Of Staffs & Snakes, Life & Death and the Jewish Power of Transformation
The Copper Snake
In this week’s parsha, Chukas, the people become disheartened due to the length and roundabout nature of their travel in the desert. Unhappy, they speak against Moses, and here is what happens next:
הוַיְדַבֵּ֣ר הָעָ֗ם בֵּֽאלֹהִים֘ וּבְמשֶׁה֒ לָמָ֤ה הֶֽעֱלִיתֻ֨נוּ֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם לָמ֖וּת בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר כִּ֣י אֵ֥ין לֶ֨חֶם֙ וְאֵ֣ין מַ֔יִם וְנַפְשֵׁ֣נוּ קָ֔צָה בַּלֶּ֖חֶם הַקְּלֹקֵֽל: The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in this desert, for there is no bread and no water, and we are disgusted with this rotten bread."
ווַיְשַׁלַּ֨ח יְהֹוָ֜ה בָּעָ֗ם אֵ֚ת הַנְּחָשִׁ֣ים הַשְּׂרָפִ֔ים וַיְנַשְּׁכ֖וּ אֶת־הָעָ֑ם וַיָּ֥מָת עַם־רָ֖ב מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל:The Lord sent against the people the venomous snakes, and they bit the people, and many people of Israel died.
וַיָּבֹא֩ הָעָ֨ם אֶל־משֶׁ֜ה וַיֹּֽאמְר֣וּ חָטָ֗אנוּ כִּֽי־דִבַּ֤רְנוּ בַֽיהֹוָה֙ וָבָ֔ךְ הִתְפַּלֵּל֙ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיָסֵ֥ר מֵֽעָלֵ֖ינוּ אֶת־הַנָּחָ֑שׁ וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֥ל משֶׁ֖ה בְּעַ֥ד הָעָֽם: The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that He remove the snakes from us." So Moses prayed on behalf of the people.
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־משֶׁ֗ה עֲשֵׂ֤ה לְךָ֙ שָׂרָ֔ף וְשִׂ֥ים אֹת֖וֹ עַל־נֵ֑ס וְהָיָה֙ כָּל־הַנָּשׁ֔וּךְ וְרָאָ֥ה אֹת֖וֹ וָחָֽי: The Lord said to Moses, "Make yourself a serpent and put it on a pole, and let whoever is bitten look at it and live."
וַיַּ֤עַשׂ משֶׁה֙ נְחַ֣שׁ נְח֔שֶׁת וַיְשִׂמֵ֖הוּ עַל־הַנֵּ֑ס וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־נָשַׁ֤ךְ הַנָּחָשׁ֙ אֶת־אִ֔ישׁ וְהִבִּ֛יט אֶל־נְחַ֥שׁ הַנְּח֖שֶׁת וָחָֽי: Moses made a copper snake and put it on a pole, and whenever a snake bit a man, he would gaze upon the copper snake and live.
This is fascinating for many reasons.
Why did God send snakes against them? Why was the cure the same as the malady- looking at a snake on a pole would cure them of snake bites? And why this imagery?
I think the story of staffs and snakes goes back much further than this episode. But before we look there, let’s look at our modern day connotations. The symbol of medicine is a snake wrapped around a staff.
The original symbol is called the Rod of Asclepius - you can read its interesting history here.
Now check out the article ‘The Serpentine Symbol of Healing: A Biblical Origin?’ as published by Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology. The entire piece is interesting; here’s one excerpt.
The serpent-entwined rod of healing is a fascinating symbol spanning both ancient and modern times, first emerging in second-millennium b.c.e. Israelite history. (Perhaps there is an even earlier link to Moses. Recall the accounts in Exodus 4 and 7, where God told Moses to toss a rod on the ground, where it became a serpent.) The serpent-rod symbol later reappears in the first millennium b.c.e. in the account of Hezekiah. And it later emerges in Greek texts and artwork.
Of itself, the serpent-rod is not stand-alone proof of the veracity of the Bible, but it does add to the burden of evidence testifying to the events recorded in the Bible.
Very often, stories like the serpent-rod do not originate in a vacuum: They point to a core event that really happened. We see this with events such as creation, the “great Flood” and the “tower of Babel,” among others, all of which are recorded in detail in the Bible. Various cultures and religions all over the world have parallel accounts of these events. Often, as with the serpent-rod, the symbol or story traces back to a source event—one originally recorded in the Bible.
