Two poor Jews, Beryl and Shmeryl, walk by a church with a big sign: “Make an easy $100, convert to Christianity.” Shmeryl, needing the money, tells Beryl, “I’m going in.” Beryl protests, “How can you do that?!” Shmeryl ignores him and enters the building.

Half an hour later, Shmeryl returns. Beryl asks, “Nu? So you got the money?” Shmeryl answers, “You Jews! Everything by you is money.”

* * *

Chukas: Path of the King

This parsha talks about the Red Heifer, an extraordinary ritual which had the power to remove ritual impurity from a person. We also read the story of the Jews traveling in the Desert and coming upon the land of Edom.

MISSING VAV
Torah states,[1] “You should take a red heifer that never had an ol, a yoke, placed upon it.” Ol is normally spelled Ayin-Vav-Lamed (). In this verse, the Vav is missing. The Zohar and the Yalkut Shimoni explain that in this verse, the missing Vav in the word ol hints at the people of Edom, the offspring of Esau, because Edom is a nation that lacks full acceptance of the ol, the yoke of G-d. Where, however, does the missing Vav go?

TWO STORIES
This portion juxtaposes two seemingly unrelated stories. After thirty-nine years of sojourning in the desert, G-d tells Moses: “You and Aaron are to gather the people of Israel together and speak to the rock that it should produce water for the Jewish people.” Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses and Aaron hit it. In response, G-d decrees that Moses and Aaron will not live to enter the land of Israel.[2] Immediately afterwards, Moses sends malachim, diplomats,[3] to the King of Edom, asking him to allow the Jews entry into the Promised Land. What is the connection between these two stories?

SEEKING PASSAGE
Moses’ diplomats propose to the King of Edom, ‘You know of our plight and bondage in Egypt. All we want is freedom, and solace in our own Jewish-governed land. Let us pass through your country. We shall go strictly by the path of the king. We shall not stray right or left.’ The King of Edom shoots back, ‘You shall not pass through here, lest we come out with the sword against you!’ The diplomats try to reason with him, saying ‘We’ll take the highway.’ Again, the King of Edom denies him. Then, without warning, the King of Edom and his men rush out to viciously attack the Jews.

Why do Moses’s men change their strategy from ‘passing through the country’ to ‘taking the highway’? Furthermore, why does Edom respond, “We will come out with the sword,” rather than just saying ‘No’?

BRINGING MOSHIACH
One of the prerequisites for the coming of Moshiach is to refine the sparks of Esau, the grandfather of Edom.[4] As the Torah states, “the saviors will go up from Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, for the sovereignty is God’s…”[5]

Therefore, after G-d tells Moses that he cannot enter into the Holy Land, Moses realizes that there is only one way for him to attain passage into the Land, and that is to immediately bring Moshiach. With Moshiach’s arrival, death will vanish from among mankind—and all Jews from all generations will be able to enter into the Holy Land. Thus, through his diplomats, Moses approaches Edom to see if the descendants of Esau are ready for Moshiach. Moses’s message to Edom is, ‘We suffered in Egypt and now we are ready for Moshiach. Are you?’ The King of Edom responds, “…we come out with the sword,” implying that violence is still his path. Moses replies, ‘Unfortunately, you are not ready for Moshiach; at least let us go alone on your highway,’ In other words, ‘Okay, then we’ll bypass your people and on our own attempt to bring Moshiach and enter the Holy Land.’ Still, Edom refuses.

‘VAV’ OF THE CRUSADES
Edom refers to Rome and Christianity, which unfortunately brought much bloodshed to our people. In the phrase, “We will not stray right or left,” the word ‘left’, smo’ol, has an extra Vav. This seems to suggests that the Vav missing from ol, Esau’s spiritual yoke, has fallen to the ‘left’. What does this mean? The answer is as follows: Kabbalah says Abraham personifies the right side, loving-kindness and expansion. Isaac personifies the left side, judgment and criticism. Jacob personifies the center, the balance of these qualities. Abraham’s imbalanced son is Ishmael, the father of Islam. Isaac’s imbalanced son is Esau, the progenitor of Christianity. Therefore, when Moses says, “We will not turn aside to the right or the left,” he means that the Jews cannot follow Islam or Christianity. Rather, Jews must follow the path of the King of all Kings: ‘We will not turn from our path of Torah and mitzvos.’ Unfortunately, throughout history, Edom has continued to revolt against Moses’ mission. During the Crusades of the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth centuries, Edom brought suffering and death for hundreds of thousands of Jews.[6] All this came about because the people of Edom threw off their yoke and disassociated themselves from the Oneness of G-d. Therefore, the Vav of their ol, their spiritual yoke, became the Vav of smo’ol, the left side-gevurah, manifesting as harsh punishment. Vav has the gematria of ‘six,’ representing the six emotions. The Vav of ol transferred to the Vav of smo’ol, means that the Crusaders lost their emotional center. When they saw that the Jews refused to convert to Christianity, the Crusaders were overwhelmed with rage and ‘left-sided’ emotions. Time and time again, they have attempted to punish the Jews for refusing to bow to the left.

The time for healing has come. The world is now ready to serve the one G-d, and is unifying around the goal of peace and harmony. The leaders of our generation are telling us that the time for Moshiach is now. Therefore, it is up to all of us to hasten the Redemption through increasing our acts of goodness and kindness. Then we will see that “sovereignty is G-d’s,” and “G-d will be King of the entire world.”[7]

A STORY [8]
The Ger Tzedek, the ‘Righteous Convert’ of Vilna, Avraham ben Avraham converted to Judaism while studying at the University of Paris. He eventually returned to Vilna, and immersed himself in Torah. His family had conducted a massive search for him, and when they found him, he was turned over to the Church authorities. The Church could not persuade him to renounce Judaism. He was sentenced to death by fire.

The authorities appointed a man, who had been Avraham’s friend from youth, to light the fire. Before he lit the fire, he approached Avraham. Anxiously, the man asked, “When you get to Heaven, are you going to ask your G-d to exact heavenly retribution against me?”

Avraham smiled. “Let me tell you a story,” he began. “When we were young, my father gave me a beautiful toy soldier, which I cherished. One day, you came to play with me. Because your soldier was not nearly as nice as mine, you were jealous. When I was not looking, you broke the toy. I was enraged, and I swore revenge. When I grew older, I saw how silly the whole incident was. I realized that compared to all my accomplishments, and all the wealth I was to inherit, the toy meant nothing. It never again crossed my mind.”

Avraham laughed. “I am about to enter the World to Come. According to my religion, it’s a great blessing to sacrifice my life for the sake of G-d. Believe me, when I receive my award in Heaven, your fate will be as irrelevant to me as the fate of that toy soldier!”

ACTION: Today, self-sacrifice doesn’t require dying for the sake of G-d. Sacrifice instead a Sunday morning tennis game and study Talmud, or sacrifice Monday Night Football and go to a class on Chassidus. On Shabbos, instead of golfing, go to shul. Consciously accept the yoke of G-d upon yourself. Follow the path of the King.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Numbers, 19:2
[2] Numbers, 20:1, and further
[3] Numbers, 20:14
[4] G-d promises that three additional lands also will be given to Abraham’s children with the coming of Moshiach-including Edom.
[5] Ovadiah, 21:3
[6] Encyclopedia Judaica
[7] Zechariah, 14:9
[8] From Parsha Parables the 4th, by Rabbi Mordechai Ka