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So the Jews had left Egypt
and received the Torah.
And now, as they wandered the desert
for forty years, they were faced
by a slate of new challenges,
both physical and spiritual.
In Parshat Chukat,
something very strange happens:
the Jews start whinging and complaining
about the food, the water,
the emptiness of life
in the desert, and the whole experience
since they left Egypt.
God sends what the Torah calls
"burning snakes" to bite the Jewish people,
causing a great many of them to die.
The Jewish people go to Moses and say,
"We know we shouldn't've complained
about this whole desert thing,
but please ask God
to get rid of all the snakes."
And he does; he begs and pleads
with God on their behalf.
And so God instructs Moses to build a huge,
fiery copper snake,
and coil it on a huge post.
Get everyone to look up at the snake
and everyone who's been bitten
will be healed and live.
At a glance, this seems
to go against the precept,
"Do not make graven images,"
and "Do not worship idols."
But we need to remember that God
told Moses to build this copper coiled snake,
and it wasn't supposed to be
as a god or God substitute.
The snake itself has a far greater
significance within Judaism.
Since the very beginning of time,
since the memorable event
in the Garden of Eden,
the snake has represented
spiritual immaturity.
The snake is a manifestation
of that little voice in our head often called
the "evil inclination," which leads us
down the wrong road by instilling
thoughts of fear and doubt in our hearts.
Sometimes, we're on the correct road,
a good path, on a journey to great things.
But sometimes, if we don't see
immediate results that we can quantify,
we start to doubt ourselves.
We get scared, and that little voice
in our head starts to say,
"Hey, maybe we're doing this all wrong.
Let's just give up, and try something else,
something easier."
So God's instruction
to build a large, fiery, copper snake
was not an exercise in idol worship at all.
Rather, it was a fear-removing tactic,
an enormous example of that palpable fear
that was biting them all
and causing their spiritual strength to die.
Psychiatrists and therapists will tell you
that the best way to tackle any phobia
is to learn to look at it and ask,
What is it that I fear so much about this?
Why am I so scared of this little thing
when I can be so much stronger than it?
It was such a valuable lesson
in asserting oneself that the Jews learned
there in the desert, and one we must
keep in mind in all our wanderings.
If that voice in our head tells us to get scared
and give up, we have to walk right up
to our fear, stare it straight in the eye,
and say, "Not this time, buddy."
We must look directly at that
which we fear most
Look up, be healed, and live.
It's no wonder that until this very day
the symbol for medical healing
is still the coiled snake.
Producer: Sarah Lefton
Animation Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Editorial Director: Matthue Roth
Theme Music: Tim Cosgrove
Written and Narrated by Malki Rose
Sound Recording: Esther Werdiger