The Red Heifer in Our Lives

Dear Friends,

In the Torah, there are commandments we understand and those we do not. A prime example of one we do not understand is that of the red heifer (Numbers, 19:1). It is a ritual done to purify those who became contaminated through contact with a dead body. When the Temple stood, as long as one was impure, they were not allowed to enter the Temple until they underwent this ritual.

The laws and details of the red heifer defy logic, e.g., it purifies the impure, but contaminates the pure (the priest performing the ritual). A key lessen we learn from the red heifer is that there are laws in Judaism and events in our lives that we do not understand, and that’s okay.

God is all knowing and we are not, by definition we will not understand all of God’s commands and actions. While we do not understand why or how the red heifer works, we do know that it achieves purification. We do know that through the red heifer an impure person is elevated and able to enter the Temple.

In our own lives, while we do not understand why we have specific challenges, we do know that like the red heifer, those challenges purify and elevate us. Our difficulties enable us to have a closer relationship with God in this world and to enter His heavenly Temple in the next.

May the ritual of the red heifer be restored and the Third Temple speedily rebuilt in our days.

Have a great week,

Yaakov