800 West 3rd Ave. Lexington, NC 27292 (973) 338-7800

PARASHA 039 MAIN PAGE

B'midbar/Numbers 19:1–22:1

The name of the Parshah, "Chukat," means "Statute" and it is found in Numbers 19:2.

Moses is taught the laws of the red heifer, whose ashes purify a person who has been contaminated by contact with a dead body.

After forty years of journeying through the desert, the people of Israel arrive in the wilderness of Zin. Miriam dies, and the people thirst for water. YEHOVAH tells Moses to speak to a rock and command it to give water. Moses gets angry at the rebellious Israelites and strikes the stone. Water issues forth, but Moses is told by YEHOVAH that neither he nor Aaron will enter the Promised Land.

Aaron dies at Hor Hahar and is succeeded in the high priesthood by his son Elazar. Venomous snakes attack the Israelite camp after yet another eruption of discontent in which the people “speak against YEHOVAH and Moses”; YEHOVAH tells Moses to place a brass serpent upon a high pole, and all who will gaze heavenward will be healed. The people sing a song in honor of the miraculous well that provided them water in the desert.

Moses leads the people in battles against the Emorite kings Sichon and Og (who seek to prevent Israel’s passage through their territory) and conquers their lands, which lie east of the Jordan.

RAV ANDREW
HD	HQ	SMTP
Rav William McCubbins						Rav Y'hoshua Lara

Always remember Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever.

He is and always will be a Jew.