NACHASH נחש

             NaChash נחש

The serpent, nachash, in the Garden of Eden, symbolizes evil inclination and desire, incarnated in nature. What is the secret of its power?

The word ''NACHASH'' defines the snake as a ''HISSER'': In hebrew, ''to hiss/ to whisper'' is •la'Chash•. Snake does not speak the truth, but it literally TWISTS itself as it °°whispers°° its half truths and its lies.

 This same root is used to convey ''casting magic spells'', which too TWIST reality by whispering.

NECHOSHET in hebrew means both 'copper' and ... SORCERY,.literally ''whispering/incantations''.

Sorcery too TWISTS and manipulates the truth by
'hissing incantation'.

The root 'chush' also means ''feeling'' / or ''weakness'', which is another word which detracts from clarity and strength.

But everything Hashem gives us -has its use and can be RECTIFIED by using it as Torah commands! Copper (NECHOSHET) נחושת was used in the Temple for various vessels which PURIFIED, ex. the water cystern where the kohanim washed their hands, and feet to purify themselves for G'ods service. So •nechoshet and nachash• can be used to go after our base carnal desires, or as a vehicle of purification.

(Adam and Eve were 'naked'. §erpent was 'cunning'. Both words in hebrew share the same root, ''arum'', ערום . And they appear in two adjacent verses in Genesis.)

>>Adam and Eve were ''ARUM-im' (plural)' ~naked, but the snake was ''arum'' ~cunning/deceitful.
 Same word, adjacent verses, different translation...

Perhaps we can translate the word 'arum' as °weak/°hungry/°needy/°flawed''...

... >>As long as we are AWARE of our •flaws/•desires/•hungers/•temptations/•weaknesses, they serve US. But if we allow our desires to rule over us, we become ''naked''.  The very nature of human nature is hidden in those verses.

((The root ayen-resh, ער
also appears in words 'skin'(עור) ', 'blind' (iver), desire/excitement (hitorerut), sexual immoralty (erva).))

{If we REVERSE the root ayen-resh to RESH-AYEN, we get ''RAH'' ~ רע~  'evil', which really means ''apart'' (from Hashem)}

Interestingly, the NACHASH appears again as Moshe's staff when Hashem sent him to Pharaoh. And there too the dual nature of this creature is hinted at: in Ex. 7:1-15, when Aaron wields the staff, it turns into a תנין-TANNIN (also seen in Gen.1:21). However when Moshe wields the same staff, Torah uses the word NACHASH נחש. BOTH tannin and nachash mean 'snake' as understood from the context here.... Why the change? The very same staff, when held by Aaron (and by the egyptian magicians), is called TANNIN. But when Moshe holds it, it is called ''NACHASH''...

Moshe AGAIN holds the nachash in parshat Chukkat...
In Num. 19-22 (parshat Chukkat), we learn about the ritual of the red heifer. It comes into play when we need to ritually purify ourselves from the 'tumah' of dead body. Why does touching a dead body contaminate us?

Our sages give different reasons and explanations for this ritual. The sages state that the red heifer ritual serves as an atonement for the sin of the golden calf, even though the setting in each respective case is different.

Golden calf was a sculpture, a 'soul-less shape' which Jews created as a focal point for their prayers in Moses' absence. Even though the Israelites created the golden calf out of spiritual hunger for G'ods guidance, its creation was considered a very serious offense, which resulted in Go'ds killing of those who participated in this heretical act.

Whereas the ritual of the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer has to do with ritual purification of one who touched a dead body, the sin of the golden calf was based in worshipping a 'dead sculpture'...

Some sources explain that the ritual contamination of a dead human body is due to its LOST POTENTIAL. Just as a human body has unlimited potential when ALIVE, it is all gone as soon as the limitless godly spark of life is gone. A sculpture used in idol worship is dead, without any real soul, without any power, even though it is fashioned to symbolize G'od who is the REAL source of power.

So when the Jews have created the golden calf and worshipped it as a symbol of the Creator, they had squandered their INFINITE SPIRITUAL POTENTIAL to connect with G'od DIRECTLY ~WITHOUT the contradicting interposition of any ersatz made-up idols.

How could the Israelites which just recently had been freed from the Egyptian slavery, with Go'ds mighty plagues, and with splitting of the sea, how could they point to a mere statue and call it 'god' who took us out of Egypt''?😱

It seems that Israelites yearned for some visual/physical focus for their prayers. Of course it goes without saying that they knew that it wasnt the actual golden calf who took them out of Egypt or split the sea.

Nevertheless they felt an urge, a need/hunger/desire to fashion a physical focal point for their worship/prayers. And such act was considered a grave sin.

