RED HEIFER
The 613 commandments given by God on Mount Sinai are generally divided into two categories: misphatim (laws) and chukim (decrees). Mishpatim are rules with a clear benefit, for example βDo not murder,β βDo not steal.β Chukim defy rational comprehension.
This weekβs Torah portion, Chukat, begins with the most perplexing of all chukim: the red heifer, a monochrome cow whose ashes are used to purify an individual who came into contact with a corpse. Paradoxically, the person who preparesΒ the red heiferβs ashes becomesΒ impure. So does the rare bovine (there have only been nine red heifers in Jewish history)Β counteract impurity or convey it? Even King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was confounded by this mystery.
What meaning can we take from such an opaque decree? The Ohr Ha Chaim (b.1696, Morocco) says that it is the law's incomprehensibility that actually helps us comprehend it. βWhen we fulfillΒ a commandment which is completely beyond our understanding, this is equivalent to a declaration of faith in God and in His Torah.β If all the mitzvot were rational, then being a pious Jew would require no more than common sense.
The first of the Ten Commandments declares βI am the Lord your God.β According to Maimonides (b. 1138, Spain), βTo acknowledge this truth is a positive command.β Following laws that donβt seem to make sense is the ultimate demonstration of faith in our Creator. The Ohr Ha Chaim concludes, βWho knows if God did not present this commandment as a chuk in order to enable us to make such a declaration by means of observing it.β
May we be strengthened to follow our Creatorβs rules when we understand themΒ andΒ when we donβt!
Image: Red Angus bullΒ born at the Temple Instituteβs Farm, at an undisclosed location in Israel
