In Parshat Mishpatim (Shmot 24:12-14) God asks Moshe to come up to Mount
Sinai:
God then said to Moshe, “Come up to Me to the mountain and remain there.
I will give you the tablets of stone, the Torah and the commandment, which I
have written in order to teach them.”
Moshe and Yehoshua, his attendant, set out, but only Moshe went up to the
mountain of God. He (Moshe) said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we
return to you, and Aharon and Chur will be with you. Whoever has a claim can
approach them.”
The first time that Chur was
mentioned in the Torah was in Shmot 17:11-12, during the fight against Amalek:
When Moshe raised his hand, B’nai
Yisrael prevailed: But when he let his hand down to rest, Amalek prevailed. Moshe’s
hands became heavy. They took a stone and placed it under him and he sat upon
it. Aharon and Chur supported his hands, one of them on one side. His hands
remained an expression of faith until sunset.
Who was Chur? How was he chosen to
hold up Moshe’s hands and why was he left in charge of the nation along with
Aharon while Moshe went to receive the Torah?
Rashi comments on Shmot 17:12 that
Chur was Miriam’s son (this is derived from the Talmud, Sotah 11b).
In his commentary on Shmot 24:14,
Rashi mentions that Chur was Miriam’s son and adds that his father was Kalev
ben Yefuneh as it says in Divrei HaYamim I 2:19, “Kalev took Efrat (as a wife)
and she gave birth to Chur. In Sotah 11b we learn that Efrat is Miriam.
The background story can be found in
Divrei HaYamim 18-20:
And Kalev the son of Hetzron had
children with Azuva, his wife and with Yeriot; her sons are Yesher and Shovav
and Ardon. And when Azuva died Kalev married Efrat who gave birth to Chur. And
Chur begot Uri and Uri begot Bezalel.
The Agaddeta in the Talmud, Masechet
Sotah answers some difficult questions on these verses:
Why is Kalev called the son of Hetzron
if in the Torah his name is Kalev the son of Yefuneh?
Kalev’s father’s name was Hetzron.
However, since he turned aside (fanah) from the bad behavior of the other
scouts, he was called the son of Yefuneh.
Who were Azuva and Yeriot?
They were both names of Miriam. She
was called Azuva (deserted) since the men didn’t want to marry her when she had
the skin disease, tzaraat. She was called Yeriot since her complexion was
similar to undyed curtains.
Why don’t we know anything about Yesher
and Shovav and Ardon?
They weren’t actually sons (vaneha),
rather they were her builders (voneha) and describe her husband, Calev who didn’t
follow the bad behavior of the scouts who gave about report about the Land of
Israel.
Why does it say that she died?
When she was sick it was almost like
she died.
Why is she called Efrat?
The name Efrat has the root “paru”, “were
fruitful.” When Miriam was a midwife (Puah) she ensured that B’nai Yisrael were
fruitful and multiplied.
Why does it say that Calev married Efrat?
When she was healed it was like she
was a new person and they renewed their wedding vows.
King David was called an Efrati
since he was a descendant of Miriam.
Chur was the son of important
parents, Miriam and Kalev, leaders of B’nai Yisrael. His uncles were Moshe and
Aharon. He merited to have Bezalel, the artist chosen to create the artifacts
for the mishkan (Tabernacle), as his grandson.