 For the Creator is INFINITE and cannot be reduced to any physical form. Any representation of Go'ds attributes is not °Go'd°.
Hence praying to the golden calf constituted 'taking G'ods Name in vain', as indicated in the Decalogue, 3rd commandment.

So the construction & the prayer to the golden calf was the  ultimate ''squandering'' and ''destruction'' of spiritually infinite potential of DIRECT connecting to the Infinite Creator.

So too the death of a human being is the ultimate loss of the infinite potential of a human life, (the soul) and the loss of the connection between the infinite spark of life animating the body, and the body itself.

The ritual PURPOSE of the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer is to purify one who touched a corpse. But curiously, the very PROCESS of producing the ashes of the red heifer renders one who MAKES them, -IMPURE. The lesson is, the process of achieving the ultimate purification might come THROUGH IMPURITY. We need to ''get our hands dirty'' to achieve spiritual cleanliness. The very object which ultimately might purify us, if we follow Hashem's path, can also have some adverse effects.

The golden calf, while born from Israelites' YEARNING for Hashem's guidance, was nevertheless deemed such severe grievous SIN, that it needed to be PHYSICALLY ERADICATED by slaying those who participated.

>>>In the book of Genesis 3, when the §erpent °°beguiled°° Eve, the word ''hishiani'' is used, root ALEF-SHIN. This root means 'to destroy, anihilate', level,  as in 'shoah'- 'holocaust'.. But it is also used in the sense of ''to confuse, puzzle, beguile'', because someone ''destroys'' the meaning of truth by falsely EQUATING/comparing two dissimiliar concepts.

Same root is used in the 3rd commandment about not taking Hashem's Name ''in vain''. The word ''in vain'' is ''La'Shov''.
(Exodus 20:)
•לא תִשָּׂא אֶת-שם לַשָּוְא•

The word 'La-Shov' means to ''equate, compare''. When we compare/equate the INFINITE One  to anything which is created/limited, we are actually DESTROYING Go'ds Infinite Name in the world.

 Christian heretical theology of incarnation ''beguiles'' and DESTROYS Go'ds Infinite Name by 'equating' it with a limited human being...

Jzs in John 3:14 compares himself to the snake which Moshe fashioned out of COPPER/ nechoshet, in the desert.

Why not compare yourself to the OTHER snake used by Moshe to demonstrate Hashem's might before Pharaoh???

It seems that Jzs here speaks with a true serpentine fork-tongued need to agrandize/feed the desire to elevate himself.

 The copper snake on Moses' pole wasn't elevated to be worshipped, but as a WARNING and as a reminder. if u know the rest of the parsha, the israelites sinned by SPEAKING against Hashem, hence they got BITTEN by the ''nachash'' who HISSES (incites through whispering half-truths). The word NACHASH is from the hebrew root la'Chash- ''to whisper''. it was a reminder for israelites to watch their murmuring against Hashem, and an act of ''de-fanging'' of the snake, by EXPOSING its whispered innuendos.  To make sure that we get the message, the word used for snake's 'pole' here is 'NES' (aka 'test'). Jzs' statement in john 3:14 that he needs to be ''elevated'' is a calculated TWISTING of G'ods words, EXACTLY for what the snake in Gen. 3:14 got cursed for- TWISTING G'ods words!!!

So Jzs was actually twisting Go'ds words from parshat Chukat in Num.19-22, by actually admitting to being comparable to the snake cursed for the very same sin... For the copper snake wasn't 'worshipped' as 'god' or as 'incarnation' of G'od, but as a reminder pointing the Israelites to the INFINITE CREATOR. Ironic...

As it was suggested above about the word ''ARUM'' to be translated as desire/hunger/weakness/temptation/flaw/, we see the same meaning in the root חוש -CHUSH, which is the root core of the word Na-CHASH. Chush too means weakness, feeling, desire, disease. Thus listening to §erpent's whispered ''hushed'' hisses, we actually become CHUSH-weak.

Jzs compares himself to the specific snake in john 3:14, not the one who followed Hashem's bidding in Moshe's hands in Pharaoh's palace in Egypt, but the one who was constructed as a reminder to the Israelites' for their WHISPERING/murmuring against Hashem.

Jzs' mistake is stating that the snake needs to be ''elevated''... since Jzs desired to be 'elevated' as well.

The copper snake's role is to be a REMINDER about loyalty to Hashem, not about making oneself into an object of worship!

The snakes which bit Israelites for murmuring against Hashem, were acting just as predicted in Torah- they bit the Israelites.. The biblical snake in Gen. 3:14 who tempted Eve in the garden- that snake gets CURSED by Go'd for the sin of 'beguiling Eve',  through TWISTING GO'Ds words.

