Mr. Dichotomy
We must seek to translate the highest and most spiritual ideals into action. This provides us with a taste of the World-to-Come, where eternal life will be the norm. By introducing an element of consistency and durability in our own lives, we reveal that part of our soul that connects to our body that cannot be separated, i.e., eternal life.
A Name Says it All
A name says it all, is an expression that is more than a cliché. According to the Talmud a name captures the character of the thing that is so named. According to our mystical tradition, this applies only to a name in Hebrew, known as the Holy Tongue, because the Hebrew letters represent the spiritual life-force that G-d uses to create and animate the thing that carries a particular name.
With this introduction, let us examine the name of this week’s parsha: Chukas. (In some years we read Chukas together with Balak, but we’ll leave that discussion for another occasion.)
Korach and Chukas: What they have in Common
It is interesting to note that the name Chukas in Hebrew is somewhat similar to the name of last week’s parsha: Korach. The Rebbe highlighted the fact that both words contain the two Hebrew letters ches and kuf. The third letter is where they part company. Korach has the letter reish while Chukas contains the letter tav. Hence the critical distinction between these two words, in terms of the composition of letters, is that Korach has a reish while Chukas has a tav.
What is the deeper significance of this apparently trivial piece of information?
The two letters that the two names of Korach and Chukas share are: Ches and Kuf These two letters form the word Chok, which translates and is defined as a commandment that transcends our reason.
The Rebbe explains that, indeed, this parsha highlights the enigmatic commandment to use a red heifer as a form of purification. This ritual, with all of its paradoxes and anomalies, is the symbol of what it is to rise above conventional logic in one’s relationship with G-d. By following these trans-rational Mitzvot, we rise to a level of G-dly awareness that transcends the normative G-dly energies. In short, Chukas symbolizes the art of transcendence.
Korach and Transcendence?!
How does the idea of transcendence connect to the preceding parsha of Korach?
The Rebbe explains that Korach, the rebel who tried to wrest power from Moses and Aaron, was no ordinary person. As discussed in a preceding essay, Korach was an extremely spiritual and exalted individual. His problem was that his lofty ideas and heightened spiritual position was disconnected from the real world. Korach, whose name means separation, attempted to enshrine the separation that G-d created between the upper spheres and the lower spheres.
When G-d created the world, He also created —one day two of creation—a separation between the “upper” and the “lower.” G-d’s intention, however, was that this separation be eliminated and the synthesis between the spiritual and physical, transcendent and lowly physical reality, be achieved. Sinai, was the experience that brought about this “corporate merger.”
Rich but Impoverished
But Korach resisted it. His name, therefore, while containing the lofty letters that form the word Chok, a transcendent force, also contains the letter reish which means poverty. One who has the highest ideals and aspirations, but refuses to or is incapable of relating those ideals to the day-to-day exigencies of life, is truly impoverished. It is comparable to one who has millions in the bank, but cannot withdraw any of it to spend on the necessitates of life.
How ironic that according to our Sages, Korach was one of the richest people to have ever lived. Yet his name contains the idea of poverty.
Down to the Lowest Level
On the heels of the parsha dedicated to Korach, the rich man who couldn’t make any withdrawals from his spiritual bank, the Torah introduces the parsha of Chukas. Chukas, as noted has the letter tav instead of the letter reish. The letter tav is the very last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This connotes the idea that all of the lofty ideals represented by the word Chok—a transcendent G-dly directive—finds expression in every aspect of life, down to the lowest and final letter-the realm of tav.
Moreover, according to the Talmud (Tractate Shabbos 55a) the letter tav is the initial of, and therefore represents the idea of, Techiyas Hameisim, the Resurrection of the dead. According to Jewish belief (mentioned in the Bible and Talmud, and codified by Maimonides), in the Messianic Era, the dead will be revived and brought back to life. When that occurs, we are told, we will all live forever.
Hence the last letter tav, the last letter of the alphabet, signifies not only the final period of history, but also the idea of eternal life.
Translated into down-to-earth terms all this means as follows:
There are some people who have great ideas and who live in the world of theory. Their ideas, however, lack true life and endurance, because they exist in the realm of thought and speech and do not enter into the realm of action. This was Korach, the ultimate personification of the term dichotomy.
To prevent one from becoming another Mr. Dichotomy, we must read and invoke the theme of the word Chukas— taking the lofty chok and connecting it to the letter tav. This means, we must seek to translate the highest and most spiritual ideals into action. This then provides us with a taste of the World-to-Come, where eternal life will be the norm. By introducing an element of consistency and durability in our own lives, we reveal that part of our soul that connects to our body that cannot be separated, I.e., eternal life.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Chukas by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
