This is the statute of the Torah

(Numbers 19:2)

Tammuz 6, 5777/June 30, 2017

"HaShem spoke to Moshe and Aharon, saying: This is the statute of the Torah which HaShem commanded, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for you a perfectly red unblemished cow, upon which no yoke was laid." (Numbers 19:1-2)

The statute of the red heifer possesses such spiritual consequence for the nation of Israel that it is literally mind-boggling. The centrality of this commandment to Israel's relationship with G-d is so significant that it has taken on almost mythical proportions over the generations. It is universally understood to be the most intellectually un-graspable commandment contained within the body of Torah. What is it all about?

The paradoxical phenomenon that characterizes the red heifer is the fact that the ashes of the red heifer which achieve the ultimate level of purity for the receiver, at the very same time, and through the very same physical application, impose spiritual impurity upon the kohen actively performing the commandment. It is said that King Solomon, who was blessed by G-d with wisdom and insight superior to all other men, readily admitted that he was stumped by the commandment of the red heifer. After intense study and contemplation he proclaimed, "I said, 'I will become wise, but it [the commandment of the red heifer] is far from me' (Ecc. 7:23)." Only Moshe rabbenu, our master Moshe, who led Israel out of Egypt and brought the nation to Mount Sinai, where they received Torah directly from G-d, we are told, truly 'got' the red heifer. Our sages share, concerning the verse, "Speak to the children of Israel and have them bring you a red heifer," that "G-d told Moshe, 'To you I have revealed its secret; but for everyone else, it shall remain a chok - an impenetrable statute - it must be adhered to without questioning." What then, did Moshepossess that Solomon lacked?

"Now this man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more so than any person on the face of the earth." (ibid 12:3) Moshe's unparalleled humility was the quality which enabled him to fully comprehend the meaning of the red heifer. From this we learn that the impediment between our intellect, our understanding and wisdom, and the secret of the red heifer, is our ego, our sense of self importance. Even the slightest, most minuscule speck of ego, which we all surely, and it would seem, necessarily possess, is that which forms a barrier between our ability to comprehend the inner dynamics and meanings of the red heifer.

When we consider that the purpose of the ashes of the red heifer is to purify a person, body and soul, from the impurity of death, of the notion of death, of the imperfect notion that there could exist in G-d's creation a reality of finality or nothingness called death, then we can begin to see a connection between our own sense of self importance and the natural phenomenon that we call death. Our ego is the G-d given spark of self that animates our being from conception to the grave. It is part and parcel of the gift of life, but when our humble sense of self becomes a sense of self importance, a sense of our personal centrality in creation, even to the extent where we perceive our selves as being separate from or above creation, we are being seduced by the notion of death itself. If we perceive ourselves as outside of, or above G-d's world, we are placing ourselves within the realm of death.

What could be more humbling, more mortifying, more grounding, than the knowledge that the ashes of a dumb beast, much lower in the order of creation than man, (who is the crown and jewel of creation), are the gateway through which we all must pass before we can ascend and enter into the House of G-d - the Holy Temple - where we encounter G-d's presence in the most immediate, direct and intimate way possible? Indeed, the entire service of the Holy Temple, the daily offerings on the altar, the incense, the kindling of the menorah, the twelve showbread loaves placed upon the showbread table, the song of the Levites, are all dependent on the ashes of the red heifer. G-d's message seems to be clear: Lose any sense of superiority or self importance before you think of drawing near to Me. The Holy Temple is a place of light and life, and humility is the key to perceiving the pure life force and the Creator who fills his creation with life, morning and night, day after day. Park your ego down below for it is a stumbling block and a snare that will keep you from drawing near to G-d.

It is clear that the fauna and flora which surround us is not only part of the world that G-d created, but that from the beginning of time fauna and flora have had a central role in our worship of G-d. But nothing brings this home quite so clearly and humbling, as the statute of the ashes of the red heifer. Accept that you are but one tiny detail in G-d's vast and myriad creation, and that even the ashes of "a perfectly red unblemished cow" may have more significance than you, and you will earn your rightful place before the Presence of G-d, front and center, in the Holy Temple.

-The Temple Institute