Chukat

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Chukat, Hukat, Hukkat, Chukas, Chukkath, Hukath, or Hukkath (חקת — Hebrew for “requirement,” the ninth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 39th weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the sixth in the book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 19:1–22:1. Jews in the Diaspora generally read it in late June or July.

The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 54 weeks, the exact number varying among years. In years with more weeks (for example, 2007 and 2008), parshah Chukat is read separately. In years with fewer weeks (for example, 2006 and 2009), parshah Chukat is combined with the subsequent parshah, Balak, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings.

a red cow (painting “The World Cow” by Franz Marc)

Summary

hyssop

The red cow

God told Moses and Aaron to instruct the Israelites the ritual law of the red cow (Hebrew "parah aduma") used to create water of lustration. (Num. 19:1–2.) The cow had to be without blemish, have no defect, and not have borne a yoke. (Num. 19:2.) Eleazar the priest was to take it outside the camp, observe its slaughter, and take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the Tabernacle. (Num. 19:3–4.) The cow was to be burned in its entirety along with cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson stuff. (Num. 19:5–6.) The priest and the one whom burned the cow were both to wash their garments, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. (Num. 19:7–8.) The ashes of the cow were to be used to create the water of lustration. (Num. 19:9.)

One who touched the corpse of any human being was to be unclean for seven days. (Num. 19:10–11.) On the third and seventh days, the person who had touched the corpse was to cleanse with the water of lustration and then be clean. (Num. 19:12.) One who failed to do so would remain unclean, would defile the Tabernacle, and would be cut off from Israel. (Num. 19:12–13.)

When a person died in a tent, whoever entered the tent was to be unclean seven days, and every open vessel in the tent was to be unclean. (Num. 19:14–15.) In the open, anyone who touched a corpse, bone, or a grave was to be unclean seven days. (Num. 19:16.)

A person who was clean was to add fresh water to ashes of the red cow, dip hyssop it in the water, and sprinkle the water on the tent, the vessels, and people who had become unclean. (Num. 19:17–18.) The person who sprinkled the water was then to wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be clean at nightfall. (Num. 19:19.)

Anyone who became unclean and failed to cleanse himself was to be cut off from the congregation. (Num. 19:20.) The person who sprinkled the water of lustration was to wash his clothes, and whoever touched the water of lustration, whatever he touched, and whoever touched him were to be unclean until evening. (Num. 19:21–22.)

Miriam’s death

The Israelites arrived at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, and Miriam died and was buried there. (Num. 20:1.)

Moses strikes water from the rock (painting by Nicolas Poussin)

Water from a rock

The people were without water, and they complained against Moses and Aaron. (Num. 20:2–5.) Moses and Aaron fell on their faces at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of God appeared to them, telling them to take the rod and order the rock to yield its water. (Num. 20:6–8.) Moses took the rod, assembled the congregation in front of the rock, and said to them: “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” (Num. 20:9–10.) Then Moses struck the rock twice with his rod, out came water, and the community and their animals drank. (Num. 20:11.) But God told Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.” (Num. 20:12.)

Embassy to Edom

Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom asking him to allow the Israelites to cross Edom, without passing through fields or vineyards, and without drinking water from wells. (Num. 20:14–17.) But the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through, and turned out in heavy force to block their way, and the Israelites turned away. (Num. 20:18–21.)

Aaron’s death

At Mount Hor, God told Moses and Aaron: “Let Aaron be gathered to his kin: he is not to enter the land that I have assigned to the Israelite people, because you disobeyed my command about the waters of Meribah.” (Num. 20:23–24.) Moses took Aaron and his son Eleazar up on Mount Hor, and there he stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them on Eleazar, and Aaron died there. (Num. 20:25–28.) The Israelites mourned Aaron 30 days. (Num. 20:29.)

Victory over Arad

The king of Arad engaged the Israelites in battle and took some of them captive. (Num. 21:1.) The Israelites vowed that if God gave them victory, they would destroy Arad. (Num. 21:2.) God delivered up the Canaanites, and the Israelites killed them and destroyed their cities, calling the place Hormah. (Num. 21:3.)

