Shalom,
It was wonderful seeing so many of you last week during my visit and I am looking forward to seeing you all again on Pesach.
The Maftir that we read this coming Shabbat is Hachodesh, dedicated to the month of Nisan and the holiday of Pesach. Last Shabbat, we read the Maftir about the Parah Adumah, of the red heifer, or red cow. While sitting in shul last week and listening to the reading, I realized something that I would like to share with you.
According to the Torah, one who comes in contact with a dead body is considered impure. The consequences of such contact involve a system of restrictions, such as the prohibition from entering the Temple or offering sacrifices. The impure one can become pure by following a process involving a red cow, as described in the Book of Numbers, chapter 19; first, one must find such a cow, completely red. Having even two hairs that are not red disqualifies the cow. It must never have borne a yoke. The animal is then slaughtered and burned and its ashes are mixed with water. The water is then sprinkled on the impure one and he becomes ritually pure again.
Generally, we have three types of commandments: "mishpatim" are the ones that are clear and logical, such as the prohibition of killing or stealing. "Edot" are the commandments that illustrate our relationship with God, such as the laws of Shabbat. The third type are called "chok," laws that the commentators tell us are inexplicable, not meant to be understood by mortals. We must follow these laws as part of our belief of the "system" in its entirety.
The laws of the red cow, known also as the red heifer, fall into the third category. Without a Temple to offer sacrifices, these laws of impurity are no longer observed. Although many commentators throughout the generations have tried to explain the meaning behind the laws of the red heifer, or how these laws are relevant to our lives today, it is still difficult to find a satisfactory reason for them.
There is a Midrash about a gentile and Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, known as the Ribaz. "The things you do in the red heifer ritual look like black magic," said the gentile. Ribaz asked him whether he had ever been possessed by a sudden madness. The gentile replied no. Then the Rabbi asked whether he had seen a person who had been possessed by a sudden madness? This time the answer was yes. When Rabbi Yochanan asked about treatment for that illness, the gentile replied that they took the roots of herbs, smoked them, then poured water on him, and lo and behold, the spirit of madness left the body. Rabbi Yohanan said to the gentile, "Then let your ears hear what you are saying. That spirit of madness is the spirit of ritual impurity, as it is written, 'and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. (Zechariah 13:2) The water containing the ashes of the red heifer is sprinkled on the ritually impure one, and the spirit of impurity flees."
After the gentile left Rabbi Yohanan, his students turned to him and asked, "Rabbi, you refuted that person's arguments with a simple answer. What answer can you give us?"Ribaz then said: "Be serious, dead bodies do not contaminate and water does not purify. God simply proclaimed: I have established a statute, I have issued a decree, which none of you may violate, as it is written, 'This is the statute of the law (chukat hatorah).'"(Bamidbar Raba 19;4)
The gentile's argument is that the red heifer ceremony seems to manipulate the forces of nature: to purify a person who has become impure because of contact with a dead body. It is an act of pure black magic, claims the gentile. For his part, Ribaz does not claim that the red heifer ceremony is not an act of black magic; instead, he realizes what is really troubling the gentile and identifies a phenomenon with which the gentile is familiar. Next, Ribaz links the red heifer ceremony with that phenomenon to give the ceremony meaning. This is an example of providing meaning for an act by trying to juxtapose it with something similar. Ribaz's students were not satisfied with his explanation. If the red heifer ceremony is similar to that of black magic, doesn't the ritual lose all meaning?
By creating rituals such as offering a sacrifice, recitation of a prayer or even going to Jerusalem on the three Regalim, the Torah creates a new reality from an old concept. In this respect, every law and every ritual in the Torah is an attempt to manipulate reality. In his answer to his students, Ribaz does the same thing. Corpses do not cause impurity: Only God's will does. Water does not purify: Only God's will can purify. The only thing that matters here is the biblical text as an expression of God's will and our ability to obey the law expressed in that text. The red heifer law exists only for us to observe it. Ribaz is saying that the world must be interpreted as an expression of God's will.
The laws of ritual impurity have to do mainly with the laws of participating in bringing sacrifices and entering the Temple. This Shabbat we start to read the book of Vayikra where much of the text is dedicated to the laws of sacrifices. It is important to remember Ribaz's answer as we read this material, and we must make the principles behind them relevant to our lives today.
Shabbat Shalom,
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