Now let’s go back to our source text.
It’s important to note that the snake Moses makes is referred to as a שָׂרָ֔ף/ seraph which typically connotes fire, and even a fiery angel. He is asked to place it on a נֵּ֑ס / neis, or pole.
We know, however, that it truly was a snake (and not a fiery angel) because later on the word nachash is used to describe it. We also see that much later on King Hezekiah destroys it because the Israelites have turned it into a form of idol worship. See II Kings 18:4.
ה֣וּא | הֵסִ֣יר אֶת־הַבָּמ֗וֹת וְשִׁבַּר֙ אֶת־הַמַּצֵּבֹ֔ת וְכָרַ֖ת אֶת־הָֽאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה וכִּתַּת֩ נְחַ֨שׁ הַנְּח֜שֶׁת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָֹ֣ה מֹשֶׁ֗ה כִּ֣י עַד־הַיָּמִ֚ים הָהֵ֙מָּה֙ הָי֚וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מְקַטְּרִ֣ים ל֔וֹ וַיִּקְרָא־ל֖וֹ נְחֻשְׁתָּֽן: He abolished the high places, and smashed the monuments, and cut down the asherah, and crushed the copper serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the children of Israel were burning incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
So let’s look at the word neis, which refers to the pole this snake was placed on. According to the concordance, this is the first place it appears in the Tanakh. In other contexts, neis refers to a flag or banner.
It’s clear neis in this context doesn’t refer to a flag or banner because the snake was made of copper (not cloth) - hence it must mean the pole itself.
Due to this, I’m going to talk about poles and snakes, taking an extra step and suggesting that the pole in this case is similar to a מטה, or staff. (My assumption is that the pole was made of wood, just as it appears the מטה was.) So my premise is that if I speak of snakes and staffs, that’s close enough to the pole in this story (as a pole is basically a large staff.)
Snakes in Tanakh
Where do we see snakes in Tanakh?
They are all over the place, from the Garden of Eden to Moses’ confrontation with God at the Burning Bush to his appearance before Pharaoh. I’m not going to include every reference, just enough of them that you get the picture.
The snake appears in Genesis 3:1.
וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִכֹּל֙ חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃ Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that God יהוה had made. It said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?”
The snake succeeds in persuading the woman to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. See Genesis 3:6.
וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָֽאִשָּׁ֡ה כִּ֣י טוֹב֩ הָעֵ֨ץ לְמַאֲכָ֜ל וְכִ֧י תַֽאֲוָה־ה֣וּא לָעֵינַ֗יִם וְנֶחְמָ֤ד הָעֵץ֙ לְהַשְׂכִּ֔יל וַתִּקַּ֥ח מִפִּרְי֖וֹ וַתֹּאכַ֑ל וַתִּתֵּ֧ן גַּם־לְאִישָׁ֛הּ עִמָּ֖הּ וַיֹּאכַֽל׃ When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
So we already have a context in which etz/ tree (which is also used to connote ‘wood’) appears in connection to the snake.
Now let’s skip forward to Moses’s encounter with God at the Burning Bush.
וַיֹּ֧אמֶר אֵלָ֛יו יְהֹוָ֖ה (מזה) [מַה־זֶּ֣ה] בְיָדֶ֑ךָ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מַטֶּֽה׃ יהוה said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he replied, “A staff.”
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַשְׁלִיכֵ֣הוּ אַ֔רְצָה וַיַּשְׁלִכֵ֥הוּ אַ֖רְצָה וַיְהִ֣י לְנָחָ֑שׁ וַיָּ֥נׇס מֹשֶׁ֖ה מִפָּנָֽיו׃ [God] said, “Cast it on the ground.” He cast it on the ground and it became a snake; and Moses recoiled from it.
