Chevre, this week’s parsha in Israel is Chukat (חקת). Outside of Israel, the parsha is Korach (קרח). We have the episode of the Israelites trying to get from the east side of the area of modern Jordan to the Jordan River and the west side of the river. They come upon Edom, disendents from Esav, and ask to pass through their area. They promise to stay on the road, not to eat anything and even to pay for passage. Edom says no. Not only do they say no, but they show up in force to prevent the Israelites from crossing their land.

In the world of interconnected networks, it is a major benefit to have your network connected with others. There are varrying ways of configuring and negotiating the connections. But having the users on your network getting access to all other networks is what makes The Internet work. This is especially true with cloud providers. Cloud providers need their systems on The Internet to get the best access for the apps that are hosted there and they also need the best access so that the end users can get the fastest access. As I’ve been traveling around and testing access from various homes, planes, and cell networks, it’s been really interesting to see some of the sharp edges in the connectivity of the Internet.,

Coming back to Edom, the Torah doesn’t tell us why they refused access. Whether it was because of fear that Israel would take over their land, sibiling rivalry going back to Yaakov and Esav, or something else. The commentators have various opinions. What do you think is the reason?

Shabbat Shalom

Next week, I’ll be back at the normal time.