5779 — Chukat: The Fatal Sin of Moses and Aaron

Posted by Meir Schweiger on June 27, 2019
Topics: Torah, Pardes from Jerusalem, Bamidbar (Numbers), Chukat

In this week’s Parsha, we encounter a fascinating but cryptic story – the waters of Meriva. This story seems to be a re-telling of another story that appears in Exodus, Chapter 17. Unfortunately, it has a tragic ending – G-d decrees that Moses and Aaron will not lead the  children of Israel into the Land of Israel; in other words, Moses and Aaron will die in the desert. But what was their sin and  is the punishment commensurate with the crime? As we examine the multiplicity of responses, to these questions, that have been offered by commentaries, spanning two millennia, we will see how this story becomes an illuminating mirror for the “70 faces” of the Torah.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Avrom Jacobs (Alum of Ramah Darom ’18) in memory of his beloved wife, Dr. Laura Jacobs z”l.

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Credits
Rabbi Meir Schweiger – Faculty Host
Larry Kluger – Creative Consultant
Arlene Harel – Production Coordinator
Adam Titcher – Executive Producer

About Meir Schweiger

Meir teaches Chumash, Parshat HaShavua, Mishna, Talmud, Halakha, Siddur and Interpersonal Relations at Pardes. Meir came on aliya in 1972 from “the Bronx”, NY, immediately after graduating from City College in New York with a B.A. in Mathematics and Physics. He did his advanced Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh and Yeshivat Har Etzion, receiving ordination from Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg of Jerusalem. He received his M.Ed in Teaching Bible from the Herzog College in Gush Etzion.Click here to read more.

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