Torah portion for this week is “Chukat (Decree of …).” This is Hebrew for "decree," the ninth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 39th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the sixth in the Book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 19:1–22:1. The parashah is the shortest weekly Torah portion in the Book of Numbers (although not the shortest in the Torah), and is made up of 4,670 Hebrew letters, 1,245 Hebrew words, and 87 verses, and can occupy about 159 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah).

Jews generally read it in LATE JUNE OR EARLY JULY. In most years (for example, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025), parasha Chukat is read separately. In some years (for example, 2020 and 2023) when the second day of Shavuot (NOT THE LUNAR SOLAR SHAVUOT) falls on a Sabbath in the Diaspora (where observant Jews observe Shavuot for two days), parasha Chukat is combined with the subsequent parasha, Balak, in the Diaspora to synchronize readings thereafter with those in Israel (where Jews observe Shavuot for one day).

CHUKAT (Decree of … - חֻקַּת)

The understanding of the meaning of the Hebrew word itself is revealed in the meaning of each letter within the word:

Chet-חֻ

Tent wall- Outside, Divided, Half

Kooph- קַּ

Sun on the horizon- condense, circle, time

Tav-ת

Crossed Sticks- Mark, Sign, Signal, Monument

What did King David know about the Chukat parasha that King Solomon never understood!?!

In short; all of King David’s life experiences caused him to write the lyrics to one of the most famous and well memorized psalms in the bible: Psalm 23. . Where King Solomon spent most of his time in pursuit of the knowledge & at times the Wisdom of God, this resulted in a famous book of regrets which most know as Ecclesiastes. As one was fastly approaching the mind of God the other found the heart of God. Solomon’s Father focused the majority of his existence seeking after the heart of God’s perfect will. Which do you prefer? Whichever it may be I hope you find what God has for you and not what want for yourself.

See Yah This Sabbath ... Much love in Yahushua!

Rabbi John Wesley A. PhD & Pastor Martha
Congregation Beth Hashem in Durham & Greenville NC