parshat Chukat

From Parashot Chukat and Balak, we are able to learn the way Israel, as a nation, should relate to the rest of the world.

In Parashat Chukat, Israel, for the first time, comes into contact with other nations. The history of the Jewish people as a nation among the world begins in Parashat Chukat.

The Almighty says, "Let the Red Cow come and expiate the sin of the Golden Calf." Yet, this calls for an explanation - What does the statute of the Red Cow have to do with the sin of the Golden Calf? What logical connection is there between the two?

Og king of the Bashan believed that brute physical might is the determining factor in war, and that one who possesses such might is bound to triumph. Yet, in truth, it is the spirit that always triumphs.

Faith in the uniqueness of the Jewish people, a faith which resides deep in the heart of every Jew, has the power to cause sacred water to flow from the heart of even the hardest of stones; not through blows and not by the rod, but through pleasant words.