer, Aaron dies. (20:14-29) • After they are punished for complaining about the lack of bread and water, the repent and are victorious in battle against the Amorites and the people of Bashan, whose lands they capture. (21:4-22:1) Numbers 20:22-22:1 במדבר כ׳:כ״ב- כ״ב:א׳ )כב( ַו ִּ י ְס ֖ עו ִּמ ָּק ֑ ד ׁש ַו יָּ ֧באו בְ נ ֵֽי־יִּש ְרָּ ֛ל כא ׇּל־הָּע דָּ ֖ ה ֥ ה ר ָּה ָּהֵֽר׃ )כג( ַו ֧י אמֶר יְה וָּ֛ ה אֶל־מ שׁ ֶ֥ ה וְאֵֶֽל־אַ ֖ הֲר ן ְ ב ֣ר ה הָּהָּ֑ ר עַ ל־ג ְ֥בו ל אֵֶֽרֶ ֖ו ץ־אֱד םל אמ ֵֽר׃ )כד( י ֤אָּס ף אַ הֲר ֙ ן ֶאל־ ַע ָּ֔מ יו כ ִּ֣ י ֤ אל יָּב ֙א אֶל־הָּאָּ֔ רֶ ץ אֲשׁ ֶ֥ ר נָּתַ ֖ת יִּ לִּבְ ֣נ ייִּש ְרָּ ֑ אל עַ֛ ל אֲשׁ ֶר־מְרִּ יתֶ ֥ ם אֶת־פ ִּ֖ י ֥י לְממְרִּ יבֵָּֽה׃ )כה( קַ ֚ ח אֵֶֽת־אַ ֔הֲרן ֖וְאֶת־אֶלְעָּזָּר ְ ב ֑נ ו וְהַ ֥ לעַ א תָּ ֖ ם ֥ ה ר הָּהֵָּֽר׃ )כו( וְהַפְשׁ ֤ ט אֵֶֽת־אַ הֲר ֙ ן אֶת־ב ְ גָּדָּ ֔ יו וְהִּלְב ְתַשׁ ָּ ֖ם ֣אֶת־אֶלְעָּזָּר ְ ב ֑נ ו וְאַ ֥ הֲרן י ֖ אָּסף ו ֥ מת ׁ ָּשֵֽם׃ )כז( ַו ֣יַעַ ש מ שׁ ֶ֔ ה כַאֲשׁ ֶ֖ר וצִּ ָּ֣ה יְה וָּ֑ ה ַוֵֽ יַ ֲעל ֙ו אֶ ֣ר ל־ה הָּהָּ֔ ר לְע ֖ינ י ׇּכל־ ָּה ע ָּדֵֽה׃ )כח( ַו יַ ְפ ׁ ש ֩ ט מ שׁ ֶ֨ ה אֵֶֽת־אַ ֜ן הֲר אֶת־ב ְ גָּדָּ ֗ יו ַו יַ ְל ֤ב שׁ א ֙ תָּם ֣אֶת־אֶלְעָּזָּר ְ ב ֔נ ו ַו ֧יָּמׇּת אַ ֛ ןהֲר ָּ֖שׁ ם ְ ב ֣ ראשׁ הָּהָּ֑ ר ַו ֧י רֶ ד מ שׁ ֶ֛ה ֖וְאֶלְעָּזָּר ִּמן־ ָּה ָּהֵֽר׃ )כט( ַו ִּ י ְרא ֙ו כ ׇּל־הָּ֣ ע דָּ ֔ ה כ ִּ֥י גָּוַ֖ ע אַ ֑ הֲר ן ַו ִּ י ְב ֤כ ו אֵֶֽת־אַ הֲר ֙ ן ְ לשׁ ִּ ֣שׁ ים ֔ י ום ֖ כ ל ֥בית יִּש אְרָּ ֵֽל׃ }ס{ )א( ַו ִּ י ׁ ְש ַ֞ מע הַכ ְנַעֲנִּ֤ י