 So too Jzs twists his words to elevate himself as ''Go'ds son'', as ''sole gateway'' to Hashem, ''capable of forgiving sins in Go'ds stead'' etc.

Instead of humbly reminding the Jews to turn to Hashem, Jzs had tried to elevate himself into some kind of 'golden calf' representing Hashem.

Jzs' hubris is further seen in Rev. 22:16, where he compares himself to a ''morning star''. Strangely, this same 'morning star' is being PUNISHED for its pride in Isaiah 14...

(And in the christian tradition, the title of ''morning star'' has been applied to Lucifer, the ''enlightened one''...

(When studying hebrew roots, it is fascinating to note that one of the hebrew words for 'cursed' is 'OHRUR' ארור
which has the root ''ohr'' light. Even light, when not handled with proper care can be a source of a curse...

Whichever does not lead us toward G'od,  becomes a venomous poison and a curse, just as the serpents in the desert, just like the serpent in the garden of Eden who caused our fall...

if we allow our desires and whispered lies to rule over us, we become ''naked''.  The very nature of human nature is hidden in those verses.

((The root ayen-resh, ער
also appears in words 'skin'(עור) ', 'blind' (iver), desire/excitement (hitorerut), sexual immoralty (erva).))

{If we REVERSE the root ayen-resh to RESH-AYEN, we get ''RAH'' ~ רע~  'evil', which really means ''apart'' (from Hashem)}

When the NACHASH appears as Moshe's staff when Hashem sent him to Pharaoh, his dual nature is hinted at: in Ex. 7:1-15. >>When Aaron wields the staff, it turns into a תנין-TANNIN (also seen in Gen.1:21). When Moshe wields the same staff, Torah uses the word NACHASH נחש. BOTH tannin and nachash mean 'snake' as understood from the context here.... Why the change? The very same staff, when held by Aaron (and by the egyptian magicians), is called TANNIN. But when Moshe holds it, it is called ''NACHASH''...

Moshe AGAIN holds the nachash in parshat Chukkat...
In Num. 19-22, we learn about the ritual of the red heifer. It comes into play when we need to ritually purify ourselves from the 'tumah' of dead body. Why does touching a dead body contaminate us?

Our sages give different reasons and explanations for this ritual, but Torah itself does not give any. The sages state that the red heifer ritual serves as an atonement for the sin of the golden calf, even though the setting in each respective case is different. Golden calf was a sculpture, a 'lifeless shape' which Jews created as a focal point for their prayers in Moses' absence. Its creation was considered a very serious offense, which resulted in Go'ds killing of those who participated in this heretical act. Whereas the ritual of the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer has to do with ritual purification of one who touched a dead body....

Some sources explain that the ritual contamination of a dead human body is due to the LOST POTENTIAL. Just as a human body has unlimited potential when ALIVE, it is all gone as soon as the spark of life is gone. A sculpture used in idol worship is dead, without any real potential, even though it is fashioned to symbolize a source of power.

So too, when the Jews have created the golden calf and worshipped it as a symbol of their Creator, they had squandered their SPIRITUAL POTENTIAL to connect with G'od WITHOUT any ersatz made-up idols. How could the Israelites which just recently had been freed from the egyptian slavery with Go'ds mighty plagues and with splitting of the sea , how could they point to a mere statue and call it 'god' who took us out of Egypt''?

It seems that the israelites needed some visual focus for their prayers. Of course it goes without saying that they knew that it wasnt the golden calf who took them out of Egypt or split the sea. Nevertheless they felt a need/hunger/desire to fashion a physical focal point for their worship/prayers. And such act was considered a grave sin. For the Creator is INFINITE and cannot be reduced to any physical form. Any representation of Go'ds attributes is not Go'd. Hence it constitutes 'taking of G'ods Name in vain'.

So the construction & the prayer to the golden calf was the  ultimate ''squandering'' of spiritual potential (of connecting to the Creator). So too the death of a human being is the ultimate loss of the potential of a human life.
The PURPOSE of the ritual of the red heifer is to purify one who touched a corpse.

But curiously, the very PROCESS of producing the ashes of the red heifer renders one who MAKES them, IMPURE. The lesson is, the process of achieving the ultimate purification might come THROUGH IMPURITY. We need to be able to get our hands dirty to achieve spiritual cleanliness. The very object which ultimately might purify us, if we follow Hashem's path, but it can also CONTAMINATE. The golden calf, while built from a YEARNING for Hashem's guidance, was nevertheless deemed a grievous SIN, which needed to be PHYSICALLY ERADICATED.

