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Why does the Torah (תורה) use "vehigit" (looking down) when people had to look up at the copper snake on a pole? The Mishna teaches that prayer, not the snake, provided the cure. People had to "look down" at the snake by diminishing its significance in their minds while davening to Hashem (ה׳).
The shiur explores a linguistic difficulty in the story of the copper snake from Parshas Chukas. When Hashem (ה׳) instructed Moshe to fashion a copper snake and place it on a pole for the people to look at for healing from snake bites, the Torah (תורה) uses the term "vehigit" to describe their looking. Rabbi Zweig identifies a fundamental problem based on Rashi (רש"י)'s commentary in Parshas Lech Lecha, where Rashi explains that "habatah" and related terms refer to looking down from above. This creates a contradiction: if the snake was elevated on a pole requiring people to look up, why does the Torah use a term that suggests looking down? The resolution comes through the Mishna in Rosh Hashanah, which asks rhetorically whether Moshe's hands actually made war or whether the copper snake actually healed people. The Mishna answers that as long as the Jewish people looked toward Heaven and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they would be healed and victorious. The physical objects were not the source of salvation - rather, it was their prayers and turning to Hashem that brought about the miracles.
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Parshas Chukas - Copper Snake
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