Confronting Snakes

11 Tammuz 5772

Today marks the 17^th Yahrzeit of my twin brother, Joseph a”h.   In his memory, I would like to share a Torah thought on this week’s Parsha.

In this week’s Parsha, Parshat Chukat, we read an unusual story about snakes.  The Torah relates how the Jewish people complained to Moshe about food and water. The Posuk continues "Then Hashem let the poisonous serpents loose against the people."   The Jewish people ask Moshe to pray to Hashem to eliminate the snakes.  Instead of eliminating the snakes in response to Moshe’s prayers, though, Hashem says to Moshe "Make yourself a poisonous serpent and set it on a high pole, and everyone that is bitten, when he looks upon it shall live."

Query:  Why didn’t Hashem simply respond to Moshe’s prayers by eliminating the snakes?  Why force Moshe to go through the exercise of actually making a snake and having people look at it?

My father suggests that Hashem is teaching Moshe and the Jewish people a very important lesson here.  The snake in our tradition represents temptation, the yetzer hara.  After all, the source of all temptation in the world originated when the snake came to Chavah in the Garden of Eden and persuaded her to eat of the forbidden fruit.  So clearly the snake represents temptation, i.e. the yetzer hara.  Hashem, in this weeks parsha, says in response to Moshe’s tefilah that he eliminate the snakes, “Sorry, Moshe.  Tell the Jewish people, ‘no dice!’.  Its not so simple.  The world is now a package that includes temptation and its just not in the cards  that when you face temptation, you can simply ask me to take it away.  Rather, the Jewish people are going to have to learn to overcome temptation – to look temptation squarely in the face, to confront it, and to find a way to overcome it.  Its going to require their building on inner strengths to do it.  But they can do it!  And its not going to work if I simply eliminate it.” 

I would like to add an extra dimension to my father’s thought as I believe it has particular relevance to who Joseph a”h was.   The famous mishna in Rosh Hashana, speaking about the snake in this week’s parsha states: "Vechi nachash meimis oh nachash mechayah elah lomar luch shekol zman she hayu Yisroel mistaklim klapia mallah umishabdim ess lebom l’avehem sheh bashamayim, hayu misrapim..." that whenever one would look up to the heavens and dedicate their hearts to Hashem they'd be healed.”   The standard translation of this mishnah is to emphasize the importance of dedicating one’s heart to Hashem as the source of healing, rather than the healing really having anything to do with snake.  However, I would like to suggest that careful attention to the mishnah actually suggests something else.  As I see it, the mishnah is  a sequel to the previous thought.

Specifically, the important message that one must confront temptation and learn to overcome the snake it is followed by the Mishnah’s countenance about how to confront. Thus, the Mishnah implicitly recognizes that even in confronting, there are different ways to do so and the mishnah is teaching us which path of confrontation to take.  In this vein, I believe that the Mishnah is saying:  “Just because you are to confront does not mean that you are to be confrontational.  That’s arrogance and G-d doesn’t want arrogance.  Rather, confront the issue but do so with humility.”  And so, the Mishnah emphasizes “shekol zman she hayu Yisroel mistaklim klapia mallah umishabdim ess lebom”, to wit, as long as the Jews subjugated their hearts.  The Mishnah, notwithstanding the standard translation that we “dedicate” our hearts to G-d, actually calls for humility captured in the notion of “subjugating” our hearts.   What the mishnah teaches us, perhaps, is that while its very important – maybe even critical that we confront challenges in life by facing them head on, its equally important that we not confuse the need to do so with the equally important message that we not act confrontationally but that we act with humility.   And so, the mishnah teaches us that it is possible to confront challenges and issues in life with softness and nachas and ultimately that is the ultimate winning formula.

Joseph, a’h, personified the synthesis of these two ideals, of facing issues directly but with humility.  In so many instances it would have been  easier to shove issues under the rug, to ignore them or to simply suppress his concerns.  But that wasn’t Joseph.  He confronted issues directly.  Whether it was ethical issues in how to treat others or in facing his own illness, he faced these matters honestly and head on.  At the same time, he had no arrogance whatsoever.  Rather, Joseph brought humility to each of these challenges.  And so, in treating others, this meant that there was no arrogance in his approach but a humble determination to stay the course in what he believed to be right even when those around him didnt practice - for whatever reason - with the same high level of ethical concern.  And with regard to his own illness, this humility meant that despite his acute awareness of what he faced, there was no self pity or anger, but simply genuine concern for his own well being.  This combination of facing issues head on, but with humility resulted in a beautiful person that had a profound impact on many.  Seventeen years after his ptirah, he continues to be a role model to me for how one should live one’s life. 

In our College yearbook under Joseph’s name it is written, perhaps prophetically “Not with age but with character is wisdom attained”.  Joseph was a remarkably wise person of impeccable character.  He taught me and continues to teach me a great deal.   May his memory be a blessing!