Parshat Chukah, 5773/2013 thoughts

Basics here.

I am indebted to Rabbi Ethan Tucker for pointing out, in his shiur last night at Mechon Hadar on "Moshe and the Rock and a Commitment to Justice," that one possible explanation for why Moshe/Moses was condemned to die before entering the Promised Land is that "the captain goes down with the ship," meaning, in this case, that Moshe had to suffer the same fate as the rest of that generation.  This is also a possible explanation for why Aharon/Aaron was also condemned to die when it was Moshe who'd struck the rock--see my 2011 question here.

My husband is of the opinion that Moshe had to go because he wasn't suited for the new job of conquering the land--he was a shepherd, not a general.

Here's a link to my previous Parshat Chukat posts, asking questions such as:

• Why would G-d tell Moshe to commit avodah zarah/idolatry by setting up a brass snake?
• "I honestly don't understand why there are those who believe that a woman shouldn't touch a Torah scroll until she's gone to the mikveh. What makes a man any more tahor (ritually "pure"), given that no one has been sprinkled with the waters of the ashes of a red heifer since the destruction of the second Temple?"

Conservadox learns a lesson about speaking in public from Parshat Chukat.