Short & Sweet

Just to follow-up on the chushiva Rav Hirsch you presented, here it is more fleshed out. Kol Tuv

Chukas 1 — His Constant Protection
ויסעו מהר ההר דרך ים סוף לסבב את ארץ אדום ותקצר נפש העם בדרך:
וידבר העם באלקים ובמשה למה העליתנו ממצרים למות במדבר כי אין לחם ואין מים ונפשנו קצה בלחם הקלקל: וישלח ה’ בעם את הנחשים השרפים וינשכו את העם וימת עם רב מישראל: ויבא העם אל משה ויאמרו חטאנו כי דברנו בה’ ובך התפלל אל ה’ ויסר מעלינו את הנחש ויתפלל משה בעד העם: ויאמר ה’ אל משה עשה לך שרף ושים אתו על הנס והיה כל הנשוך וראה אתו וחי: ויעש משה נחש נחשת וישמהו על הנס והיה אם נשך הנחש את איש והביט אל נחש הנחשת וחי
They journeyed from Mount Hor by way of the Sea of Reeds to go around the Land of Edom, and the spirit of the people grew short with the road. The people spoke against G-d and against Moshe: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is no food and there is no water, and our soul is at its limit with the insubstantial food.” G-d sent the snakes, the burning ones, against the people and they bit the people; and a large multitude of Israel died. The people came to Moshe and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against Hashem and against you! Pray to Hashem that He remove from us the snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people. Hashem said to Moshe, “Make yourself a burning one and place it on a pole, and it will be that anyone who had been bitten will look at it and live.” Moshe made a snake of copper and placed it on a pole; so it was that if a snake bit a man, he would stare at the copper snake and live (Bamidbar 21:4–9).
Among the many questions raised by the events in these pesukim are: How were the snakes a fitting punishment for speaking against the manna? And how did gazing at Moshe’s handcrafted snake allow Bnei Yisrael to be healed?
The mefarshei haChumash offer many answers to these questions. We will focus on the explanation of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch. Rav Hirsch begins by pointing out an oddity in the conjugation of the word “vayeshalach,” which is in binyan pi’el, rather than the more common binyan kal, which would read, “vayishlach.” While “vayishlach” is translated as “and he sent,” the word “vayeshalach” means that Hashem released the snakes and set them free.
This can be seen in other places in the Torah, as well. For example, in Parashas Mikeitz (Bereishis 43:14), before sending his sons back to Mitzrayim, Yaakov said to them, “Ve’Keil Shakai yitein lachem rachamim lifnei ha’ish ve’shilach es achichem acher — And may Keil Shakai grant you mercy before the man that he may release to you your brother.” Rashi (based on Targum) explains that the word “ve’shilach” means that Yosef will release Shimon — from prison; it does not mean that he will send Shimon (which would be the case had Yaakov said, “ve’shalach” in binyan kal), because the shevatim were going to be right there, with no need for Shimon to be sent to them. Rashi mentions that we find this also in Parashas Mishpatim (Shemos 21:26), “La’chofshi yeshalchenu — He shall release him.” The slave who lost his tooth is set free as a result; he is not sent, as would be the case with the word “yishlechenu,” in binyan kal.
The snakes had always been there, throughout the forty years that Bnei Yisrael traveled through the Midbar. As Moshe pointed out at the end of their sojourn (Devarim 8:15), “Hashem led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with fiery serpents and scorpions…” They were only held in abeyance because of Hashem’s kindness to Bnei Yisrael. When Bnei Yisrael sinned, He didn’t send the snakes; He only freed them, thereby allowing them to attack the Jews.
It is for this reason, writes Rav Hirsch, that the snakes are described as “hanechashim haserafim,” using the hei hayediyah, the definite article (see also Chizkuni), implying that these snakes were well known and common to this environment. When Bnei Yisrael ungratefully complained and denigrated what Hashem was providing, He withdrew His protection, allowing them to see the world — snakes and all — as it truly is, and to recognize the extent of His care.
The point was to awaken the Yidden to the fact that dangers, often unseen, are all around, and that it was only Hashem’s miraculous power that had kept the threats at a distance — to the extent that the Yidden never knew this threat was even there until then. When they failed to value and treasure what Hashem was doing for them every single minute by complaining about the manna, His gift was withdrawn. They now came face-to-face with the world absent His protection.
If the sin was their failure to appreciate and recognize Hashem’s kindness and the extent of His protective care, then its antidote was to recognize just how great His protective care had been, to realize what life would be like in its absence.
Thus, the point of the healing gaze at the snake on the pole was to permanently fix in a person’s heart and mind that snakes and other dangers do exist. Even after the snakes had long gone, one had to remember that there is always a snake, or threat of another kind, hiding in the grass. The image of the snake symbolized the ongoing reality of insecurity in which we live at all times, and that only because of Hashem’s kindness and benevolence are we constantly protected.
The Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah (3:8) teaches that the snake did not actually kill or keep alive. Rather, when Klal Yisrael gazed upward and turned their minds and hearts toward their Father in Heaven, that is when they were healed. (See Gur Aryeh and Sifsei Chachamim, 21:8, for their explanations.) According to what we just learned from Rav Hirsch, the goal was not to look up at the snake and then look beyond it to Heaven, but for the Jews to look at the snake and recognize the hostile environment they were in. To understand the dangers that were always present, and recall that without Hashem’s ongoing protection, the snake, along with all their other enemies, would have had free rein. As the Mishnah concludes, these thoughts would help them direct their hearts to their Father in Heaven.
As Rav Hirsch points out, man has a high tolerance toward the frustrations and disappointments in life, as long as he sees the bigger picture, that his very existence is the product of Hashem’s kindness and grace. Awareness of the many “snakes” from which we are constantly saved fosters an acceptance of the small things that inevitably go wrong. When viewed in the light of Hashem’s true compassion, feelings of gratitude and privilege supplant feelings of frustration and hardship. The disappointment present when not winning the big lottery pales in comparison to winning back one’s very existence each and every day.
As they neared the culmination of their forty-year journey in the wilderness, Bnei Yisrael were met by disappointment when denied passage through the Land of Edom. This led to frustration, which expressed itself in complaints: complaints about their living conditions and even complaints about Moshe and Hashem. To inspire within them feelings of gratitude and appreciation, the necessary ingredients to deal with frustration and disappointment, Hashem orchestrated events whereby Bnei Yisrael were shown how He continuously cares and protects us. Feelings that would carry them through life.
Echoing the Modim prayer in Shemoneh Esrei, where we thank Hashem for “Your miracles that are with us every day,” our mind’s eye must always be trained on the unseen snakes in the grass, ever reminding us of Hashem’s protection and the gratitude we owe Him.