Generally, the mitzvot of the Torah belong in one of three categories:
- Eduyot / Testimonies: If a mitzvah testifies to a historical event or to some aspect of our emunah (faith), it is termed edut - testimony. Examples are the mitzvah to observe Shabbat, which attests to our belief that the Almighty created the world in sinx days; to observe the yamim tovim, because they commemorate Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus from Egypt); the mitzvot of tzitzit and tefillin, which demonstrate our belief in Hashem's Rulership.
- Mishpatim / Civil Laws: Mishpatim are Divine laws that promulgate the safety and survival of human society. They include, for example, the prohibition against theft and murder.
- Chukim / Divine Ordinances: In the category of chok (plural "chukim") fall those mitzvot whose purposes or meanings are not necessarily understood by human intelligence. There are numerous examples of chukim, but the Midrash lists four about which the Torah explicitly states, "It is a chok." Since they contain apparently contradictory elements, they are liable to be ridiculed by the rational thinker. The Torah therefore advises the Jew to tell himself, "It is a chok; I have no right to question it."
Yibum: A Jew who marries his brother's wife during his brother's lifetime or even after the latter's death, incurs the karet penalty, provided his brother had children. But if his brother's widow is childless, it is a mitzvah to marry her (yibum). Since logic may find this turnabout difficult to accept, the verse emphasizes, "And you shall guard My chukim" (Vayikra / Lev. 18:26).
Sha'atnez: The Torah forbids the wearing of a garment that contains a mixture of wool and linen. However, it is permissible to wear a linen garment to which woolen tzitzit are attached. Lest we question this exception, the Torah declares concerning the mitzvah of sha'atnez, "You shall keep My chukim" (Vayikra 19:19).
Sa'ir LaAzazel / The he-goat to Azazel: The he-goat, sent to its death as part of the Yom Kippur Service, purified K'lal Yisrael of its sins while defiling the agent who took it away. This law is therefore called "an eternal chok" (Vayikra 16:29).
Parah Adumah / Red Heifer: The ashes of the parah adumah purify a Jew who is tamei, while rendering tamei anyone involved in preparing them (1). Since this also defies logic, the Torah introduces the subject with the words, "This is the chok of the Torah" (19:2); we must accept the mitzvah as a Divine ordinance. Nevertheless, chukim are not "laws without reasons"; rather, their logic is Divine. The greatest among our people were able to understand some of them. Thus, the rationale behind the laws of the parah adumah were Divinely revealed to Moshe. On the other hand, King Shlomo, who researched the reasons behind the mitzvot and found explanations for all the others, professed that this mitzvah was incomprehensible. Shlomo discovered why for beasts the shochet must cut both the windpipe and esophagus, while for birds cutting only one of these organs suffices, and fish need not be ritually slaughtered at all. However, he confessed, "I thought I would get wisdom, but it (the understanding of the mitzvah of parah adumah) is far from me" (Kohelet / Eccl. 7:23).
1) However, while the parah adumah purified a person from the severest kind of impurity, avi avot hatum'a, it made the person who prepared it merely an av hatum'a (a carrier of a minor degree of impurity).
Shlomo's Torah wisdom was immense. It surpassed that of the entire generation of the wilderness, known as "the Generation of Knowledge." He knew details of Torah that even Moshe did not know.
Shlomo's greatness in Torah is apparent from the three wonderful and holy Books he authored with rauch hakodesh - Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), Mishlei (Proverbs), and Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) - which were included in Tanach. (He also composed some of the psalms in Tehillim.)
He endeared the Torah to the people, for he was able to illustrate the meaning of each halachah with as many as 3000 parables, and cite 1005 different reasons for any Rabbinic ordinance.
How profound, then, is the mitzvah of parah adumah, if Shlomo, the wisest of all men, declared, "I studied it and toiled to understand it, but it is far beyond my grasp."
In truth, even those mitzvot of the Torah which seem understandable are "chukim." Their true meaning and significance is far beyond man's intellect.
- The Midrash Says, Bamidbar
