Parasha Chuqath: Numbers 19:1-22:1

After the Qorach rebellion, God gives the Israelites the chuq, or statute of the Red Heifer, whose ashes cleanse a person who has come in contact with human death. In this parasha, both Miriam and Aaron die, and Moses strikes the rock for water in a way that is counter to God's command, thus prohibiting him from entering the Promised Land of Canaan. The people rebel, God sends fiery serpents, and instructs Moses to make a copper serpent for people who have been bitten by serpents to gaze at and heal them, from which we get the modern-day caduceus.