The MonumentsChuk74ar Artson 1

TORAH-FAX CHUKAT SERMONETTE

CHUK74AR
THE MONUMENTS THAT LAST
BY RABBI BRAD ARTSON
One of the sad realities of life in the suburbs is that eer! nei"hborhood looks #ust
like eer! other nei"hborhood$ %f it&s not a home' it&s a mall$ %f it&s not a mall' it&s a
sho((in" )enter$
*er!thin" +e build in the &burbs is beautiful' )lean and la)kin" (ersonalit!$
,(atial distin)tions' +here one )it! ends and the ne-t one starts' are isible onl! on
ma(s or si"ns be)ause' frankl!' )ities all look alike$ The same malls' homes'
deelo(ments and roads im(ose a deadenin" sameness oer the ast tra)ts of
Ameri)an s(a)e$
.erha(s it is no )oin)iden)e' then' that ours is one of the most se)ular )iili/ations
in the +orld&s histor!' and ours is least )a(able of )reatin" (ermanent landmarks of
an! si"nifi)an)e$
All of our s(a)e is homo"enous$ %f ,outh Coast .la/a burned do+n 01od forbid2'
it&s diffi)ult to think that the +orld +ould feel im(oerished$
The late s)holar of reli"ion' .rofessor Mir)ea *liade' (ointed out that the (o+er to
make s(a)e s(e)ial' the (o+er to distin"uish one (la)e from another' is the uni3ue
abilit! of reli"ion$ On)e a (la)e be)omes a hol! (la)e' it remains so foreer'
stret)hin" a)ross "enerations' a s!mbol of somethin" eternal and sa)red$ Thus'
4erusalem has been a sa)red (la)e for all three monotheisti) reli"ions' #ust as it +as
for the (a"an reli"ions that (re)eded 4udaism$
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Toda!&s Torah (ortion s(eaks of Har haHor' Mount Hor' on +hi)h Aaron +as
buried after his death$
6on&t for"et that Aaron +as the s!mbol of the most sa)red institution in all of
%srael$ The first Kohen 1adol 0Hi"h .riest2' Aaron' mediated bet+een 1od and the
(eo(le' allo+in" them to lie in )onformit! +ith the la+s of the Torah and the +ill
of 1od$ 7hen Aaron died' and after he +as buried on Mount Hor' his san)tit! lent
a (ermanent san)tit! to the mountain that +as his final restin" (la)e$
Midrash 8amidbar Rabbah e-(ounds on this ne+ si"nifi)an)e throu"h the use of a
(un$ The Hebre+ +ord for mountain is har' so that Har haHor )an be read as
Mountain the Mountain$ This (e)uliar (hrase led the midrash to e-(lain that
Mount Hor 9+as a mountain on to( of a mountain' like a small a((le (er)hed on
to( of a bi" one$9
The midrash then e-(lained in its o+n +ords *liade&s insi"ht about sa)red s(a)e
bein" distin)tie and se)ular s(a)e bein" homo"enous$ 9Althou"h a )loud +ent
before them' lo+erin" the hi"h (la)es and raisin" the lo+' the Hol! 8lessed One
left this mountain as a s(e)imen: that (eo(le mi"ht kno+ +hat mira)les the Hol!
8lessed One +rou"ht for them$9
91od left no mountain in the +ilderness' that the! mi"ht not "ro+ fati"ued in
)limbin" u( and do+n$ Moreoer' althou"h the )loud made the +hole +ilderness
(erfe)tl! leel' it used to leae an eleated s(ot +here the Taberna)le mi"ht rest
and it allo+ed three mountains to remain ; Mount ,inai for the 6iine .resen)e'
Moun <ebo for the burial of Moses and Mount Hor for the burial of Aaron$9
7anderin" throu"h the +ilderness took fort! !ears' a lon" (eriod of time b! an!
human measure$ =et' the Midrash (oints out that the onl! meanin"ful differen)e in
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s(a)e resulted from the reli"ious in)idents that o))urred there: no reli"ious
si"nifi)an)e' no lastin" identit!$ Out of the entire +ilderness' the onl! three
si"nifi)ant (la)es +ere Mount ,inai' Mount <ebo and Mount Hor$
*ents of trans)endent (o+er' moments of shinin" illumination that flash +hen
1od and humanit! meet' )han"e the lands)a(e foreer$ 7ithout these
breakthrou"hs' the road +e trael remains ho(elessl! dull$
7ith faith and +ith the tea)hin"s of Torah' the road is smoothed and our
landmarks' our alues' our deeds and our identit!' soar aboe the raa"es of time$
The monuments that last are ere)ted b! the s(irit$
,habbat ,halom$