>>>In the book of Genesis 3, when the §erpent °°beguiled°° Eve, the word ''hishiani'' is used, root ALEF-SHIN. This root means 'to destroy, anihilate', level,  as in 'shoah'- 'holocaust'.. But it is also used in the sense of ''to confuse, puzzle, beguile'', because someone ''destroys'' the true meaning by falsely EQUATING/comparing two dissimiliar concepts. Same root is used in the 3rd commandment about not taking Hashem's Name ''in vain''. The word ''in vain'' is ''La'Shov''. Ex. 20:
לא תִשָּׂא אֶת-שם לַשָּוְא:

The word 'La-Shov' means to ''equate, compare''. When we compare/equate the INFINITE One  to anything created/limited, we are DESTROYING Go'ds Infinite Name.


 Christian theology of incarnation ''beguiles'' and DESTROYS Go'ds Infinite Name by 'equating' it with a limited human being...

Jzs in John 3:14 compares himself to the snake which Moshe fashioned out of COPPER/ nechoshet, in the desert.

Why not compare yourself to the OTHER snake used by Moshe to demonstrate Hashem's might before Pharaoh???
Jzs here speaks like a true fork-tongued creation. The copper snake on Moses' pole wasn't elevated to be worshipped, but as a WARNING and as a reminder. if u know the rest of the parsha, the israelites sinned by SPEAKING against Hashem, hence they got BITTEN by ''nachash'' who HISSES (incites through whispering half-truths). The word NACHASH is from the hebrew root la'Chash- ''to whisper''. it was a reminder for israelites to watch their murmuring against Hashem, and an act of ''de-fanging'' of the snake, by EXPOSING its whispered innuendos.

 To make sure that we get the message, the word used for 'pole' here is 'NES' (aka 'test'). Jzs' statement in john 3:14 that he needs to be ''elevated'' is a calculated TWISTING of G'ods words, EXACTLY for what the snake in Gen. 3:14 got cursed for- TWISTING G'ods words!!! So while Jzs was actually twisting Go'ds words from parshat Chukat in Num.19-22, he actually admitted to being comparable to the snake cursed for the very same sin... Ironic...
As it was suggested above about the word ''ARUM'' to be translated as desire/hunger/weakness/temptation/flaw/, we see the same meaning in the root חוש -CHUSH, which is the root core of the word Na-CHASH. Chush too means weakness, feeling, desire, disease...

Jzs compares himself to the specific snake in john 3:14, not the one who followed Hashem's bidding in Pharaoh's palace in Egypt, but the one who was constructed as a reminder to the Israelites' for their WHISPERING/murmuring against Hashem. Jzs' mistake is stating that the snake needs to be ''elevated''... since Jzs desires to be 'elevated' as well. The copper snakes role is to be a REMINDER about loyalty to Hashem, not about making the sculpture an object of worship!

The snakes which bit Israelites for murmuring against Hashem, were acting just as predicted in Torah- they bit the Israelites.. The biblical snake who tempted Eve in the garden- gets CURSED by Go'd in Gen. 3:14, for the sin of 'beguiling Eve', for TWISTING GO'Ds words. So too Jzs twists his words to elevate himself as ''Go'ds son'', a ''sole gateway'' to Hashem, ''capable of forgiving sins in Go'ds stead'' , instead of humbly reminding them to turn to Hashem.

Jzs' hubris is further seen in Rev. 22:16, where he compares himself to a ''morning star''. Strangely, this same 'morning star' is being PUNISHED for its pride of ELEVATING ITSELF above others in Isaiah 14...

( in the christian tradition, the title of ''morning star'' has been also applied to Lucifer, the ''enlightened one''... So Jzs and Lucifer are both called by the same moniker of 'morning star' as well as they are BOTH compared to the incarnation of temptation, §nake.

When studying hebrew roots, it is fascinating to note that one of the hebrew words for 'cursed' is 'OHRUR' ארור
which has the root ''ohr'' light in it. Even light, when not handled with proper care can be a source of a curse... )
👹🔆🐉

Whichever does not leads us to G'od, it becomes a venomous poison and a curse, just as the serpents in the desert, just like the serpent in the garden of Eden who caused our fall.

And that's the connection between the ritual of purifying a person contaminated by touching a dead body, with the construction of the copper snake - both have the inherent dual capacity to purify or to contaminate. The ashes of the red heifer purify the impure ones, but they contaminate ones that are pure.

So too the copper §erpent, while a symbol of incarnated evil inclination toward carnal desires, if placed as a reminder to purify our words and desires, can actually turn us to Hashem, the Source of all healing!