ֶמֵֽ ֶל ְך־ ֲע ָּר ֙ ד י שׁ ֣ ב הַ ֶ֔נגֶב כ ִּ֚ י ב ָּ֣א יִּש ְרָּ ֔ אל ֶ ֖ ד ֶר ְך ָּה ֲא ָּת ִּ ֑ר ים ַו ִּ י ָּל֙ ֙ חֶם ב ְ יִּש ְרָּ ֔ אל ַו ִּ ֥ישׁ ְ ְב ׀ ִּמ ֶ֖ מ נו ׁ ֶשֵֽ ִּבי׃ )ב( ַו ִּ י ַ ֨ר דיִּש ְרָּ ֥ אל ֛נֶדֶ רלֵַֽיה וָּ֖ ה ַו י א ַ֑ר מאִּ ֨ןם־נָּת ת ִּ֜תן אֶת־הָּעָּ֤ ם הַ ז ֙ ֶה ב ְ יָּדִּ ֔ י וְהֵַֽחֲרַ מְת ִּ ֖ י ֶאת־ ָּע רי ֶהֵֽם׃ )ג( ַו ִּ י ׁ ְש ַ֨ עמ יְה וָּ֜ ה ב ֣ו ְק ליִּש ְרָּ ֗ אל ַו ִּ י ת ֙ ן אֶת־הֵַֽכ ְנַעֲנִּ֔ י ַו יַ ֲח ֥ רם אֶתְ הֶ֖ ם וְאֶת־עָּריהֶ֑ ם ַו ִּ י ְק ָּ ֥ רא ׁ שם־ ַה ָּמ ֖ו םק חׇּרְ מֵָּֽה׃ }פ{ )ד( ַו ִּ י ְס ֞ עו מ ֤ר ה ֙ הָּהָּר ֶ ֣ד ֶר ְך יַם־ ֔ וס ף לִּסְ ֖ ב ב אֶת־אֶ֣ רֶ ץ ֑ ואֱד ם וַת ִּקְ צַ֥ר נֵֶֽפֶשׁ ־הָּעָּ֖ ם ַב ָּ דֵֽ ֶר ְך׃ )ה( וַיְדַ ֣ר בהָּעָּ֗ם ב ֵֽאל ֮ הִּים ו בְ מ שׁ ֒ ֶה לָּמָּ֤ה ֙ הֵֶֽעֱלִּית ֙נו ִּמ ִּמ ְצ ַ ֔ ריִּם ֖ לָּמו ת ַב ִּמ ְד ָּ֑ בר כ ִּ֣ י ֥א ין לֶ֙ ֙חֶם ֣ וְאין מַ ֔ יִּם וְנַפְשׁ ֣ נו קָּ֔ צָּה ַב ֶל֖ ֶחם ַה ְ קל קֵֽל׃ )ו( ַו ְי ׁ ַש ַ֨ חל יְה וָּ֜ה ב ָּעָּ֗ ם ֚את הַ נ ִּ ֣יםְחָּשׁ הַ ש ְרָּ פִּ֔ ים וֵַֽיְנַשׁ ֖ו ְכ אֶת־הָּעָּ֑ ם ַו ֥יָּמׇּת עַ ם־רָּ ֖ ב ִּמ ִּ י ְ ש ָּר אֵֽל׃ )ז( ַו יָּב ֩א הָּעָּ֨ ם אֶל־מ שׁ ֶ֜ ה ַו י א ְמ ו֣ר חָּ טָּ֗ אנו כ ִֵּֽי־דִּ ַ֤רְ בנו בֵַֽיה ֙וָּה וָּבָּ֔ ְך ִּה ְת ַפ ל ֙ ל אֶל־יְה וָּ֔ ה ֥וְיָּס ר מ ֖ ינועָּל אֶת־הַ נָּחָּ֑ ׁש ַו ִּ י ְת ַפ ֥ לל מ שׁ ֶ֖ ה בְעַ ֥ ד ָּה ָּעֵֽם׃ )ח( ַו ֨י אמֶר יְה וָּ֜ ה אֶל־מ שׁ ֶ֗ ה ֤ עֲשה ְל ָּ֙ ך ש ָּרָּ ֔ ף וְש ִּ ֥ ים א ֖ת ו עַ ֑סל־נ ֙וְהָּיָּה כ נׇּל־הַ ָּשׁ ֔ ו ְך ְו ָּר ָּ֥ אה א ֖ו תוָּחָּ ֵֽי׃

