This week we read פרשת חוקת, a פרשה best known for the פרה אדומה and the incident of מי מריבה. Yet before the episode of striking the rock, an unusual reaction takes place that demands attention. After the nation complains about the lack of water, משה and אהרן enter the אהל מועד, and the Torah states: “ויפלו על־פניהם וירא כבוד־ה׳ אליהם - they fell on their faces and saw the glory of G-d amongst them”; they perform נפילת אפיים. Yet, this expression is not unique to this moment; it appears in different contexts throughout the Torah: with קין after his קרבן is rejected, by אברהם upon hearing the promise of the birth of יצחק, and again regarding משה in other times of national crises. But what is the connection between these radically different settings, and what does that reveal about the true meaning נפילת אפיים?

Recorded in Manhattan