Inside and Outside - Parah 5785

Of the four special Parshas that we read related to Adar and Nissan, the third is called Parshat Parah - the "Parsha of the Cow." This Shabbat we use two Torahs. In the first we read the regular Parsha of the annual cycle, Vayakhel, and in the second we read Parshat Parah. ”The Cow” is referring to the red cow, usually referred to as the Red Heifer, that was slaughtered outside of the City of Jerusalem and then burned. The ashes were then used for a special ritual purification service. 

Next Shabbat, the day before Nissan, we will read the special Parsha which details the practice of the Pesach offering. We therefore read Parshat Parah the Shabbat before, because this purification was a prerequisite to the Pesach offering. 

We are not permitted to enter the grounds of the Holy Temple after having come in contact with a corpse, whether physically touching it or being under the same roof. This law still applies today. Other prohibitions for anyone who is “Tamei” - ritually impure - include not eating the meat of holy offerings, and many laws relating to the handling of foods. 

These prohibitions are not generally relevant to our daily lives today since we do not have any means of purification, so we are all perpetually Tamei, and there are no holy offerings. However in the times of the Temple there were many instances in which a person had to make sure to be purified with the Red Heifer ashes. This was true especially before Pesach, since everyone was obligated to eat the meat of the Pesach offering at the Seder, and that could only be done in a state of Tahara (ritual purity). 

Although we don’t have the Red Heifer ashes nowadays and the Temple is not yet standing, Torah has relevance on many levels, especially in terms of our service to Hashem. Chassidus teaches many lessons on how this Mitzvah impacts our lives. Here is one. 

The Red Heifer was unique among all the offerings in the Torah. It is forbidden to slaughter or burn any offering outside of the confines of the Temple. The Red Heifer was specifically slaughtered and burned outside of the city. In other words it was done in a place that was much less holy than the other offerings, outside of the boundary of the holy city of Jerusalem. 

At the same time, the actual burning of the offering showed a superior level of holiness. The entire animal was burned, including its skin. Some of the offerings in the Temple had parts burned and the rest eaten by the Kohanim, and some also by the owner. The “Olah” offering was completely burned, except the skin which was given to the Kohen. The Red Heifer seems therefore to be on a higher level of holiness than all the other offerings, since it was completely burned and nobody could derive any personal benefit from any part of it. 

This paradox of the Red Heifer, on one hand the highest level of holiness and on the other in the least holy place, fits well with the nature of this offering. 

The Torah refers to the Mitzvah of Parah Adumah as “Chukat HaTorah” - the decree of the Torah, meaning that contrary to the other categories of Mitzvot that can understand logically, this was is a decree from Hashem. This implies that it is something we are to accept on faith, knowing that we will never understand it because it is beyond human logic. 

This above logic concept is expressed in several areas, the most perplexing of which is that although these ashes purify the one who is Tamei, everyone who handled it had to immerse in a Mikvah to purify themselves. The one that purifies defiles. So we could say that the additional paradox of the holiest offering being offered in the least holy place is not that surprising, since the whole Mitzvah defies logic. But there’s a lesson to us here. 

To what extent do we limit our observance of Mitzvot to what fits into our logic?  The ”Decree of the Torah” teaches us to go beyond our understanding and rise to great levels of commitment to Hashem. Specifically the offering that made no human sense was on the highest level, because that represents a bond with Hashem that is greater than anything we can ever attain with our understanding. 

One might think that this lofty level of connection and surrender to Hashem’s will is the domain of the righteous , the very religious and learned people. But the Red Heifer was offered outside the holy city. If we think we are “on the outside” and not tuned  in to Torah, we still can reach deep into the essence of our soul and find that inner bond with Hashem. And if we, as “outsiders,” do a Mitzvah that doesn’t make sense to us, just because it’s a Mitzvah, that brings us to the greatest heights. 

The same idea applies to those Things in our lives that we think of as outside the realm of the holy. The regular mundane things we do and the ordinary possessions that we have that are not Mitzvot. Here again is the message. Even the “outside” can and should be elevated to holiness, a theme I have expounded on many times. 

May we merit the coming of Moshiach, who will oversee the preparation of the tenth Red Heifer in history (there were nine offered during the period beginning in the Sinai desert through the destruction of the second Temple).  Moshiach will usher in a time when we will see with our physical eyes the revelation of Hashem, another great paradox (the spiritual visible in the physical) for which we hope and pray every day.