Chukath: Boundries

Chok is taken to mean a law that does not  come with a justification, a law that need  not stem from logical considerations.  The parsha outlines the chok of Gd, the red heifer ritual.  This  ritual ultimately leads to the purification of those contaminated  by the granddaddy of contaminants - death.

Death is the decisive  chok, the invariant arbitrary rule. It comes to the living  at the time of its own choosing and by any of thousands of  ways.  Its caprice is usually biting.  Death screams injustice, the need for purification from it  is palpable.

A more fundamental meaning of chok is measurement. or allotment.  In Vayigash, allotments of food are called chok (Genesis 46:22)  The chok is the measured amount granted to the recipient.  In that sense all of this  parsha deals with chukim.

After the death of Miriam, there is no water.  The allotment has dried up.  Moshe and Aaron then interact with the rock.    There is much controversy about the exact nature of the violation, but the text is clear that a line had been crossed, an allotment exceeded.  Moshe and Aaron gave the impression of power.  It should have been clearer that their roles were incidental, not causative.


The parsha ends with the road to the Promised land, the land that Gd  had commanded the people to conquer. They approach the Edomites and respect their refusal for crossing.  Likewise, the Moabites  deny the request of the Israelites and they are bypassed.  But the Amorites territories of Sichon and Og become the foothold in the land.  The Edomites and Moabites are protected by prior recorded allocation.  They are living on their allotments.  Og and Sichon are usurpers.

Know your limits, but don't create false boundries