| The Portion of Chukat The Second Red Sea Miracle Once again the Children of Israel find themselves ready to enter the Promised Land- this time at the end of 40 years of wandering decreed upon them as a result of the sin of the spies. But their complaints continue- this time concerning the lack of water. Moses gets angry, doesn't follow G-d's instructions and is punished by not being able to enter the Land of Israel. The complaints repeat themselves time after time: "Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord to this desert so that we and our livestock should die there? Why have you taken us out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place; it is not a place for seeds, or for fig trees, grapevines, or pomegranate trees, and there is no water to drink." (Numbers 20;4-5) In the midst of this troublesome situation we find a ray of light emanating from behind the dark clouds: "Concerning this it is told in the account of the Wars of the Lord, "What He gave at the Sea of] Reeds and the streams of Arnon." (Numbers 21;14) The Torah tells us of the great miracle which took place by the stream of Arnon, a miracle as great as that which transpired at the Red Sea following the exodus from Egypt. The Emorites and the Moabites had planned to ambush the Children of Israel on their way to the Land of Israel. The Arnon stream formed a narrow and high crevice beneath which the Children of Israel were to pass. The two tribes positioned themselves on either side of the crevice, planning to shower the Israelites with rocks and boulders as they tried to pass. But then a miracle happened. As the Israelites passed the two sides of the mountain closed behind them and crushed those waiting in ambush. The Children of Israel continued their journey, totally unaware of what had just transpired above their heads. It was only after they emerged from the wadi did they see the stream full of blood and objects belonging to the enemy tribes. And it is because of this that the Children of Israel started to sing: "Then Israel sang this song: "'Ascend, O well,' sing to it!" (Numbers 21;17) This amazing story which compares the miracle of the stream of Arnon to that of the Red Sea is alluded to in the curvature of the letter "pai" in the word "sufa" which in itself is an allusion to the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).
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