Chukat: Following the Doctor's Orders

The Three Patients

Three individuals in a small town fell victim to a life-threatening disease. They all went to the same doctor, who prescribed identical treatments. The results, however, were strikingly different.

Patient A, a man of unquestioning faith, followed the doctor’s instructions to the letter. He didn’t ask why or whether it made sense. He simply did as he was told—and recovered from the illness.

Patient B, on the other hand, had been trained as a paramedic. With her medical background, she couldn't just take orders without a second thought. She carefully scrutinized the doctor’s prescriptions, followed the ones that made sense, and dismissed the ones that didn’t. The result? Sadly, she didn’t survive. Her selective approach to treatment wasn’t enough to save her.

Patient C, also a trained paramedic, took a different path. He acknowledged that, while he had some medical knowledge, the doctor’s expertise far outweighed his own. So, even when the treatments didn’t seem logical to him, he followed the doctor’s advice fully. Trusting the doctor, he recovered.

Solomon and the Law of Parah Adumah

Some people approach mitzvot with a simple, unwavering faith. They don’t ask why—they just do. They follow the commandments as they are, trusting that they are good, even if the reasons are hidden. This kind of faith is like that of Patient A: straightforward, uncritical, and wholehearted.

Then there are those who, by nature, ask questions. They seek logic in everything, questioning assumptions and trying to understand the reasons behind the rules. This approach, though valuable, can sometimes become a hindrance. Like Patient B, they may come to reject what they cannot understand.

King Solomon, the wisest of all men, believed his intellect would unlock the mysteries of the Torah. He thought that by using his vast wisdom, he could uncover the deeper logic behind each commandment. "I thought I would use my wisdom," he wrote. But instead, he found that “it is distant from me” (Ecclesiastes 7:23). Precisely because of his great wisdom and intellectual approach, Solomon found it difficult to observe laws he could not understand.

One such law was the Parah Adumah, the purification ritual involving the ashes of a red heifer. Solomon tried to grasp its meaning, but it eluded him. And it was in this moment of incomprehension that Solomon learned a profound lesson: the wisdom of the Torah, like the Creator who gave it, is ultimately beyond human grasp.

Like Patient C, who trusted the doctor’s expertise even when the treatments seemed baffling, Solomon came to a humbling conclusion: some things are beyond our understanding. And sometimes, the wisest course is simply to trust—to rely on the wisdom of the Creator, whose ways are higher than our own.

(Adapted from Mishlei Yaakov, pp. 328-329)