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Posted By admin on July 2, 2017

Dvar Torah Parashath Chuqqath (Numbers XIX, 1 -- XXII, 1)

In this weeks parasha we find recorded the deaths of Moshes sister, Miriam, and his brother, Aharon. The Talmud (Moed Qatan 28a) learns from each of these events that the death of tzaddiqim atones for the sins of Israel.

Despite the fact that the Talmud thus links the two events, the contrast between the two reports could not be more striking.

In the case of Miriam, a laconic partial verse suffices: Vayavou bnei Yisral kol hada Midbar Tzin vayshev haam bQadsh vatamoth sham Miriam vatiqqavr sham (And the bnei Yisral, the entire community, came to the desert of Tzin and the people settled in Qadesh, and Miriam died there and was buried there, XX, 1).

The death of Aharon, on the other hand, is covered much more elaborately, seven verses being devoted to the account (ibid., 23-29). This dichotomous treatment is highlighted as we read the account of Aharons passing. Ha-Shem tells Moshe: Vayasf Aharon el ammav ki lo yavo el haaretz ... al asher mrithem eth pi lMei Mriva (And Aharon will be gathered to his peoples, for he will not come to the land ... because you rebelled against My word at the Waters of Strife, ibid., 24).

In addition to this, as Rashi notes, v. 23 tells us that Aharon died at Hor hahar al gvul eretz Edom (Hor, the mountain on the border of the land of Edom) because the bnei Yisral came together here to approach sav the wicked (ancestor of Edom); their deeds were breached and they lost this tzaddiq (Aharon).

In other words, the fact that Aharon would suffer an early demise was the result of one incident, the Water of Strife. The precise time and place of his death were fixed by the second incident, the approach to sav the wicked. Such details, where we read nothing of the kind concerning Miriam, are part of the reason for the more extensive account of Aharons death.

Yet another such reason is featured elsewhere in the Talmud (Bava Bathra 17a), where Rabbi Elazar remarks: It is said here and Miriam died and it is said elsewhere (Deuteronomy XXXIV, 5) and Moshe died by the mouth of Ha-Shem. Since in Deuteronomy it states by the mouth of Ha-Shem, so here Miriams death was also by the mouth of Ha-Shem. But why is by the mouth of Ha-Shem not said concerning her? Because it would be indelicate to say it.

In short, Miriam died the death of a tzaddeqeth, a mitha binshiqa (death by a Divine kiss), unmediated by the angel of death (as we learn elsewhere on the same page in Bava Bathra), reserved only for the very greatest of Israel.

Read the rest here:

This Week's Torah Portion: The Deaths of Aaron and Miriam - PJ Media

Category: Talmud
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