Rabbi's Message for Shabbat Chukat & Balak July 03-04, 5780

Dear Members and Friends of Kehilat Shalom Calgary,
This is indeed a very, very, VERY special Shabbat - so much so that we have a double Torah portion this week, Chukat & Balak. Our fireworks for this 4th of July Shabbat may not be literal ones (at least not till nightfall) but intellectual and heartfelt fireworks sparked by love of Torah.
The parsha of Chukat contains laws concerning פרה אדומה (parah adumah – the red heifer), one of the most enigmatic of Jewish commandments. In this mitzvah, an entirely red cow without blemish is sacrificed and its ashes preserved. These ashes were sprinkled upon those who had been rendered Tameh (impure) by coming in contact with a dead human body, and made them Tahor (pure) once again. Oddly, the person who sacrificed the parah adumah, as well as the one who gathered its ashes, were themselves rendered temporarily impure/Tameh by their acts.
The mitzvah involves the sacrifice of Parah adumah falls in the category of mitzvot known asחוק (chok) - Torah laws for which we cannot discern a logical reason. Other חוקיםinclude the prohibition against wearing mixed linen and wool garments, and the precise characteristics which make one species kosher and another not. While some scholars have proposed a rationality for these particular laws, the Sages traditionally, by consensus, agreed that these laws lacked a clear rational basis, and were therefore adhered to out of sheer faith in Hashem.
Three years ago, my child Lilah became of age as they read from the Torah on the Shabbat of Chukat. That event was one of the most recent times my wife’s whole family gathered from across North America for a simcha, a joyful celebration of our lifecycle events. In January 2019, we had another blessed event, my mother-in-law Blanche’s 90th birthday party, at which time she regaled us with stories of her lifetime.
Several months later, almost exactly one year ago from today, Sharon’s sisters traveled to Calgary for a much harder purpose: to be with their mother Blanche z”l during her final days, her passing and funeral.
This week, we held a private family unveiling for Blanche’s matzevah on the date of her Yahrzeit (10 Tammuz, this year falling on July 2). Under ordinary circumstances, a limited number of family members would have travelled to join for this occasion. As it turned out, there were just four of us (Sharon, myself and our two kids Hannah & Lilah) at the cemetery - a deliberate choice to restrict it to our family. Yet the practices we have adapted during this time of pandemic made it possible for us to engage the whole Gulko extended family via teleconference. All of Sharon’s sisters were there, Blanche’s grandchildren attended, and we saw cousins we haven’t seen in years. This would not have been the case in ordinary times.
All of this made me reconsider this week’s Torah reading, and the laws of the parah adumah. Perhaps this mitzvah and others like it weren’t meant to “make sense”, in order to help us withstand other things that don’t “make sense”. Deaths of loved ones, societal upheaval, suffering and injury, all may happen without notice, without rhyme or reason.
When Jews perform such mitzvot as the חוקים, we enact our acceptance of matters beyond rationality. We put our trust in Hashem that there is a purpose greater than one we can logically discern. And when hard times arrive, and our world is turned upside down, we can hold fast to a faith and hope which may transcend mere logic.
The joint Torah portion this week, Balak, contains the story of Balaam – the prophet who was sent to curse Israel. Logically, we might question whether any such curse could have power to cause harm. Yet in the end, Balaam ended up blessing the people of Israel instead – and against all likelihood his very words, the verses of “Mah tovu” (How goodly are your tents, O Jacob!), have become words of inspiring prayer for the Jewish people.
This Shabbat, and in the time ahead, may we see all our curses turned to blessings. Shabbat Shalom!
_________________
Rabbi Leonard Cohen
Kehilat Shalom, Calgary
(403) 850-0106
leonardecohen@gmail.com