The overwhelming emphasis on life that is basic to Judaism can be discerned in the ritual that begins this week’s parasha: the use of ashes from a slaughtered red heifer for purification of anyone who has come into contact with the dead.

The thirty-eight years of additional wandering in the wilderness (as a punishment for the lack of resolve to conquer Canaan) are passed over with little detail. Miriam dies in the fortieth year of the journey, and shortly thereafter, following Moses’ impatience when he strikes a rock to bring forth water from it rather than speaking to it, Aaron dies as well.

The Israelites now prepare to conquer the land in earnest. Unable to enter directly from the west, they journey south of Edom to avoid conflict with Esau’s descendents; they will enter the land from the east. They successfully repulse an attack from the king of Arad. But spiritual weariness and the recurrent complaint about lack of food and water result in divine punishment: fiery serpents whose stings are lethal. Moses fashions a brass serpent that is carried throughout the camp suspended from a pole; whoever looks upon it will recover from the snake bites.

The Israelites journey northward, conquering Emor and Bashan. The Israelites are now in possession of all territory east of the Jordan River from the Arnon to Mount Hermon. They encamp on the east bank of the Jordan, opposite the Moabite town of Jericho.