פרשת חוקת תשכ"ח - נחש הנחשת

This worksheet is the continuation of the worksheet on Chukat from 1955. See there and combine it to our worksheet.

R. Eliezer Ashkenazi, Maasei Hashem 20:9:

It is possible to say about this matter that there is no doubt that the snake is one specie and the seraph is another specie. And God sent these two species to punish them - one for what they had spoken against Him, and one for what they had spoken against Moses, as it is stated (Numbers 21:5), "[And they] spoke against God and against Moses." So behold, He sent the snakes in response to what they spoke against Him. For thus does He punish one who speaks against Him, may He be blessed, in private, as it is stated in Amos 9:3, "And if they conceal themselves from My sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the snake to bite them." And He sent the seraph against them for what they spoke against Moses; as the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Avot 2:10), "[Torah scholars'] hiss is the hiss of the seraph, and all of their words are fiery coals." And therefore it is stated that God sent snakes and seraphs against these speakers. And when Israel already understood that these two species came against them because they spoke against God and against Moses, they confessed their sin in front of Moses. And as soon as they confessed, Moses - in his great modesty - forgave them immediately and right away for what they had spoken against him. So the only thing they asked from him is that he should pray to God, that He should forgive His part... But 'the Lord's counsel' was that Moses make a snake; and when the bitten ones would look at it with this intention to remain alive, there [could be] no greater confession than this. For behold they are confessing about their sin, that they did the act of a snake. And through this confession, they would be healed. But behold, God, may He be blessed, told Moses, "Make a seraph for yourself" - as if He had said, "I have already forgiven [them], but make for yourself a seraph, such that they confess about the sin that they spoke against you, for their hiss is the hiss of a seraph." And this is [the meaning] of His saying, "Make for yourself." However Moses did not do this, but rather made a snake; as if he were saying, "I have already forgiven [them], but they should confess about the sin that they spoke against You." And hence it does not state, "And he did like this" - in the sense that the Holy One, blessed be He, had said, "I have forgiven! But make for yourself a seraph"; whereas it was if Moses said, "I have forgiven," so he only made a snake. 'Happy is the people that have such' a faithful emissary, 'and happy is the nation that has the Lord' - the merciful King - 'as their God!'

R. Yitschak Arama, Akeidat Yitschak (15th century):
...From their anguish, they came to find pretenses and complaints addressed at that divine bread with which they were fed, as well as with the water that was miraculously given to them. So they said that the things that they have like this are not secure; as [the Sages] said (Kiddushin 39), "We do not rely on miracles." And since [these provisions] were easily done away with, they considered themselves as if they did not have enough for their needs... and behold it was like they did not have them for themselves. So God, may He be blessed, judged them according to their approach: He said, "Since you only want to live according to the way of nature, I will also do this to you - to leave the poisonous snakes that are in the desert to their nature, and I will not muzzle their mouths from hurting you, as I have done up until now." And this is what He did - "The Lord sent seraphs, snakes against the people; they bit the people and many of the Israelites died.

The people came to Moses and said, 'We sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the snakes from us' ...” (Numbers 21:6-7). [To this, God] said, "But they should know and recognize that it is impossible to live in this land without the way of miracles." And they conceded about this that they had sinned against Him before, and they requested from [Moses] that he pray to bring back the miracle to its place. And this is [the meaning of] what God, may He be blessed to said to Moses after his prayer (Numbers 21:8), "Make a seraph for yourself and mount it on a standard (nes, which is the same word for miracle); and if anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover"...

R. Yosef Ibn Kaspi, Tirat Kessef:
It is true that the content of the matter of the snake is not as puzzling as the puzzlement of many of the commentators. But I do have one riddle, and I will never let go of it unless God commands one of His prophets to make me a snake like this and I will look at it and live. And this riddle is that I do not know how it works, just like I do not know how the [high priest's] breastplate and apron work, nor how the wood that Moses threw into the bitter water worked, nor any other of all of his [miraculous] acts. He did them by the command of God, so how are we to understand his acts and his miracles? And we cannot [even] understand the acts of the other prophets, like Elijah and Elisha, who were much, much lower than Moses...

R. Yosef Ibn Kaspi, Mishneh Kessef:

S.v. Make for yourself a seraph: And one should not ask what this is about or how this is. For it is enough for us that our eyes saw that an artificial form was made by the command of God in the way of medicine, which gives it power - as is well-known today about a form of a lion for the kidneys (??). God forbid, it is not that they bowed down to it and worshiped it. And what is so puzzling about this for us? Just that we do not know how to do it.

R. Shlomo Astruc, Midrashei HaTorah (14th century):
And there is also a hint that one who is bitten by the evil impulse - which is compared to a snake - should look up at the heavens that are 'recounting the glory of God' and speaking about His providence... He should reflect that He is in the heights of the Heavens and rides upon them and acts upon them according to His will. And that is what they said to Moses (verse 7), "Pray to the Lord, and remove the snake" - and that is the evil impulse. And that which [God] said to place it on a pole and He did not say to completely remove the snakes, is to teach that man has the good in him to have his mind control his physicality; and that he has a need for the physical, in order to perfect his soul and for the continuation of the species.

** The author of Nimukei Shmuel raises the following difficulty about these words of Rashi:
One should delve a little into Rashi's using the term, "from here": From where did Rashi extract this [idea that he presents]? I heard in the name of Chakham Chaviv Toledano that "and Moses prayed on behalf of the people" is superfluous. For once they said, "We have sinned," he certainly [would have] prayed on their behalf. And if so, the verse did not have to state it. But R. Y. Korkus said that "on behalf of the people" is superfluous. And Rashi's inference is from that; as it should have stated, "and Moses prayed," and nothing more! Why do I need, "on behalf of the people?" Rather, it is to teach that he was appeased to them.

However the author of Nimukei Shmuel rejects the explanation of R. Y. Korkus.