Parashat Chukat - Fifth Aliyah

The silence in the camp was different. Not the silence of rest, but the silence of an ending. The death of Aharon the Kohen, of whom Hillel taught “Hevei mitalmidav shel Aharon, ohev shalom verodef shalom” (Be of the disciples of Aharon, lover of peace and pursuer of peace, Avot 1:12), was not just the death of a person. It was as if the pillar of cloud itself was extinguished. The mountain, where they all gathered, witnessed a parting that was pure and holy, with no cries, only garments passing from father to son and a role passing its torch.

In the verses we are told how God commands Moshe to bring up Aharon and Elazar to Hor haHar, and to remove the priestly garments from Aharon and clothe his son with them. “Vayamat Aharon sham berosh hahar” (And Aharon died there at the top of the mountain, verse 28). Aharon’s death was witnessed only by Moshe and Elazar, but the removal of the priestly garments and the dressing of Elazar took place “le’einei kol ha’edah” (before the eyes of the entire congregation, verse 27): a whole people watching the silent, continuing, dignified transition.

Rashi on “Vayir’u kol ha’edah ki gava Aharon” (verse 29) brings the midrash about how hard it was for the people to believe that Aharon had truly died: “Miyad bikesh Moshe rachamim veher’uhu mal’achei hasharet lahem mutal bamitah, ra’u veh’eminu” (Immediately Moshe asked for mercy, and the ministering angels showed them him lying on a bed; they saw and believed). Aharon’s death shook Israel to the point that they required visible proof that he had indeed passed away.

After that comes the war with the Canaanite, and immediately afterward the people’s complaint and the sending of the fiery serpents. In response, God commands Moshe: “Aseh lecha saraf vesim oto al nes… vehayah im nashach hanachash et ish vehibit el nechash hanechoshet vachai” (Make for yourself a fiery serpent and place it on a pole… and it shall be, if the serpent bit anyone, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived, chapter 21, verses 8-9).

The Mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashanah (3:8) clarifies the depth of the idea: “Vechi nachash memit, o nachash mechayeh? Ela, bizman sheYisrael mistaklin klapei ma’alah umsha’abdin et libam la’avihen shebashamayim, hayu mitrap’im” (Does the serpent kill or the serpent give life? Rather: when Israel looks upward and subjects their hearts to their Father in heaven, they were healed). The serpent neither kills nor gives life. It is a sign, a marker, a point of view. Healing does not come from the metal, but from the heart that orients itself upward.

Every person has a moment when their “Aharon” is taken from them: a source of inspiration, a fatherly figure, the sense of the pillar of cloud that has disappeared. Alongside such a loss, the Torah places the serpent on the pole. Not to forget the pain, but to know where to turn the gaze. To stand before the serpent and choose life.