Parashat Chukat: Laws of the Parah Adumah - Summed Up

Tuesday, July 12, 2016 · Posted in , , ,



On the first of Nissan, 2,449, the Mishkan's last Inauguration Day, Hashem revealed to Moshe the laws regarding impure people who are expelled from the Camp and the purity laws of the Kohanim.

Hashem taught him how purification from the different types of impurities is achieved (either by immersion in a mikvah or in a live spring, and so on), as well as the sacrifices that consummate the purification procedure.

When Hashem taught Moshe that a Jew becomes tamei by touching a dead body, Moshe questioned, "How does he purify himself of this tum'ah?"

Hashem did not answer his question, and Moshe's face darkened in grief and shame.* (There can be no greater pain for a talmid chacham, whose life goal is to perfect himself in Torah knowledge and performance, than to be denied the knowledge he seeks.)

* According to Alshich, Moshe was ashamed for Aharon's sake when Hashem did not reply. He thought that by participating in the chet ha'egel (sin of the calf - golden calf), Aharon had brought back the Angel of Death to the Jewish people and he would be eternally stigmatized unless Hashem prescribed a way of purifying oneself from the tum'ah caused by death. In truth, Hashem delayed His answer as a kindness to Aharon. The first time He addressed Msohe, Aharon was not present. Hashem therefore waited until Aharon, too, was present and then addressed the parsha of parah adumah to both of them (Bamidbar 19:1). This publicized the fact that He had forgiven Aharon for having participated in the Sin of the Gold Calf.

Later that day Hashem resumed the subject, explaining to Moshe and Aharon, "If someone became defiled by contact with a corpse, he is to be sprinkled with a special mixture of water and ashes from a red heifer."

The Almighty instructed them in the laws of the parah adumah:

  • The parah adumah is purchased from the treasury of the Beit Hamikdash, from a fund containing the yearly half-shekel donations of individual Jews.
  • To qualify as a parah adumah, a cow must be at least three years old (old enough to bear young).
  • Its color must be completely red; even two hairs of another color disqualify it.
  • The animal is also disqualified if it was once harnessed to a yoke, even if it did not perform labor.
  • The kohen slaughters the cow "outside the Camp." During the years int he wilderness it was slaughtered outside all three Camps, and in the time of the Beit Hamikdash on the Mount of Olives, since this mountain is considered "outside Yerushalayim."
  • He gathers some of the heifer's blood in his left hand, dips his right index finger into it, and sprinkles it in the direction of the entrance of the Heichal (Temple), which he can see from the mountain.
  • A fire is lit, and the kohen supervises the cow's burining.
  • With a red woolen string he ties together a cedar stick and some hyssop.
  • While the cow is burning, the bundle containing the cedar stick and hyssop is cast into its carcass.
  • The heifer's ashes are divided into three parts: one is placed in a certain section of the courtyard of the Beit Hamikdash, where it is preserved in order to fulfill the mitzvah that the ashes of the parah adumah must be kept for all generations. A second part is divided among the groups of kohanim who become tamei. the third part is placed in a spot on the Mount of Olives for the purification of Benei Yisrael.
  • Whoever was involved in the preparation of the ashes - for example, the person who burned the cow, who cast the bundle into the fire, who gathered wood, who touched or carried the ashes - becomes tamei.
  • In a utensil the heifer's ashes are mixed with fresh spring water.
  • the waters of the parah adumah are sprinkled by someone who is himself pure from tumat hamet (the impurity of death) onto the Jew who purifies himself. He sprinkles him on the third and seventh day of the individual's purification. Moreover, during the seventh day the person being purified must immerse himself in a mikvah to consummate his purification.

To this day, nine Parah Adumah have been burnt. The first was prepared by Elazar ben Aharon under Moshe's supervision on the second of Nissan, 2,449. (Moshe directed the proper thoughts toward it, because Elazar did not understand its reasons.)

A blessing rested upon the portion of Moshe's ashes set aside for purification; they lasted until Ezra's time. Under Ezra's supervision, a second parah adumah was burned; a third and a fourth under Shimon HaTzaddik's guidance, and two more in the time of Yochanan Kohen Gadol. From then until the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash three further parot adumot were burnt. 

The tenth one will be prepared by Mashiach, may he come soon!

- Midrash Says, Bamidbar



Parashat Chukat: All Torah Laws are Beyond our Understanding

Monday, July 11, 2016 · Posted in , , , ,



Generally, the mitzvot of the Torah belong in one of three categories:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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."
The four are:

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

Three Crowns


Three crowns were bestowed upon the Jewish people:


1) The Crown of Royalty; it was given to David and his descendants forever.

2) The Crown of Kehunah (Priesthood); it was awarded to Aharon and his sons forever.

3) The Crown of Torah; It is accessible to all. If a Jew claims, "If only I had descended from royalty or priesthood, I would exert myself to achieve greatness," he is answered, "The Crown of Torah is available to all. Have you exerted yourself to become a talmid chacham (Torah scholar)? The Crown of Torah is the greatest crown of all.

- The Midrash Says

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