Zot chukat ha Torah

My good friend Rabbi Naphtali Buchwald of the Houston Kollel shares a one-minute Dvar Torah every Friday afternoon. Last week, he started as follows: "Zois chukas ha Toirah," (quoted in his pronunciation). The Torah seems to promise us an earth-shattering lesson but continues with the specific laws of purifying oneself from the impurity of the dead.

So it seems we don't get the promised earth-shattering lesson. But actually, we do. Look in the Zohar, the beginning of the same Torah portion Chukat.

Rabbi Yose starts by praising the words of the Torah, which are sweeter than honey, to those who study it. Then he asks why here it says "Zot chukat ha Torah" but elsewhere it starts with a vav, "V'zot ha Torah asher sam Moshe..."

Vav is the hint to Zeir Anpin and its inseparable connection to the Malchut (zot), or Knesset Israel. What is needed to make this happen? - Go and learn the Metok Midvash commentary.

Art: Woman Milking a Red Cow by Karel Dujardin