Parashat Chukat 5785, 2025: Connecting to Hashem

 










Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The mitzvah of the Parah Adumah is the initial focus of this week’s Torah reading. It begins with these well-known words:

This is the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for you a perfectly red unblemished cow, upon which no yoke was laid.” … It shall be an everlasting statute for the children of Israel and for the proselyte who resides in their midst. (Sefer Bamidbar 19:2 and 10, this and all Bible translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
The purpose of this commandment is to purify an individual who has become tamei (ritually impure) as a result of contact with a corpse. It is a mystifying commandment, as those who are tamei become tahor (pure) through the ashes of the Parah Adumah, while those who assist in this purification process are rendered tamei. Little wonder then that this mitzvah is widely viewed by Chazal as the ultimate example of a chok—a commandment whose rationale eludes us.
 
My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, presents the following analysis of how to approach chukim such as the Parah Adumah:

The laws concerning chukim were classified as unintelligible, enigmatic, mysterious… However, even though it is forbidden to ask for motivation, for the motives or the reasoning pertaining to certain Divine categorical imperatives, we may yet inquire into the interpretation of the law. There is a difference between explanation and interpretation. (This and the following citations, Derashot HaRav: Selected Lectures of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, summarized and annotated by Arnold Lustiger, pages 226-227, from the Rav’s lecture to the Annual Conference of the Rabbinical Council of America,1973, underlining my own)
 
The Rav further explains hi perspective by focusing on the essential difference between explanation and interpretation regarding chukim: “I believe that regarding chukim we must not ask the question of ‘why,’ because ‘why’ is in general a foolish question to ask, even regarding mitzvos which in our opinion are quite meaningful.” Since “why” is an inappropriate inquiry concerning mitzvot, what may we ask? Rav Soloveitchik maintains: “However, the question of ‘what’ can be asked. What is the meaning of this chok as far as I am concerned? What does the chok tell me? Not why did Hakadosh Baruch Hu ordain that law? [Instead,] what is the spiritual message that I can assimilate in my world view?” (underlining my own)
 
Building on this crucial distinction, the Rav reveals to us the proper orientation to all chukim:

We have no right to explain chukim—we have a duty to interpret chukim. What does the mitzvah mean to me? How am I to understand not the reason for the mitzvah, but the essence of the latter as an integral part of my service of God? Why the mitzvah was formulated we don’t know. But what the mitzvah means to me, how I can integrate and assimilate the mitzvah in my total religious consciousness, world outlook and I-awareness—that is a question that is not only permissible… I am duty bound to raise this question. (underlining my own)
 
This excerpt presents some highly significant elements of the Rav’s religious philosophy. The introductory words, “We have no right to explain chukim,” and the sentence, “Why the mitzvah was formulated we don’t know,” are direct rejections of the Rambam’s approach in the Moreh Nevuchim, wherein he spends 25 chapters explaining and rationalizing many of the mitzvot, including chukim. Perhaps most importantly, the passage contains a succinct exposition of the personal connection that should obtain between each of us and Hakadosh Baruch Hu, as seen in the multiple use of the words, “me,” “I,” and “my.” Then, too, the Rav provides us with a practical road map for enhancing the meaning of the mitzvot in our lives by teaching us three crucial questions to ask before performing a mitzvah: “How am I to understand the essence of the [mitzvah] as an integral part of my service of God?” “…What [does] the mitzvah mean to me?” and “How can I integrate and assimilate the mitzvah into my total religious consciousness, world outlook and I-awareness?” (Brackets and editorial changes my own)
 
I believe that if we ask ourselves these fundamental questions, we will be able to raise our religious consciousness to new and exciting heights and thereby imbue our service to the Almighty with vibrant meaning. As we find in the second paragraph of the Shema,וּלְעָבְד֔וֹ בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶ֖ם וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁכֶֽם—and serve Him with your entire heart, mind and soul. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
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*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164+ of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.
 

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