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה שְׁלַח֙ יָֽדְךָ֔ וֶאֱחֹ֖ז בִּזְנָב֑וֹ וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָדוֹ֙ וַיַּ֣חֲזֶק בּ֔וֹ וַיְהִ֥י לְמַטֶּ֖ה בְּכַפּֽוֹ׃ Then יהוה said to Moses, “Put out your hand and grasp it by the tail”—he put out his hand and seized it, and it became a staff in his hand—
And then when Moses & Aaron encounter Pharaoh.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר׃ יהוה said to Moses and Aaron,
כִּי֩ יְדַבֵּ֨ר אֲלֵכֶ֤ם פַּרְעֹה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר תְּנ֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם מוֹפֵ֑ת וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן קַ֧ח אֶֽת־מַטְּךָ֛ וְהַשְׁלֵ֥ךְ לִפְנֵֽי־פַרְעֹ֖ה יְהִ֥י לְתַנִּֽין׃ “When Pharaoh speaks to you and says, ‘Produce your marvel,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh.’ It shall turn into a serpent.”
וַיָּבֹ֨א מֹשֶׁ֤ה וְאַהֲרֹן֙ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֔ה וַיַּ֣עֲשׂוּ כֵ֔ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר צִוָּ֣ה יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֨ךְ אַהֲרֹ֜ן אֶת־מַטֵּ֗הוּ לִפְנֵ֥י פַרְעֹ֛ה וְלִפְנֵ֥י עֲבָדָ֖יו וַיְהִ֥י לְתַנִּֽין׃ So Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and did just as יהוה had commanded: Aaron cast down his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and it turned into a serpent.
וַיִּקְרָא֙ גַּם־פַּרְעֹ֔ה לַֽחֲכָמִ֖ים וְלַֽמְכַשְּׁפִ֑ים וַיַּֽעֲשׂ֨וּ גַם־הֵ֜ם חַרְטֻמֵּ֥י מִצְרַ֛יִם בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶ֖ם כֵּֽן׃ Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the sages and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian magician-priests, in turn, did the same with their spells:
וַיַּשְׁלִ֙יכוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ מַטֵּ֔הוּ וַיִּהְי֖וּ לְתַנִּינִ֑ם וַיִּבְלַ֥ע מַטֵּֽה־אַהֲרֹ֖ן אֶת־מַטֹּתָֽם׃ each cast down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.
The Symbolism
So what is going on in these scenes? What is the meaning of staffs and snakes, and staffs turning into snakes?
To answer this question, we need to look at the Zohar 2:115a, which provides a fascinating explanation as to where Moses’ staff derived from.
וּמַטֶּה דְּאִתְמְסָר בִּידָךְ, יְהֵא עֵץ חַיִּים
This staff was from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden.
The 8th century Midrash, Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer (chapter 40), tells an interesting story of the staff’s provenance during the ‘journey’ from its creation on the Eve of the Sabbath until it reached Moses’ hands. In brackets are added some comments by Rabbi David Luria.
“The staff that was created in the twilight hours was given to Adam the First Man, in the Garden of Eden {God gave the staff to Adam when he was banished from the Garden of Eden and he had to work in the fields. Some say the wood for the staff came from the Tree of Life in the Garden}. Adam gave it to Chanoch. And Chanoch gave it to Noah {Chanoch never met Noah. There is a scribal error here and it should read: Chanoch gave it to Methuselah and Methuselah gave it to Noah}. And Noah gave it to Shem. And Shem gave it to Abraham. And Abraham gave it to Isaac. And Isaac gave it to Jacob {When Jacob ran away to Padan Aram (Genesis 28:5) and received the staff from Isaac. See also: for with my staff I crossed the Jordan (Gen. 32:11)}. And Jacob took it down to Egypt and gave it to Joseph, his son {This is hinted at in the allusion to the stick of Joseph in Ezekiel (37:15- 28)}. When Joseph died, his entire household {possessions} was taken to Pharaoh’s palace. And Pharaoh was one of the magicians of Egypt {Pharaoh is erroneously placed here. For why would Pharaoh want to plant a staff in Jethro’s garden in Midian? It must be referring to Jethro as he was one of the magicians of Pharaoh} and he saw the staff and the letters upon it {he couldn’t read the letters} and his heart desired it and he took it and planted it in Jethro’s {in his} garden. And no one could approach the planted staff {no one could pull the stick out of the ground – as this was a condition of Jethro for potential suitors for his daughters}. When Moses came to Jethro’s house, MOSES. KING ARTHUR AND LOT Vo. 49, No. 2, 2021 75 he went into the garden and saw the planted staff and read the letters upon it. He stretched out his hand {this is hinted at in the verse: he put forth his hand and took of the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:22)} and took the staff out of the ground. Jethro saw this and said ‘this one will be the future redeemer of Israel from Egypt. Then he gave Tzipporah his daughter as a wife…”
-As taken from ‘Moses, King Arthur and Lot: Staff, Sword and Cross According to Midrashic and Non-Jewish Sources’ by Stanley Schneider
(Note that this is not the only Midrashic interpretation. To learn more about the differing interpretations pertaining to Moses’s staff, click here.)
