Writer/editor Liz Galst shared this wee teaching with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in NYC and kindly gave us permission to post on SorryWatch. It seemed…relevant. Take it away, Liz!
AAAAAAAHHHH SNAKE!
In [last] week’s parasha, Chukkat, the Israelites are complaining again. (Imagine!) They are in the desert. They are hot. They are hungry. With Miriam having just died, their access to water is spotty at best. No wonder they are kvetching. To them, even slavery in Egypt looks good in comparison.
G-d, who has performed miracles on their behalf, understandably feels unappreciated and, to make that point known, sends snakes into the Israelites’ camp to bite and kill many of the kvetchers. Many of those who remain realize the error of their ways and appeal to Moses, who intercedes with Adonai on their behalf.
Luckily for all involved, (and for us, their progeny, especially) G-d finds a way to heal them, instructing Moses to make an image of a snake and “mount it on a standard. And if anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover,” the Torah tells us.
So, what’s up with that?
Of many commentaries offered on this perplexing turn of events, my favorite comes from the mystical Zohar, which, according to the Conservative Movement, “explains that looking at the bronze serpent reminded the people of why they deserved to be punished, and that is the first step toward repentance and forgiveness.”
As we approach the beginning of the three weeks before Tisha b’Av,perhaps this parasha offers lessons for us modern-day, crabby Jews, as well.
[Editor’s note: Tisha b’Av is the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av. It’s the biggest day of mourning in the Jewish calendar, commemorating the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and the Second Temple in 70 CE. After the latter, Jews were exiled from the land of Israel and began their centuries of wandering, massacres, and bannings from various countries. Fun fact: The expulsion from Spain in 1492 was said to have happened on this day, along with other terrible events in Jewish history.]
1) You have good reason to kvetch. It is, after all, hot outside. In this moment in history, we are in a largely unexplored and dangerous wilderness. And who knows how our thirst will be quenched and our hungers slaked now that some of our most important leaders are gone?
2) We have, all of us, experienced miracles and it would be good to remember that now and then.
3) Taking stock and observing oneself, as the mindfulness meditation teachers teach us, is indeed often the first step toward getting in closer touch with the miracles and letting that crabbiness, along with the legitimate and deep misery, go.
[Editor’s note: Yup. We’re in the wilderness, with a long road ahead of us. Facing our own demons — we all need to look inside ourselves honestly and seek forgiveness and repentance — in one way or another — to be able to move forward.]
This Indian Spectacled Cobra loves you and believes in you.
Owing to calendar anomalies stemming from the observance of the major holidays for two days outside of the Land of Israel, there are times the parasha read in Israel is different from the one read elsewhere. We are now in one of those periods; here we read Chukkat a week before it was read in the USA and elsewhere outside of Israel.
Interestingly enough, I participated in conversation along very similar lines regarding Chukkat when we read it here.
Liz, you are spot on!
I think this wee precious cobra is cuter than the OTHER D.C. dwelling reptile we have to face these days …but yes, point taken, we are INDEED in the wilderness, and there’s a hella long road ahead… so, here’s to another scheduled moment of reflection and hopefully moving up and out…