Just as the image had saved Benei Yisrael centuries earlier from deadly venom, the people may have been tempted to attribute to it the power to rescue them from the deadly “snake” that threatened them now – the Assyrian Empire. Particularly during this time of desperation, the “nechash ha-nechoshet” could have likely become – and apparently did become – a source of false hopes, a kind of magical charm that the people turned to for help.
The “nechash ha-nechoshet,” the metal image of a snake, was made by Moshe as a miraculous antidote that cured those among Benei Yisrael who were bitten by the deadly snakes that assaulted them in the desert. There is a brief account in Sefer Melakhim II (18:4) of King Chizkiyahu’s bold decision (ccenturies later) to demolish the image, which had become a kind of idolatrous article. The ambivalence and debate that appear to have surrounded this measure might reflect the tension that exists between our loyalty to time-honored protocols, on the one hand, and on the other, the occasional need to modify or discard such protocols when they pose a real threat to religious observance.
Rav Yehuda Leib Ginsburg, in his Musar Ha-nevi’im, adds further insight into this incident, suggesting an explanation for why specifically Chizkiyahu, and not the previous righteous kings, undertook this measure of shattering the “nechash ha-nechoshet.” During Chizkiyahu’s reign, the Jewish nation faced an unprecedented threat of annihilation. The powerful Assyrian kingdom drove the ten northern tribes into exile during this period, and was poised to do the same to the Judean Kingdom. Indeed, the kingdom was saved only through God’s overt, miraculous intervention (Melakhim II 19:35-36). Chizkiyahu perceptively realized that during this period of grave crisis and existential threat, the people were more susceptible to the lures of superstition and imaginary magical powers. Moshe’s snake was especially prone to becoming a symbol of miraculous, supernatural salvation. Just as the image had saved Benei Yisrael centuries earlier from deadly venom, the people may have been tempted to attribute to it the power to rescue them from the deadly “snake” that threatened them now – the Assyrian Empire. Particularly during this time of desperation, the “nechash ha-nechoshet” could have likely become – and apparently did become – a source of false hopes, a kind of magical charm that the people turned to for help. Chizkiyahu, who initiated and led a nationwide movement ofteshuva, wanted to ensure that the grave security crisis would motivate the people to sincere introspection and positive change. And he feared that the “nechash ha-nechoshet” would supplant genuine efforts at spiritual growth and return to religious observance. Chizkiyahu therefore heroically abolished the “nechash ha-nechoshet,” with the approval of the Sages of the time, and directed the people’s attention away from superstition and hocus-pocus solutions, toward heartfelt, sincere repentance and prayer, turning to the Almighty for assistance rather than resorting to imaginary magical forces.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il