Weekly Torah Study: Chukat

The strange events surrounding the “viper of copper” that follow provide a reminder, even amid the progress of the march and military successes, of the Israelites’ usual waywardness. As usual, the problem is food; several things, however, make this brief story unusual amid the rebellion narratives. For one, the punishment is unique; for another, the people call upon Moshe to remove the plague—in a manner that is more reminiscent of Pharaoh of Egypt, with the Plagues, than of previous Israelite behavior. Finally, there is the Bible’s record of what happened to the copper object: it was preserved in the cult and worshiped by the people, until it was smashed during the large-scale religious reform under King Hezekiah of Judah (late eighth century B.C.E.). One might note that the divine punishment for sin, once accomplished, clears the way for the Israelite victories that follow immediately. - Everett Fox

AND THE SOUL OF THE PEOPLE WAS MUCH DISCOURAGED BECAUSE OF THE WAY — because of the difficulties of the journey which were so hard for them. They said: Now we are close enough to enter the land, and yet we have to turn back. Just so had our fathers to turn back and they stayed in the wilderness thirty eight years until this day. —Consequently their soul became discouraged because of the hardship of the journey. - Rashi

Traveling was insufferable to the people. It was insufferable because they came close to the place from which they would enter the Land and then they faced a long distance again. This is as expressed in Eruvin (53b), that a short cut that becomes the long way around is more difficult than a long way that ends up short. - Ha'amek Davar

An alternate interpretation: The protective clouds shielding the people from the hot rays of the sun had ceased to function, as a result of Aaron’s death as these had been due to his merit, just as the water supply had been due to Miriam’s merit. - Chizkuni

Moreover, they claimed, “even the daily manna we receive is an inferior kind of bread as instead of giving our stomachs the feeling that it is full after having eaten it, our stomachs feel quite light, i.e. empty.” They expressed themselves as being fed up with that kind of existence. They knew of no other creature born of a mother that continuously imbibed food without having to excrete any of it (based on Yuma 75). G’d had intended that the daily dependence of the people on that day’s manna would teach them to put their faith in Him so that their dependence on Him should be like that of the slave on his master. He had related to the people as if they were on the level of angels.

Another reason they were being punished through snake bites was that during the entire 40 years G’d had ensured that the snakes whose natural habitat is the desert would not attack any Israelite. Seeing that the Israelites had not appreciated this G’d simply did not continue to work this miracle and the snakes which now bit the people were not a plague, but merely the inhabitants of that desert. - Rabbenu Bahya

God said, as it were: Let the serpent which was punished for slanderous statements come and exact punishment from those who utter slander. — Let the serpent to which all kinds of food have one taste (that of earth; cf. Genesis 3:14 and Yoma 75a) come and exact punishment from these ingrates to whom one thing (the manna) had the taste of many different dainties (see Rashi 11:8) (Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 19). - Rashi

Our Rabbis said: But could the copper serpent cause death or life?! But the explanation is that when the Israelites in gazing at the serpent looked up on high and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they were healed, but if they did not do this they waste away (Rosh Hashanah 29a). - Rashi

We should not investigate why Moses was commanded to make the form of a snake. Should someone disagree, *Those who offer scientific explanations. let him show us if there is a tree that makes bitter waters sweet. *Moses healed bitter waters by casting a tree into it. See Ex. 15:22-25. Even honey will not sweeten them. What reason was there to put a cake of figs upon a boil? It is not in the nature of figs to remove boils. The truth is that the mind of the Almighty is beyond us. - Ibn Ezra

the snake should be constructed of material which is associated with שרפה, burning. The association with “burning one’s tongue” should be uppermost in their minds when contemplating their sin which had been that they allowed their tongues to utter thoughts that angered G’d. They would repent when looking at a snake called שרף, something which “burns” (transitively). - Seforno

The problem was that in the days of King Chiskiya (Kings II chapter 18) the people appear to have offered incense to this copper snake Moses had made, and to prevent them from doing so King Chiskiyah broke this snake into little pieces. - Or Ha'Chaim

And he called it Nechushton. A derogatory expression, as though to say, “Why is this necessary? *The copper serpent was not destroyed before now because it was incorrectly believed that one may not destroy any object that was made as a result of a Divine command. The serpent was originally made to encourage the Bnei Yisroel to pray to God after they were bitten by poisonous snakes. See Bamidbar 21:4-10 and Tosfos in Maseches Chulin 7a. It is also possible that they kept the copper serpent as a remembrance of the great miracle that occurred, just as they kept the jar of manna, in Shemos 16:33-35. It is nothing but a copper serpent.” - Rashi

after Moses had understood what G’d had intended with His command, he agreed to make this replica of a snake out of copper and not out of gold. Copper would be more likely to induce thoughts of remorse as they would associate its colour with the sensation of burning. - Seforno

However, this raises a question: why use a copper snake at all? Wouldn't looking up to Heaven be sufficient? The deeper understanding is that the snake indeed possesses healing power, as explained by the Ramban (Numbers 21:9). Hashem's way is to sweeten something bitter with something bitter. Normally, if one is bitten by a dog, looking at a dog is harmful. Here, Hashem made it so that looking at the snake would heal. The true intention is that even when engaged in physical healing, one should recognize that it is Hashem who heals, not the snake.

This teaches that even when distant from higher spiritual realms and immersed in physicality, one should still direct their heart to Heaven. By doing so, one shows a desire to transcend the physical world and connect with Hashem. The command "Make a (copper) snake ('seraf') for yourself" alludes to the inner fire and excitement to connect with Hashem. - Sefat Emet