Serpents

The people grew restive and spoke against God and Moses, so God sent serpents that killed many of the Israelites. (Num. 21:4–6.) The people came to Moses, admitted their sin by speaking against God, and asked Moses to intercede with God to take away the serpents, and Moses did so. (Num. 21:7.) God told Moses to mount a serpent figure on a standard, saying: “If anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover.” (Num. 21:8.)

Victories over Sihon and Og

The Israelites traveled on, and sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, asking that he allow them to pass through his country, without entering the fields or vineyards, and without drinking water from wells. (Num. 21:21–22.) But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory and engaged the Israelites in battle. (Num. 21:23.) The Israelites defeated the Amorites and took possession of their land and towns. (Num. 21:24–25.)

Then the Israelites marched on, and King Og of Bashan engaged them in battle. (Num. 21:33.) The Israelites defeated his forces and took possession of his country. (Num. 21:35.) The Israelites then marched to the steppes of Moab, across the Jordan River from Jericho. (Num. 22:1.)

In classical rabbinic interpretation

Numbers chapter 19

Tractate Parah in the Mishnah and Tosefta interpreted the laws of the red cow in Numbers 19:1–22. (Mishnah Parah 1:1–12:11; Tosefta Parah 1:1–12:19.)

Rabbi Tanhum son of Rabbi Hannilai taught that Numbers 19 was one of two sections in the Torah (along with Leviticus 21, on corpse contamination) that Moses gave the Israelites in writing that are both pure, dealing with the law of purity. Rabbi Tanhum taught that they were given on account of the tribe of Levi, of whom it is written (in Malachi 3:3), “he [God’s messenger] shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them.” (Leviticus Rabbah 26:3.)

Expounding upon the commandment of the red cow in Numbers 19:2, Rabbi Jose ben Hanina taught that God told Moses the reason for the commandment, but to everyone else it would remain merely a statute. (Numbers Rabbah 19:6.)

All other communal sacrifices were of male animals, but the red cow was of a female animal. Rabbi Aibu explained the difference with a parable: When a handmaiden’s boy polluted a king’s palace, the king called on the boy’s mother to clear away the filth. In the same way, God called on the red cow to come and atone for the incident of the golden calf. (Numbers Rabbah 19:8.)

Rab Judah reported in Samuel’s name an account of the rarity of completely red cows: When they asked Rabbi Eliezer how far the honor of parents extended, he told of a heathen from Ashkelon named Dama son of Nethinah. The Sages offered Dama a profit of 600,000 gold denarii (or Rab Kahana said 800,000 denarii) in exchange for jewels that he had that the Sages could use in the ephod, but as the key to the jewels lay under Dama’s father’s pillow, Dama declined the offer so as not to trouble his father. The next year, God rewarded Dama by causing a red heifer to be born in his herd. When the Sages went to buy it, Dama told them that he knew that he could ask for all the money in the world and they would pay it, but he asked for only the money that he had lost in honoring his father. (Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 31a.)

Rabbi Akiba interpreted the words “and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean” in Numbers 19:19 to teach that if the sprinkler sprinkled upon an unclean person, the person became clean, but if he sprinkled upon a clean person, the person became unclean. The Gemara explained that Rabbi Akiba’s view hinged on the superfluous words “upon the unclean,” which must have been put in Numbers 19:19 to teach this. But the Sages held that these effects of sprinkling applied only in the case of things that were susceptible to uncleanness. The Gemara explained that the Rabbis’ view could be deduced from the logical proposition that the greater includes the lesser: If sprinkling upon the unclean makes clean, how much more so should sprinkling upon the clean keep clean or make cleaner? And the Gemara said that it is with reference to Rabbi Akiba’s position that Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7:23: “I said, ‘I will get wisdom,’ but it is far from me.” That is, even Solomon could not explain it. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 14a.)

Commandments

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 3 positive commandments in the parshah:

  • To carry out the procedure of the red cow (Num. 19:2.)
  • To carry out the laws of impurity of the dead (Num. 19:14.)
  • To carry out the laws of the sprinkling water (Num. 19:21.)
File:Gustave Doré Jephtha.JPG
Jephthah’s Daughter (illustration by Gustave Doré)

Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is Judges 11:1–33.

