Chukat: "Mourning and Melancholia"

Again and again, this week’s parshah, Chukat, returns to the question of death. It begins with the arcane ritual of the Red Heifer, designed to purify one who has come into contact with a dead body, and it ends with a strange account of deadly snakes sent to punish the Israelites for complaining once more about leaving Egypt. In between, the Torah describes the deaths of Moses’s siblings, Miriam and Aaron. Though no reason is given for Miriam’s demise, the impetus for Aaron’s is quite clear: When God instructs Moses and Aaron to speak to a rock to draw forth water for the thirsty Israelites, Moses instead strikes the stone—an act of defiance for which God decrees that both he and Aaron will die before the Israelites enter the land of Israel. Moses’s punishment is deferred, but Aaron’s comes soon after the incident. Moses is intimately involved in Aaron’s death: God instructs Moses to take his brother and his brother’s son Elazar to the top of Mount Hor, where he is to have Aaron transfer his priestly garments to Elazar. The ritual happens as prescribed, and Aaron then takes his final breath… read the rest at Jewish Currents!