Parshat Chukat
Before we get into Parshat Chukat and its numbers, let me share with you some Torah stats.
There are 54 sedras in the Torah: Bereishit – 12; Shemot – 11; Vayikra – 10; Bamidbar – 10; Devarim – 11.
Let’s take another stat – number of pesukim. There are 5,846 pesukim in the Torah. The breakdown by Book is: Bereishit – 1,533; Shemot – 1,210; Vayikra – 859; Bamidbar – 1,288; Devarim – 956.
Now look at the average number of pesukim per sedra: Bereishit – 127.75; Shemot – 110; Vayikra – 85.9; Bamidbar – 128.8; Devarim – 86.9.
The largest sedras are in the Books of Bamidbar and Bereishit (close); the shortest sedras are in the Books of Vayikra and Devarim (also close). Shemot is somewhere in the middle – a bit above the average, which is 108.26 pesukim per sedra (i.e., 5,846 divided by 54).
Now let’s turn to this week’s sedra, Chukat. It’s written on 159.2 lines (rank: 39th), and contains 87 pesukim (rank: 43rd), 1,245 words (rank: 40th), and 4,670 letters (rank 41st). Chukat is the smallest sedra in Bamidbar in lines, pesukim, words, and letters. When it comes to pesukim, there are 11 sedras that are shorter, 42 that are longer.
Chukat has only three mitzvot out of the 613 – all positive. There is, as we’ve seen in previous columns, a very uneven distribution of mitzvot in the Torah: Two other sedras besides Chukat also have three mitzvot; 26 sedras have more; and 25 sedras have fewer mitzvot. Three is way below average (which is 11.4 mitzvot per sedra), but it is the median number of mitzvot in a sedra. About a third of the sedras (17) have no mitzvot; about a third have more than 85% of the taryag mitzvot; a little more than a third have less than 15% of the Torah’s mitzvot. That also means that more than two-thirds of the sedras have less than 15% of the mitzvot.
Unlike the two previous sedras of Shelach and Korach, each of which were two-thirds story and a third juxtapositional mitzvot, Chukat’s three mitzvot are part of the same mitzvah topic – namely, para aduma (the red heifer), with the bulk of the sedra being a string of episodes in the Midbar-wandering period.
Chukat’s three mitzvot are:
- All the details of the preparation of the para aduma potion which was used to purify someone who became tamei (ritually defiled) from contact with a dead body. In other words, the mitzvah is: Do everything necessary for purification, from taking the red heifer to preparing the final product.
- The second mitzvah is that a person becomes tamei from contact with (or being under the same roof as) a dead body. It seems that this mitzvah includes performing the purification process on one who is t’mei meit (defiled by a dead body).
- The dual nature of the para aduma potion – that it purifies the defiled and defiles the ritually pure – is counted as a mitzvah of its own.
Now let’s take a look at one particular pasuk – Bamidbar 19:12. I’m focusing on this pasuk because some translators have erred in their translation, thereby misrepresenting the halacha.
The literal translation is awkward. Without commas, whose placement affects the pasuk’s meaning, as we are about to see, it goes something like this: “He [the one who is tamei] shall be purified by it [the para aduma potion] on the third day and on the seventh day he will become tahor (pure)…”
Here is a wrong translation: “He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean…” The mistake this translator made was pausing after “on the third day,” putting a comma there. This seems to say that the tamei individual needs the application of the para aduma potion on the third day (of his counting from when he became tamei) and then he becomes tahor on the seventh day.
In fact, application of the potion needs to be on the third and seventh days, and at nightfall following the seventh day the person is tahor. (He also needs to immerse in a mikveh on the seventh day.)
Here is a correct translation: “On the third and seventh days, he shall cleanse himself with it, so that he can become clean…”
Or this way: “[In order to become] clean, he must have himself sprinkled [with the purification water] on the third day and the seventh day.” This is more than a translation; it explains the pasuk – and the halacha.
Translation aside, the way a baal kriya reads the pasuk – specifically where he pauses and where he doesn’t – will determine if the reading is correct or needs to be corrected (and reread correctly). Specifically, if the baal kriya pauses after reading “Bayom hash’lishi” and then continues with “u’vayom hash’vi’i yit-hor,” he changes the meaning of the pasuk and it must be corrected.
“Bayom hash’lishi u’vayom hash’vi’i” must be read without a pause, and then there must be a pause before reading the word “yit-hor.”
This is not just a matter of careful vs. sloppy reading: When the meaning of a pasuk is distorted, it must be corrected. However, sloppy pronunciation and/or accenting of words that does not change the meaning need not be corrected.
It is important to note that correcting a baal kriya should be done quietly and usually only by the gabbai – not screamed out from the congregation, which could embarrass the baal kriya.
Chukat contains Bamidbar chapter 19, which is the 22 pesukim of Parshat Para. In Chukat, the first 17 of those pesukim are in the Kohen portion of the sedra; the other five begin the Levi aliyah.
Bamidbar chapter 20 (29 pesukim) tells of the passing of Miriam in the month of Nisan (our tradition is that it was the 10th of the month, although the Torah only mentions the month). That makes it exactly one year before Bnei Yisrael crossed the Jordan River into Eretz Yisrael. She was 127 years old.
With Miriam’s death, the miraculous well that accompanied the people throughout their wanderings ceased to exist. The people complained bitterly about their thirst.
Hashem commanded Moshe to take his staff and gather the people. Moshe and Aharon were instructed to speak to a certain rock and that water would come from it for the people and their flocks. Moshe struck the rock twice – rather than speak to it – and yet plentiful water came for the people and their flocks.
Hashem declared to both Moshe and Aharon that because they missed the opportunity to sanctify G-d’s Name (the people had already witnessed water coming from a rock that was struck; speaking to it would have been a greater Kiddush Hashem), neither of them would lead the people into Eretz Yisrael.
Still in perek 20, Moshe sent messengers to Edom to ask for permission to pass through their territory. Edom refused to allow it. And since we were not allowed to fight against Edom, we changed course and went to Hor HaHar. There Aharon died, on the first of Av in the final year of wandering. (We don’t learn that date until Parshat Masei where Aharon’s yahrzeit is identified – the only yahrzeit recorded in the Torah; any others we know only from Tradition). The mantle of the kohen gadol was passed on to Aharon’s son, Elazar. The people mourned Aharon’s passing for 30 days.
Bamidbar 21 tells us of the attack by and the defeat of the K’naani. Then further travels and Shir HaB’eir, the Song of the Well. Note that there are two songs related to water – one at the time of the Exodus and the other at the end of the wandering in the Midbar. And then came the successful battles against Sichon, king of the Emori, and Og, king of Bashan.
The sedra finishes with the first pasuk of perek 22 describing our arrival in Arvot Moav on the east side of the Jordan.
With 4 more sedras in Bamidbar and 11 in Devarim, we are already at our final Midbar location, preparing to enter the Holy Land.
Shabbat shalom.
