Moses is taught the laws of the
red heifer, whose ashes purify a person who has been contaminated by contact with a dead body.
After
forty years of journeying through the desert, the people of Israel arrive in the wilderness of Zin.
Miriam dies, and the people thirst for
water. G‑d tells Moses to speak to a
rock and command it to give water. Moses gets angry at the rebellious Israelites and
strikes the stone. Water issues forth, but Moses is told by G‑d that neither he nor Aaron will enter the Promised Land.
Aaron dies at Hor Hahar and is succeeded in the high priesthood by his son
Elazar. Venomous snakes attack the Israelite camp after yet another eruption of discontent in which the people “speak against G‑d and Moses”; G‑d tells Moses to place a
brass serpent upon a high pole, and all who will gaze heavenward will be healed. The people sing a
song in honor of the miraculous well that provided them water in the desert.
Moses leads the people in battles against the Emorite kings
Sichon and Og (who seek to prevent Israel’s passage through their territory) and conquers their lands, which lie
east of the Jordan.