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)ט( ַו ֤יַעַ ש מ שׁ ֙ ֶה נְחַ ֣ שׁ ֔ נְח ֶתשׁ וַיְש ֖ ִּמהו עַ ל־הַ ֑ס נ ֗ה וְהָּיָּאִּ ם־נָּשׁ ַ֤ ְך ַה ָּנ ָּח ׁ ֙ ש אֶת־אִּ ֔ ישׁ וְהִּב ִּ ֛ יט אֶ ל־נְחַ ֥ שׁ הַ נ ֖שׁ ְח ֶתוָּחָּ ֵֽי׃ )י( ַו ִּ י ְס ֖עו ְ ב ֣נ ייִּש ְרָּ ֑ אל ַוֵֽ יַ ֲח ֖ ונ ב א ְ ב ֵֽת׃ )יא( ַו ִּ י ְס ֖ עו מא ֑ ב ת ַוֵֽ יַ ֲח ֞נו ְ ב ִּע ֣י הֵָּֽעֲבָּרִּ ֗ ים ַב ִּמ ְד ָּב ֙ ר אֲשׁ ֙ ֶר עַ ל־פ ֣יְנ מו אָּ ֔ ב ִּמ ִּמ ְז ַ ֖ רח הַשׁ ֵָּֽמֶשׁ ׃)יב( ָּ֖םמִּשׁ נָּסָּ֑ עו ַוֵֽ יַ ֲח ֖ נו ְ בנַ֥חַל זֵָּֽרֶ ד׃ )יג( מִּשׁ ֮ ָּם נָּסָּ֒ ֒עו ַוֵֽ יַ ֲח ֗ נו מ ֤ עבֶר אַרְ נו ֙ ן אֲשׁ ֶ֣ ר ַב ִּמ ְד ָּ֔ בר ַה י ֖ אצ מִּ ג ֣ ְבל הֵָּֽאֱמ רִּ ֑ י כ ִּ֤ י אַרְ נו ֙ ן ג וְ֣ב ל מו אָּ ֔ ב ֥ בין מו אָּ֖ ב ו ֥בין הָּאֱמרִּ ֵֽי׃ )יד( עַ ל־כ ֙ ן י ֵֽאָּמַ֔ ר ב ְ֖ס פֶר ֣ תמִּלְחֲמ יְה וָּ֑ ה ב֣ אֶת־וָּה ב ְ סו פָּ֔ ה וְאֶת־הַ נְחָּלִּ֖ ים אַרְ נֵֽון׃ )טו( וְאֶ֙ שׁ ֙ ֶד הַ נְחָּלִּ֔ ים אֲשׁ ֶ֥ר נָּטָּ֖ ה לְשׁ ֶ֣ בֶת עָּ֑ ר וְנִּשׁ ְעַ֖ ן ֥לִּגְבול מו אָּ ֵֽב׃ )טז( ו ָּ֖מִּשׁ ם ב ְ֑א רָּה הִּ ֣ וא הַב ְ֗א ר אֲשׁ ֶ֨ ר אָּמַ֤ ר יְה ֙ וָּה לְמ שׁ ֶ֔ ה אֱס ֙ ף אֶת־הָּעָּ֔ ם וְאֶת ְ נָּ֥ ה לָּהֶ֖ם מֵָּֽיִּם׃ }ס{ )יז( אָּ ֚ז ִּ ֣יריָּשׁ יִּש ְרָּ ֔ל אאֶת־הַשׁ ִּ ירָּ ֖ ה הַ ֑ ז את עֲלִּ֥ י ֖בְאר עֱנו ־לֵָּֽה׃ )יח( ב ֞ רְא ֣ו חֲפָּרהָּ ש ָּרִּ ֗ ים כ וָּ֙ר הָּ֙ נְדִּ ֣י יבהָּעָּ֔ ם ב ִּמְ ח ֖ק ב ְ ְמִּשׁ עֲנ תָּ ֑ ם ו ִּמ ִּמ ְד ָּ֖בר מַת ָּ נֵָּֽה׃ )יט( ו ִּמ ַמ ָּת ָּ֖הנ ֑ל נַחֲלִּיאו נמִּ ַ֖חֲלִּיאלב ָּמֵֽו ת׃ )כ( ו מִּב ֗ ָּמ ות הַג ֙ ַיְא אֲשׁ ֙ ֶר ב ִּ ש ְ֣ד ה מו אָּ֔ ב ֖ ר אשׁ הַפ גִּסְ ָּ֑ה וְנִּשׁ ְקָּ֖ פָּה עַל־פ ְ֥נ י הַ יְשׁ ִּ ימ ֵֽן׃ }פ{ )כא( ַו ִּ י ׁ ְש ַ֤ח ליִּש ְרָּ א ֙ ל מַלְאָּכִּ֔ ים אֶל־סִּ ֥ יח ן ֶמֵֽ ֶל ְך־ ָּה ֱאמ ִּ ֖רי ל אמ ֵֽר׃ )כב( אֶעְב ְרָּ ֣ ה בְאַרְ צֶ֗ ָּך ֤ ל א ִּנ ֶט ֙ה ב ש ְ ָּדֶ ֣ ה ו בְ כֶ֔ רֶ ם ֥ אל נִּשׁ ֶ ֖ ְתה ֣מ י ֑ בְאר בְדֶ ֤ ֶר ְך ַה ֶ֙ מ ֶל ְ֙ ך נ ֔ל ְך ַ֥ דע אֲשׁ ֖ ֵֶֽר־נַעֲב ר ְ ג ב ֶלֵֽ ָּך׃ )כג( ְול א־ ָּנ ַ ֨ ןת סִּ ֣ ןיח אֶת־יִּש ְרָּ א ֮ל ֣ עֲבר ב ִּגְב ֒ לו ַו יֶ ֱא ֨ס ף סִּ ֜ יח ן ֶאת־ ׇּכל־ ַע ֗ מ ו ַו י ֞צ א לִּקְרַ ֤ את יִּש ְרָּ א ֙ ל ַה ִּמ ְד ָּ֔ ב ָּרה ַו יָּ ֖ אב ֑ יָּ ְה