When parshah Chukat is combined with parshah Balak (as it is in 2009), the haftarah is the haftarah for Balak, Micah 5:6–6:8.

When parshah Chukat coincides with Shabbat Rosh Chodesh (as it does in 2011 and 2014), the haftarah is Isaiah 66:1–24.

Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Ancient

  • Ritual To Be Followed by the Kalu-Priest when Covering the Temple Kettle-Drum. Reprinted in James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 334-38. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-691-03503-2.

Biblical

Josephus

Early nonrabbinic

Classical rabbinic

  • Mishnah: Shekalim 4:2; Rosh Hashanah 21:8; Megillah 3:4; Avot 5:6; Zevachim 14:1; Keritot 1:1; Parah 1:1–12:11. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
Talmud
  • Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 19b, 23a, 28a, 54a, 58a, 63b; Shabbat 16b, 28a, 48b, 51b–52a, 55b, 58b, 60b, 64a, 83b, 84b, 95b, 97a, 101b, 108a, 109a, 137a; Eruvin 54a, 58a, 64b, 67b; Pesachim 14b, 17b, 26b, 34b, 54a, 56a, 65b, 67a, 68a, 70a, 78a, 79a, 92a; Yoma 2a, 4a, 6a, 8a–9a, 14a, 41b–43b, 52b, 68a, 75b, 86b; Sukkah 6a, 21a, 25b, 37a–b; Beitzah 32a; Rosh Hashanah 3a, 29a, 31a; Taanit 9a, 13a; Megillah 6b, 20a, 29a; Moed Katan 5a–b, 7b, 14a, 15b, 28a–b; Chagigah 3b, 4b, 11a, 22a–23a; Yevamot 61a, 71b, 72b–73a, 74a, 75a, 116b; Ketubot 106a; Nedarim 37a, 55a; Nazir 6b, 19a, 44b–45a, 49b, 53b–54a, 61b, 64a; Sotah 12b, 16b, 38b, 46a; Gittin 38a, 53a, 57b, 76a, 86b; Kiddushin 25a, 30b–31a, 36b, 58a–b, 62a; Bava Kamma 2b, 25b, 82b, 98a, 101b, 105a; Bava Metzia 10b, 56b, 58a, 78b, 93a, 114b; Bava Batra 17a; Sanhedrin 4a, 5b, 43b, 47b, 77b, 101b, 110a; Makkot 8a, 11a, 13a, 14b, 21b; Shevuot 6b, 7b, 11b, 16b, 19a; Avodah Zarah 5b, 23a–b, 29b, 32b, 37b, 44a, 46b; Horayot 9b; Zevachim 14b, 17b, 22b, 25b, 32b, 33b, 40a, 43b, 68b, 78b, 80a, 93a–b, 105b, 112a, 113a, 118a; Menachot 6b, 7b, 19a, 27a–b, 51b, 76b; Chullin 2b, 9b, 11a, 13b, 23b–24a, 25a, 29b, 32a, 60b, 62b, 71a–72a, 81b–82a, 88b, 92a, 121a, 124b; Bekhorot 45a, 55a; Arakhin 3a; Temurah 12b; Keritot 2a, 25a; Niddah 5b, 9a, 44a, 49a, 55a, 61a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.

Medieval

  • Avot of Rabbi Natan, 12:1; 29:7; 34:6; 36:4. Circa 700–900 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan. Translated by Judah Goldin, 64, 120, 139, 150. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1955. ISBN 0-300-00497-4. The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan: An Analytical Translation and Explanation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 89, 179, 205, 217. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986. ISBN 1-55540-073-6.
File:Rashi.jpg
Rashi
  • Rashi. Commentary. Numbers 19–22. Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 4:225–68. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-029-3.
  • Judah Halevi. Kuzari. 3:53. Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 181. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
  • Numbers Rabbah 19:1–33. 12th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Numbers. Translated by Judah J. Slotki. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
  • Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:23
  • Zohar 3:179a–184b. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g, The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
Hobbes

Modern

External links

Texts

Commentaries


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