Here’s what this means.
There was a snake that told Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Doing this would ultimately lead to her death because God had declared that once they ate from the tree, they would die.
In contrast, Moses has a staff taken from the Tree of Life.
The story of staffs and snakes is nothing less than a symbolic battle between life and death.
It gives new meaning to Deuteronomy 30:19.
הַעִדֹ֨תִי בָכֶ֣ם הַיּוֹם֮ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֒רֶץ֒ הַחַיִּ֤ים וְהַמָּ֙וֶת֙ נָתַ֣תִּי לְפָנֶ֔יךָ הַבְּרָכָ֖ה וְהַקְּלָלָ֑ה וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּחַיִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן תִּֽחְיֶ֖ה אַתָּ֥ה וְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃ I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—
Look at the encounters with Moses. God turns the staff into a snake, but then He turns it back into a staff again. With Aaron, the coup is not that he was able to transform the staff into a snake, but that in its staff form it was able to swallow the staffs of the magicians.
What is this saying?
It’s saying that Life- as symbolized by God and the Torah- think of עץ חיים היא- wins. It wins against death every time.
But it’s also conveying a deeper truth. And that is that good and evil are intertwined. Life and death are intertwined. The same staff can be the Tree of Life or the Death symbolized by the serpent’s advice.
Everything is perception.
What do you see when you look at that staff? Do you see God, and the roadmap to life? Or do you see death?
This is epitomized in later verses that deal with the topic of the יצר הרע, Evil Inclination. The Evil Inclination is often referred to as a snake (some sources go even further and say the snake in the garden was the evil inclination because at that point it was an external force rather than living within us). And here’s the thing about the evil inclination. What it is is entirely based on how you perceive it.
See Sukkah 52a:
לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא, מְבִיאוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיֵצֶר הָרָע, וְשׁוֹחֲטוֹ בִּפְנֵי הַצַּדִּיקִים וּבִפְנֵי הָרְשָׁעִים. צַדִּיקִים נִדְמֶה לָהֶם כְּהַר גָּבוֹהַּ, וּרְשָׁעִים נִדְמֶה לָהֶם כְּחוּט הַשַּׂעֲרָה. הַלָּלוּ בּוֹכִין וְהַלָּלוּ בּוֹכִין. צַדִּיקִים בּוֹכִין וְאוֹמְרִים: הֵיאַךְ יָכוֹלְנוּ לִכְבּוֹשׁ הַר גָּבוֹהַּ כָּזֶה! וּרְשָׁעִים בּוֹכִין וְאוֹמְרִים: הֵיאַךְ לֹא יָכוֹלְנוּ לִכְבּוֹשׁ אֶת חוּט הַשַּׂעֲרָה הַזֶּה! וְאַף הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא תָּמֵהַּ עִמָּהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כֹּה אָמַר ה׳ צְבָאוֹת כִּי יִפָּלֵא בְּעֵינֵי שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם הַזֶּה בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם גַּם בְּעֵינַי יִפָּלֵא״.
In the future, at the end of days, God will bring the evil inclination and slaughter it in the presence of the righteous and in the presence of the wicked. For the righteous the evil inclination appears to them as a high mountain, and for the wicked it appears to them as a mere strand of hair. These weep and those weep. The righteous weep and say: How were we able to overcome so high a mountain? And the wicked weep and say: How were we unable to overcome this strand of hair? And even the Holy One, Blessed be He, will wonder with them, as it is stated with regard to the eulogy: “So says the Lord of hosts: If it be wondrous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, it should also be wondrous in My eyes” (Zechariah 8:6).
What is the evil inclination? A high mountain? A strand of hair? The answer is: it’s both. But it appears differently to people based on how much effort they invest in fighting it.
There is a way to look at the evil inclination and channel it for good. See Genesis Rabbah 9:7.