ָּצה ַו ִּ י ָּ֖ חֶםל ב ְ יִּש אְרָּ ֵֽל׃ )כד( ַו יַ ֥כהו יִּ ש ְרָּ ֖אל לְפִּ י־חָּ֑ ֶרב ַו ִּ יי ַ ֨ר שׁ ֜ ואֶת־אַרְצ מ ֵֽאַרְ ֗נ ן עַ ד־יַב ֙ ק עַ ד־ב ְ֣נ י ַע ו֔ מ ן כ ִּ֣ י עַ֔ ז ג ְ֖בו ל ְ ב ֥נ י ַע מֵֽ ון׃ )כה( ַו ִּ י ַק ֙ ח יִּש ְרָּ ֔ אל ֥את כ ׇּל־הֶעָּרִּ ֖ ים ֑הָּא ֶלה ַו ֤שׁי ֶב יִּש ְרָּ א ֙ ל ב ְ ֣כׇּל־עָּרי הֵָּֽאֱמ רִּ ֔ י בְחֶשׁ ְ֖בן ו בְ כׇּל־ב ְ נתֵֶֽיהָּ׃ )כו( כ ִּ֣ י חֶשׁ ו֔ ְב ן עִּ ֗ יר סִּ ֛ יח ן מֶ֥ ֶל ְך ָּה ֱאמ ִּ ֖ יר הִּ ֑ וא ֣וְהו א נִּלְחַ ֗ ם בְמֶ֤ ֶל ְך מ ו ָּא ֙ ב הֵָּֽרִּאשׁ ֔ ון ַו ִּ י ַ ֧ קח אֶת־כ ֛ ׇּל־אַרְצ ו ִּמ יָּ ֖ וד נעַד־אַרְ ֵֽן׃ )כז( עַ ֛ ל־כן י ֥ אמְרו ַה מ ׁ ְש ִּ֖ לים ֣ ב או חֶשׁ ְ֑ב ון ת בִּ ָּ֥נֶה וְתִּ כ ו ֖ןנ עִּ ֥יר סִּ יחֵֽו ן׃ )כח( כ ִּי־אשׁ ֙ יֵָּֽצְאָּ ֣ ה מ ֵֽחֶשׁ ְ֔בו ןלֶהָּבָּ֖ ה ִּמ ִּ ק ְר ת֣ יַ סִּ ֑ן יח ֙ אֵָּֽכְלָּה עָּ֣ ר מו אָּ ֔ ב ב ֖ יַעֲל ב ָּ֥מ ות ַא ְרנֵֽ ן׃ )כט( א וי־ ְל ָּ֣ ך מו אָּב֔ אָּבַ֖ דְת ָּ עַ ם־כ ֑ וְמ שׁ נָּתַ ֨ן ב ָּנָּ֤ יו פ ְ ל יטִּ ֙ם ו נבְ תָּ ֣ יו ב ַשׁ ְבִּ ֔ ית לְמֶ֥ ֶל ְך אֱמ רִּ ֖י סִּ יחֵֽו ן׃ )ל( וַנִּירָּ ֛ ם אָּבַ֥ ד חֶשׁ ֖ וְב ן עַ ד־ד ִּ ֑ ןיב וַנ ִּ ַ֣שׁ ים עַ ֔ד־נ פַח אֲשׁ ֶ֖ ׄר ַעד־ מֵֽי ְד ָּבֵֽא׃ )לא( ַו ֙י שׁ ֶ֙ב יִּש ְרָּ ֔ אל בְאֶ֖ רֶ ץ ָּה ֱאמ ִּרֵֽי׃ )לב( ַו ִּ י ׁ ְש ַ֤ לח מ שׁ ֶ֙ה לְרַ ֣ גל אֶת־יַעְ ֔ זר ַוֵֽ ִּ י לְכ ֖ ְדו ְ בנ תֶ ֑ י ָּה )ויירש( ] ַו ֖יורֶשׁ [אֶת־הָּאֱמ רִּ ֥ י ֲא ׁ ֶשר־ ׁ ָּשֵֽם׃ )לג( ַו ִּ י ְפנ ֙ו ַוֵֽ יַ ֲע ֔ לו ֶ ֖ד ֶר ְך ַה ָּב ׁ ָּ֑ שן ַו י ֣ צא עו ֩ ג ֶמֵֽ ֶל ְך־ ַה ָּב ׁ ָּ֨ן שלִּקְרָּאתָּ ֜ ם ֧ הו א ְו ׇּכל־ ַע ֛ מ ו ַל ִּמ ְל ָּח ָּ֖ מה ֶא ְד ֶרֵֽ ִּעי׃ )לד( ַו ֨י אמֶר יְה וָּ֤ ה אֶ ל־מ שׁ ֙ ֶה אַל־ת ִּירָּ ֣ א א ֔ ות כ ִּ֣ י ְביָּ ְד ָּ֞ ך נָּתַ ֧ ת ִּ י א ֛ת ו ְו ֶאת־ ׇּכל־ ַע ֖ מ ו ֑ו וְאֶת־אַרְצ וְעָּש ִּ ֣ י ָּת ֔ ל ו כַאֲשׁ ֶ֣ר עָּש ִּ ֗ יתָּלְסִּ יח ֙ ן מֶ֣ ֶל ְך ָּהֵֽ ֱאמ ִּ ֔ רי אֲשׁ ֶ֥ ר יושׁ ֖ ב ְ ב ֶח ׁ ְש בֵֽ ון׃ )לה( ַו יַ ֨ כו א ֤תו וְאֶת־ב ָּ֙נָּיו ְו ֶאת־ ׇּכל־ ַע ֔מ ו עַ ד־ב ִּלְת ִּ ֥י הִּשׁ ְאִּ ֖ו ֵֽיר־ל ש ָּרִּ ֑ יד ַו ִּ ֵֽיי ְר ׁ ֖ וש אֶת־אַרְ צֵֽו׃ )א( ַו ִּ י ְס ֖עו ְ ב ֣נ ייִּש ְרָּ ֑ אל ַוֵֽ יַ ֲחנ ֙ו ב ו֣ ְעֵַֽרְב ת מו אָּ ֔ ב מ ֖ עבֶר לְיַרְ ֥ ןד יְר חֵֽו׃ }ס{

