Parshat Ki Seesaw
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Who was Chur? According to Divrei Hayamim I 2:18-20, he was the son of Kalev and Efrat. Efrat is often identified as another name of Miriam (the sister of Moshe and Aharon) (see Sotah 11b).
Chur is also identified as the grandfather of Betzalel, the chief architect and engineer of the Mishkan.
On his own rights and merits, he appears twice in the Torah – in both cases along with his Uncle Aharon. The first time is in Shemot 17 when the two of them accompany Moshe to the hilltop overlooking the battle with Amalek, to hold Moshe’s arms up to serve as inspiration to those fighting in the trenches. His second appearance is in Shemot 24:14 as Moshe is ascending the mountain for 40 days, when he leaves Aharon and Chur in charge – “whoever has a matter requiring attention” should consult with Aharon and Chur.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 69b) utilizes the hints we have as to Kalev’s age and figures out that since Betzalel was an “Ish” (a man) when he was tasked with overseeing and making the items for the Mishkan, therefore at least 13 years old, and since Kalev was 40 at the time of the Exodus, it must be that Kalev fathered Chur, and Chur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Betzalel – all at age 8, respectively.
In his commentary on Parshat Vayeshev, Haktav V’hakabbalah notes that a similar series of information leads us to understand that Yehuda’s children (Er and Onan) married Tamar at very young ages, and that Peretz fathered a child at a young age. His explanation? “Their birthing was different, and thus their punishments were different.”
Unless we take the ages given to us as not being literal (not a stance I prefer), we are forced to accept that the fathering of children was taking place at a much younger age than we certainly view as normal, or even that we view as possible. It is certainly arguable that in a different time and under divinely-ordered realities, the world those who descended to and left Egypt lived in did not reflect our norms. The survival of the Jewish people in Egypt was dependent on certain miracles – premature availability to father a child perhaps being one of them (see Daat Zekenim on Bereshit 38:1).
In our passage, Targum Yonatan says that “Aharon saw that Chur had been killed” (32:5), quoting Vayikra Rabba, Rashi says “Aharon saw a number of things [that day],… he saw his nephew Chur, who had been rebuking the people, was killed.”
Different commentaries try to raise Chur even higher than just his family “yichus.” Ibn Ezra mentions (but rejects) a suggestion that Chur giving up his life shows he is holier than Aharon. Rabbi Judah ben Eliezer (Riv”a) notes that Chur is mentioned in the context of his grandson being introduced to us in order for us to see how holy he was, as he gave up his life to defend a challenge against God.
The verse from Eichah 2:20 – the lament over “If a Kohen and prophet can be killed in the temple” – has some commentaries identifying the murdered prophet as Chur.
What do we take from this?
More than anything, Chur’s life is shrouded in mystery. We know very little about him (just as an example, the “Otzar Ishei HaTanach” only has 5 entries on him). The little we know about him amounts to two elements of his family connections (his parents – one of whom was Kalev and one of whom may have been Miriam, and that his grandson was Betzalel), that he was a prophet, and that he may have died in protest to the rabble looking to replace Moshe in an effort that started off troubling and ended with a Golden Calf.
Isn’t that the story of most people? Isn’t it the case that the way we are remembered is through our family and through just a few stories that people know about us?
Chur is a legend because of the story surrounding his sacrifice for God and his stance against what he saw as a downward spiral towards idolatry.
What stances do we take? What stories will people tell about us? Do we stand for God and His people? Do we live a life of honor and dignity? Do we give ourselves the opportunity, like Chur, to become legends?
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