רַבִּי נַחְמָן בַּר שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן בְּשֵׁם רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן אָמַר, הִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד, זֶה יֵצֶר טוֹב. וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד, זֶה יֵצֶר רָע. וְכִי יֵצֶר הָרָע טוֹב מְאֹד, אֶתְמְהָא. אֶלָּא שֶׁאִלּוּלֵי יֵצֶר הָרָע לֹא בָּנָה אָדָם בַּיִת, וְלֹא נָשָׂא אִשָּׁה, וְלֹא הוֹלִיד, וְלֹא נָשָׂא וְנָתַן. וְכֵן שְׁלֹמֹה אוֹמֵר (קהלת ד, ד): כִּי הִיא קִנְאַת אִישׁ מֵרֵעֵהוּ. Rabbi Nahman said in Rabbi Samuel's name: 'Behold, it was good' refers to the Good Desire; 'And behold, it was very good' refers to the Evil Desire. (It only says 'very good' after man was created with both the good and bad inclinations, in all other cases it only says 'and God saw that it was good') Can then the Evil Desire be very good? That would be extraordinary! But without the Evil Desire, however, no man would build a house, take a wife and beget children; and thus said Solomon: 'Again, I considered all labour and all excelling in work, that it is a man's rivalry with his neighbor.' (Ecclesiastes 4:4).
What is the evil inclination at its core? Desire.
Desire for the fruit. Desire to be like God. Desire for sex. Desire in every form. And desire can create worlds- or shatter worlds. It’s all about how it’s channeled.
And if you’re losing the battle against your Evil Inclination, your desire, what do you do next? Why, you use Torah as the ultimate way to protect yourself. See Kiddushin 30b.
תָּנָא דְּבֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּנִי אִם פָּגַע בְּךָ מְנֻוּוֹל זֶה מׇשְׁכֵהוּ לְבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ אִם אֶבֶן הוּא נִימּוֹחַ וְאִם בַּרְזֶל הוּא מִתְפּוֹצֵץ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הֲלוֹא כֹה דְבָרִי כָּאֵשׁ נְאֻם ה' וּכְפַטִּישׁ יְפֹצֵץ סָלַע אִם אֶבֶן הוּא נִימּוֹחַ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הוֹי כׇּל צָמֵא לְכוּ לַמַּיִם וְאוֹמֵר אֲבָנִים שָׁחֲקוּ מַיִם
A Sage from the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: My son, if this wretched one, the evil inclination, encounters you, pull it into the study hall, i.e., go and study Torah. If it is a stone it will melt, and if it is iron it will break, as it is stated with regard to the Torah: “Is not My word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29). Just as a stone shatters a hammer, so too one can overcome his evil inclination, which is as strong as iron, through Torah study. With regard to the second part of the statement: If it is a stone it will melt, this is as it is stated with regard to the Torah: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come for water” (Isaiah 55:1), and it states: “The water wears the stones” (Job 14:19), indicating that water is stronger than stone.
I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that the copper snake in our section is called a seraph/ a fiery force. It’s not just any snake. It’s a fiery snake atop a wooden staff. And when Bnei Yisrael look at it, it’s the strength of their thoughts, their intentions that will determine whether they are saved or not. What do they see when they look at it? Do they see death- the snakes that have bitten them? Or do they see life- the snake that is only an artificial form, a veil over the staff hidden within? The fiery snake that connotes the fire of Torah, which can defeat it?
Just like in last week’s parsha, when Aaron’s incense was the cure for the plague (and formerly it was the incense offered by the 250 petitioners that had caused them to die), the snake on a large staff in our story is the cure for the very plague that occurred via snakes. Because God is teaching a very important lesson. Look beyond the form. The form is not what matters. What matters is the essence.
When you encounter the world, what is it that you see?
Do you see the staff- or the snake?
Being Jewish means we live our lives looking for the staff. Because that is the truth. Behind the darkness, behind the horror, behind the misery, behind the doom and gloom and despair, there is a God. And we can find Him.
The entire point of our lives is to look for Him. And to keep looking for Him.
Because it’s not enough to find Him once. We have a staff, and then it turns into a snake. Even the entwined snake and staff that saved our lives later turns into an object of idolatrous worship- and must be destroyed. Our job is to continuously complete the transformation. We are descended from leaders who had the power to turn snakes into staffs, and we inherited that power. Our job is to use it.
We are the magicians, the transformers, the ones who see evil and find a way to turn it into good.