(22) Setting out from Kadesh, the Israelites arrived in a body at . (23) At Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, (24) “Let Aaron be gathered to his kin: he is not to enter the land that I have assigned to the Israelite people, because you disobeyed my command about the waters of Meribah. (25) Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up on Mount Hor. (26) Strip Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar. There Aaron shall be gathered unto the dead.” (27) Moses did as the LORD had commanded. They ascended Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. (28) Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar, and Aaron died there on the summit of the mountain. When Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, (29) the whole community knew that Aaron had breathed his last. All the house of Israel bewailed Aaron thirty days. (1) When the Canaanite, king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, learned that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he engaged Israel in battle and took some of them

2 captive. (2) Then Israel made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You deliver this people into our hand, we will proscribe their towns.” (3) The LORD heeded Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites; and they and their cities were proscribed. So that place was named Hormah. (4) They set out from Mount Hor by way of the Sea of Reeds to skirt the land of Edom. But the people grew restive on the journey, (5) and the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food.” (6) The LORD sent seraph serpents against the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. (7) The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD to take away the serpents from us!” And Moses interceded for the people. (8) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a seraph figure and mount it on a standard. And if anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover.” (9) Moses made a copper and mounted it on a standard; and when anyone was bitten by a serpent, he would look at the copper serpent and recover. (10) The Israelites marched on and encamped at Oboth. (11) They set out from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness bordering on Moab to the east. (12) From there they set out and encamped at the wadi Zered. (13) From there they set out and encamped beyond the Arnon, that is, in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. (14) Therefore the Book of the Wars of the LORD speaks of “…Waheb in Suphah, and the wadis: the Arnon (15) with its tributary wadis, stretched along the settled country of Ar, hugging the territory of Moab…” (16) And from there to Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people that I may give them water.” (17) Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well—sing to it— (18) The well which the chieftains dug, Which the nobles of the people started With maces, with their own staffs. And from Midbar to Mattanah, (19) and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, (20) and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, at the peak of Pisgah, overlooking the wasteland. (21) Israel now sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, (22) “Let me pass through your country. We will not turn off into fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from wells. We will follow the king’s highway until we have crossed your territory.” (23) But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness. He came to Jahaz and engaged Israel in battle. (24) But Israel put them to the sword, and took possession of their land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as [Az] of the Ammonites, for Az marked the boundary of the Ammonites. (25) Israel took all those towns. And Israel settled in all

