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TORAH PORTION
What If A Law
Makes No Sense?
Shabbat Chukat: Numbers 19:1-22:1;
Judges 11:1-33.
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I don't know about you, but in my
o many of our laws and
experience (granted, I grew up in
customs are very logical in
that they demonstrate a deep suburban Troy, but I did marry a farm
girl!), I have never seen a RED heifer.
understanding of the human condi-
Thirty days of mourning
tion.
makes good sense to me,
For example, in this
but I can find no logic in
week's Torah portion, para-
even pondering the sacri-
shat Chukat, we learn that
fice of an animal that does
our ancestors mourned
not exist!
the death of Aaron, Moses'
In modern times, when
brother, for 30 days.
science or reason can
From this (and
explain something, we often
Deuteronomy 34:8), our tra-
dition derives the custom
dismiss the possibility of
it being of divine origin.
of shloshim: a 30-day peri-
Rabbi Aaron
And,
if science cannot
od of mourning marked
Sta rr
explain
something, then we
often by the avoidance of
Special to the
often
dismiss
it altogether!
dancing or parties and, for
Jewish News
some, shaving.
But as Rashi teaches us,
the word chok (law) — as
This custom makes per-
in chukat (law of), the name of this
fect sense to me. When my mother-
in-law Carol passed away 14 months
week's parashah — implies a law that
ago, the meaningfulness of the Jewish
has no rational explanation. Certainly
the law of the red heifer falls into this
mourning period offered us great
category.
comfort.
Immediately after the funeral, we
Nevertheless, we ought to remind
had seven (shivah) days of intense
ourselves that science has only come
mourning in which we chose not to
to prove God's mastery, not deny it.
leave the house — but we were greet-
Anyone who has ever watched a child
grow and mature knows that a divine
ed by a steady stream of loved ones
offering condolence (and, of course,
hand is surely at work, despite the
food).
fact that much of it can be explained
After the shivah period, we returned rationally.
to our lives but not as before, so we
In this week of parashat Chukat,
utilized the shloshim to ease back into let us be grateful for the blessings of
the world.
intelligence that lead us to scientific
Finally, after 11 months of Kaddish
discovery, but let us remember, too,
and then yahrtzeit, we felt that not
that God works in ways that defy our
only were we emotionally ready to
understanding as well.
begin to face life without our ima, but
Rabbi Aaron Starr is the new director
that we had honored her memory as
well through our mourning.
of education and youth at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek of Oakland County.
The Jewish traditions in response
to death show a keen awareness for
human need in a time of loss and sad-
ness.
Conversations
In what ways do you feel God's
But in this week's parashah, we
learn of a ritual that simply does not
presence in your life? If you
make any sense.
had to categorize the mitzvot
In Numbers 19, Moses and Aaron
(sacred obligations), which
are told to sacrifice a red heifer as a
ones would be considered
purification ritual for anyone who has
chukot - laws that defy rational
come into contact with a corpse, and
explanation? If a mitzvah
later the midrash expands the use of
or tradition defied human
the red heifer for purifying moral con-
rationale, does that mean we
tamination as well.
should dismiss it?
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July 3 4 2008
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