While the rite of the red heifer is the quintessential commandment that makes no sense, midrashim describe it as atonement for the sin of the golden calf. Rav Kook explained that at its root, the sin of the golden calf was people seeking to draw close to God on their own terms. The rite of the

Moses said to Korah, “…Aaron, what is he that you should murmur against him?” Faced with the first challenge to his own leadership, Moses would have wanted all the support he could muster. Aaron was his elder brother and a natural source of succor and cover. Rabbi Hirsch points out that instead of allowing Aaron

The spies who toured the land had this to say about it:  The land through which we passed to scout is a land that consumes those who dwell in it. What does this mean? According to Jacob Milgrom, the spies complained that the land of Israel was in a tough neighborhood. In ancient times, the

The LORD said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel of whom you know that they are the elders of the people and its overseers…” The Midrash spends much energy on the fact that the number seventy cannot be divided by twelve. This meant that not all the tribes could