3 the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its dependencies. (26) Now Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against a former king of Moab and taken all his land from him as far as the Arnon. (27) Therefore the bards would recite: “Come to Heshbon; firmly built And well founded is Sihon’s city. (28) For fire went forth from Heshbon, Flame from Sihon’s city, Consuming Ar of Moab, The lords of Bamoth by the Arnon. (29) Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! His sons are rendered fugitive And his daughters captive By an Amorite king, Sihon.” (30) Yet we have cast them down utterly, Heshbon along with Dibon; We have wrought desolation at Nophah, Which is hard by Medeba. (31) So Israel occupied the land of the Amorites. (32) Then Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its dependencies and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. (33) They marched on and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan, with all his people, came out to Edrei to engage them in battle. (34) But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I give him and all his people and his land into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites who dwelt in Heshbon.” (35) They defeated him and his sons and all his people, until no remnant was left him; and they took possession of his country. (1) The Israelites then marched on and encamped in the steppes of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho.

Commentary: CITATION COMMENT 1 RASHI ON NUM They were all completely ready to enter the land. Not one 20:22 In a body among them was of those against whom the decree had been issued- all those who were to die in the wilderness were gone. Those who were left were those to whom Moses said, “You, who held fast to the Lord your God, are all alive today” (Deut 4:4). Mount Hor “Mount” is har in Hebrew; “Mount Hor” was a hor atop a har, a mountain atop a mountain- like a little heap sitting on top of a big one. Even though the cloud that went before them leveled the mountains for them, there were still three that remained: Mount Sinai, for the Torah; Mount Hor, for Aaron to be buried; and Mount Nebo, for Moses to be buried.

Deut 4:3-4: (3) You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did in the matter of Baal-peor, that the LORD your God wiped out from among you every person who followed Baal-peor;

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(4) while you, who held fast to the LORD your God, are all alive today. 2 RASHI ON NUM Since they were getting ready to ally themselves with Esau the 20:23 On the wicked, their work was broken up and they were deprived of boundary of the the righteous Aaron, just as the prophet told : “As land of Edom you have made a partnership with Ahaziah, the Lord will break up your work” (II Chronicles 20:37).

Gen 25:30: And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom.

Gen 36:9: This, then, is the line of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

II Chron 20:35-37: (35) Afterward, King Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into a partnership with King Ahaziah of Israel, thereby acting wickedly. (36) He joined with him in constructing ships to go to Tarshish; the ships were constructed in Ezion-geber. (37) Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, “As you have made a partnership with Ahaziah, the LORD will break up your work.” The ships were wrecked and were unable to go to Tarshish. 3 RASHI ON NUM “Take” him with words of comfort. Tell him, “How fortunate 20:25 Take you are to see your crown given to your son- a privilege I shall Aaron not share.” 4 RASHI ON NUM Moses first dressed Aaron in his High Priest’s vestments and 20:26 Strip then stripped him of them in order to give them to his son in Aaron of his his presence. Moses told Aaron, “Go into this cave.” He went vestments into the cave, where he saw a bier and a burning lamp. “Get onto the bier,” and he got on. “Stretch out your arms by your side.” He did so. “Close your mouth.” He closed it. “Shut your eyes.” He shut them. Moses felt an intense desire that he too should die in just this way, and that is what he was promised: “You shall die…as your brother Aaron died” (Deut 32:50)- just as you wanted.

Deut 32:48-52: (48) That very day the LORD spoke to Moses: (49) Ascend these heights of Abarim to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab facing Jericho, and view the land of , which I am giving the Israelites as their holding. (50)

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You shall die on the mountain that you are about to ascend, and shall be gathered to your kin, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his kin; (51) for you both broke faith with Me among the Israelite people, at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, by failing to uphold My sanctity among the Israelite people. (52) You may view the land from a distance, but you shall not enter it—the land that I am giving to the Israelite people. 5 NACHMANIDES These were the vestments of the High Priest, through which ON NUM 20:26 his son Eleazar’s accession to that post was now to be Strip Aaron of recognized. It seems plausible that when Aaron finished his vestments presenting the daily offering, lighting the incense, and arranging the lamps, Moses took him up Mount Hor still dressed in his vestments, and he stripped him of them there. The straightforward sense of our text must be that he dressed Aaron in a shroud that he had brought along; he then stripped Eleazar of his ordinary clothes and dressed him in the vestments, as he had done on the day he was installed as priest. A midrash explains that all this happened miraculously: The first garments that were put on Aaron could not be the first to come off, yet they were the first that had to be put on Eleazar. So God did a greater miracle for Aaron as his death approached than He had ever done for him in life: He dressed him with garments of the Shekhinah beneath his priestly vestments, so that the latter could be removed and put onto Eleazar in the correct sequence without exposing Aaron to embarrassment. Then “Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments” in the correct sequence “and put them on his son Eleazar” (v. 28). 6 ABARBANEL Why did Aaron die at Mount Hor (v. 28) rather than together ON NUM 20:28 with Moses? For death had been decreed for both of them at Aaron died there the same time [See Num 20:12]. Why was Aaron not buried where they were camped, as Miriam was in v.1?

Since the deaths of Moses and Aaron were decreed simultaneously, why did they die at separate times? First, God wished the three siblings to die in the same order they were born, as they would naturally do; second, Aaron’s sin with the Golden Calf preceded Moses’ sin with the spies; third, each of them deserved to be mourned 1,000 times- it would be wrong for a single period of mourning to serve for them both.

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7 RASHI ON NUM When they saw Moses and Eleazar come down the mountain 20:29 The whole without Aaron, they asked, “Where is Aaron?” Moses said, community knew “He’s dead.” They asked, “How can the Angel of Death possible have power over the one who faced down the angel and stopped the plague?” [See Num 17:13] Moses begged God for help, and the ministering angels showed them Aaron stretched out on the bier. That is when the community “saw” and finally believed “that Aaron was dead.” All the house of Israel. Men and women alike. For Aaron was a lifelong pursuer of peace, always trying to instill love between people who were quarreling and between husband and wife… (continues)

Num 17:9-15: (9) the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) “Remove yourselves from this community, that I may annihilate them in an instant.” They fell on their faces. (11) Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the altar. Add incense and take it quickly to the community and make expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from the LORD: the plague has begun!” (12) Aaron took it, as Moses had ordered, and ran to the midst of the congregation, where the plague had begun among the people. He put on the incense and made expiation for the people; (13) he stood between the dead and the living until the plague was checked. (14) Those who died of the plague came to fourteen thousand and seven hundred, aside from those who died on account of Korah. (15) Aaron then returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, since the plague was checked. 8 GERSONIDES Perhaps they knew because it took place on top of a mountain, ON NUM 20:29 where everyone could see it from a distance. The whole community knew that Aaron had breathed his last 9 RASHBAM ON Rather, “this shiny food.” Compare “the king of NUM 21:5 This Babylon…has burnished arrows” (Ezek 21:26). The manna miserable food was “in color like bdellium” (Num 11:7)- that is, it was “white” (Exod 16:31) and dry. That it was unnaturally metallic.

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Ezek 21:26: For the king of Babylon has stood at the fork of the road, where two roads branch off, to perform divination: He has burnished/shaken arrows, consulted teraphim, and inspected the liver.

Num 11:7: Now the manna was like coriander seed, and in color it was like bdellium.

Exod 16:31: The house of Israel named it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers in honey. 10 ABARBANEL This “light” food is not enough for us; we are under great ON NUM 21:5 physical strain and need heartier fare This miserable food 11 BEKHOR SHOR This “light” food, which has no substance and gives no ON NUM 21:5 strength. Familiarity with it bred contempt. This miserable food 12 RASHI ON NUM They liked the servant to his Creator. Why did you make us 21:5 Against leave Egypt? “You”- the two of you equally. There is no God and against bread and no water. No real bread and no reliable source of Moses water. It is here today, gone tomorrow- and we cannot depend on it….This miserable food. They called it this because the manna was completely absorbed by their bodies. They thought, “Eventually this manna is going to swell up in our guts. Can anyone born of woman eat and not excrete? 13 RASHI ON NUM “Fiery” serpents, as the Hebrew implies, which burn people 21:6 Seraph with the poison in their teeth. They bit the people. Let the serpents , punished as a result of Eve’s bad report, come and punish those who spread bad reports about the land; let the snake, to whom all foods have but a single taste, punish those who reject the good [manna], a single food that changes its taste for them in multiple ways. 14 IBN EZRA ON The midrash applies Ecclesiastes 10:11, about the snake that NUM 21:6 bites to the disadvantage of the snake charmer, to this Seraph serpents situation: The Israelites tried to “bite” God and Moses, and got bitten in return.

Eccles 10:11: If the snake bites because no spell was uttered, no advantage is gained by the trained charmer.

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15 RASHI ON NUM We learn that one who is asked to forgive should not be too 21:7 Moses cruel to do so. interceded for the people 16 GERSONIDES I think God wanted this incident to have a lasting impact, to ON NUM 21:8 warn the people against harmful speech; remember that Make a seraph (according to II Kings 18:4) this figure was still around in the figure and time of , who “broke into pieces the bronze serpent mount it on a that Moses had made.” standard II Kings 18:1-5: (1) In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of King Ahaz of Judah became king. (2) He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years; his mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. (3) He did what was pleasing to the LORD, just as his father David had done. (4) He abolished the shrines and smashed the pillars and cut down the sacred post. He also broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it; it was called Nehushtan. (5) He trusted only in the LORD the God of Israel; there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those before him. 17 IBN EZRA ON So that it will be high enough up that everyone can see it. NUM 21:8 Many people have been confused by this; they think this Mount it on a figure was to somehow channel the power of the upper standard spheres. God forbid! The whole thing was done to begin with by God’s command. It is not ours to determine why the figure was made in the likeness of a snake. If someone thinks differently, let him show us the kind of wood that one can throw into salt water to make it drinkable (as Moses did in Exod 15:25). Not even honey would do that except through a miracle! The same is true with applying a cake of figs to a rash (see II Kings 20:7). Figs do not cure a rash; this is not natural, but supernatural. The truth is that the mind of the One on high is far beyond our meager powers to understand.

Exod 15:22-26: (22) Then Moses caused Israel to set out from the Sea of Reeds. They went on into the wilderness of Shur; they traveled three days in the wilderness and found no water. (23) They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water

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of Marah because it was bitter; that is why it was named Marah. (24) And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” (25) So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water and the water became sweet. There He made for them a fixed rule, and there He put them to the test. (26) He said, “If you will heed the LORD your God diligently, doing what is upright in His sight, giving ear to His commandments and keeping all His laws, then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the LORD am your healer.”

II Kings 20:7: Then Isaiah said, “Get a cake of figs.” And they got one, and they applied it to the rash, and he recovered. 18 RASHI ON NUM Moses had not been instructed to make it out of copper. But he 21:9 A copper thought, “God calls the serpent nachash; I’ll make this one out serpent of nechoshet, copper, as a kind of wordplay.

Haftarah: Judges 11:1-33 (1) Jephthah the Gileadite was an able warrior, who was the son of a prostitute. Jephthah’s father was Gilead; (2) but Gilead also had sons by his wife, and when the wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out. They said to him, “You shall have no share in our father’s property, for you are the son of an outsider.” (3) So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the Tob country. Men of low character gathered about Jephthah and went out raiding with him. (4) Some time later, the Ammonites went to war against Israel. (5) And when the Ammonites attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the Tob country. (6) They said to Jephthah, “Come be our chief, so that we can fight the Ammonites.” (7) Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “You are the very people who rejected me and drove me out of my father’s house. How can you come to me now when you are in trouble?” (8) The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Honestly, we have now turned back to you. If you come with us and fight the Ammonites, you shall be our commander over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” (9) Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “[Very well,] if you bring me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD delivers them to me, I am to be your commander.” (10) And the elders of Gilead answered Jepthah, “The LORD Himself shall be witness between us: we will do just as you have said.” (11) Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their commander and chief. And Jephthah repeated all these terms before the LORD at Mizpah. (12) Jephthah then sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What have you against me that you have come to make war on my country?” (13) The

10 king of the Ammonites replied to Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came from Egypt, they seized the land which is mine, from the Arnon to the Jabbok as far as the Jordan. Now, then, restore it peaceably.” (14) Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites. (15) He said to him, “Thus said Jephthah: Israel did not seize the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. (16) When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and went on to Kadesh. (17) Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Allow us to cross your country.’ But the king of Edom would not consent. They also sent a mission to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel, after staying at Kadesh, (18) traveled on through the wilderness, skirting the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They kept to the east of the land of Moab until they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; and, since Moab ends at the Arnon, they never entered Moabite territory. (19) “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, ‘Allow us to cross through your country to our homeland.’ (20) But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. Sihon mustered all his troops, and they encamped at Jahaz; he engaged Israel in battle. (21) But the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his troops into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them; and Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land. (22) Thus they possessed all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. (23) “Now, then, the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites before His people Israel; and should you possess their land? (24) Do you not hold what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So we will hold on to everything that the LORD our God has given us to possess. (25) “Besides, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he start a quarrel with Israel or go to war with them? (26) “While Israel has been inhabiting Heshbon and its dependencies, and Aroer and its dependencies, and all the towns along the Arnon for three hundred years, why have you not tried to recover them all this time? (27) I have done you no wrong; yet you are doing me harm and making war on me. May the LORD, who judges, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites!” (28) But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message that Jephthah sent him. (29) Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He marched through Gilead and Manasseh, passing Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he crossed over [to] the Ammonites. (30) And Jephthah made the following vow to the LORD: “If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, (31) then whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me on my safe return from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s and shall be offered by me as a burnt offering.” (32) Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites and attacked them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands. (33) He utterly routed them—from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns—all the way to Abel- cheramim. So the Ammonites submitted to the Israelites.

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