Chukat: Purification and Defilement
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Shareבָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה:
Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who sanctified us with commandments and commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah.
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר דַּבֵּ֣ר ׀ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֣וּ אֵלֶ֩יךָ֩ פָרָ֨ה אֲדֻמָּ֜ה תְּמִימָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֵֽין־בָּהּ֙ מ֔וּם אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־עָלָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ עֹֽל׃ (ג) וּנְתַתֶּ֣ם אֹתָ֔הּ אֶל־אֶלְעָזָ֖ר הַכֹּהֵ֑ן וְהוֹצִ֤יא אֹתָהּ֙ אֶל־מִח֣וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וְשָׁחַ֥ט אֹתָ֖הּ לְפָנָֽיו׃ (ד) וְלָקַ֞ח אֶלְעָזָ֧ר הַכֹּהֵ֛ן מִדָּמָ֖הּ בְּאֶצְבָּע֑וֹ וְהִזָּ֞ה אֶל־נֹ֨כַח פְּנֵ֧י אֹֽהֶל־מוֹעֵ֛ד מִדָּמָ֖הּ שֶׁ֥בַע פְּעָמִֽים׃ (ה) וְשָׂרַ֥ף אֶת־הַפָּרָ֖ה לְעֵינָ֑יו אֶת־עֹרָ֤הּ וְאֶת־בְּשָׂרָהּ֙ וְאֶת־דָּמָ֔הּ עַל־פִּרְשָׁ֖הּ יִשְׂרֹֽף׃ (ו) וְלָקַ֣ח הַכֹּהֵ֗ן עֵ֥ץ אֶ֛רֶז וְאֵז֖וֹב וּשְׁנִ֣י תוֹלָ֑עַת וְהִשְׁלִ֕יךְ אֶל־תּ֖וֹךְ שְׂרֵפַ֥ת הַפָּרָֽה׃ (ז) וְכִבֶּ֨ס בְּגָדָ֜יו הַכֹּהֵ֗ן וְרָחַ֤ץ בְּשָׂרוֹ֙ בַּמַּ֔יִם וְאַחַ֖ר יָבֹ֣א אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה וְטָמֵ֥א הַכֹּהֵ֖ן עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (ח) וְהַשֹּׂרֵ֣ף אֹתָ֔הּ יְכַבֵּ֤ס בְּגָדָיו֙ בַּמַּ֔יִם וְרָחַ֥ץ בְּשָׂר֖וֹ בַּמָּ֑יִם וְטָמֵ֖א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (ט) וְאָסַ֣ף ׀ אִ֣ישׁ טָה֗וֹר אֵ֚ת אֵ֣פֶר הַפָּרָ֔ה וְהִנִּ֛יחַ מִח֥וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה בְּמָק֣וֹם טָה֑וֹר וְ֠הָיְתָ֠ה לַעֲדַ֨ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל לְמִשְׁמֶ֛רֶת לְמֵ֥י נִדָּ֖ה חַטָּ֥את הִֽוא׃ (י) וְ֠כִבֶּ֠ס הָאֹסֵ֨ף אֶת־אֵ֤פֶר הַפָּרָה֙ אֶת־בְּגָדָ֔יו וְטָמֵ֖א עַד־הָעָ֑רֶב וְֽהָיְתָ֞ה לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְלַגֵּ֛ר הַגָּ֥ר בְּתוֹכָ֖ם לְחֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃
(1) Hashem spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) This is the ritual law that Hashem has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid. (3) You shall give it to Eleazar the priest. It shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. (4) Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. (5) The cow shall be burned in his sight—its hide, flesh, and blood shall be burned, its dung included— (6) and the priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson stuff, and throw them into the fire consuming the cow. (7) The priest shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; after that the priest may reenter the camp, but he shall be unclean until evening. (8) He who performed the burning shall also wash his garments in water, bathe his body in water, and be unclean until evening. (9) A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, to be kept for water of lustration for the Israelite community. It is for cleansing. (10) He who gathers up the ashes of the cow shall also wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. This shall be a permanent law for the Israelites and for the strangers who reside among you.
(יז) וְלָֽקְחוּ֙ לַטָּמֵ֔א מֵעֲפַ֖ר שְׂרֵפַ֣ת הַֽחַטָּ֑את וְנָתַ֥ן עָלָ֛יו מַ֥יִם חַיִּ֖ים אֶל־כֶּֽלִי׃ (יח) וְלָקַ֨ח אֵז֜וֹב וְטָבַ֣ל בַּמַּ֘יִם֮ אִ֣ישׁ טָהוֹר֒ וְהִזָּ֤ה עַל־הָאֹ֙הֶל֙ וְעַל־כׇּל־הַכֵּלִ֔ים וְעַל־הַנְּפָשׁ֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָֽיוּ־שָׁ֑ם וְעַל־הַנֹּגֵ֗עַ בַּעֶ֙צֶם֙ א֣וֹ בֶֽחָלָ֔ל א֥וֹ בַמֵּ֖ת א֥וֹ בַקָּֽבֶר׃ (יט) וְהִזָּ֤ה הַטָּהֹר֙ עַל־הַטָּמֵ֔א בַּיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֖י וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑י וְחִטְּאוֹ֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וְכִבֶּ֧ס בְּגָדָ֛יו וְרָחַ֥ץ בַּמַּ֖יִם וְטָהֵ֥ר בָּעָֽרֶב׃
(17) Some of the ashes from the fire of cleansing shall be taken for the unclean person, and fresh water shall be added to them in a vessel. (18) A person who is clean shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle on the tent and on all the vessels and people who were there, or on him who touched the bones or the person who was killed or died naturally or the grave. (19) The clean person shall sprinkle it upon the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day, thus cleansing him by the seventh day. He shall then wash his clothes and bathe in water, and at nightfall he shall be clean.
אדמה תמימה. שֶׁתְּהֵא תְמִימָה בְּאַדְמִימוּת, שֶׁאִם הָיוּ בָהּ שְׁתֵּי שְׂעָרוֹת שְׁחֹרוֹת פְּסוּלָה (פרה פ"ב):
אדמה תמימה [A COW] RED, PERFECT — This means that it should be perfect in respect to its redness (Sifrei Bamidbar 123:1), — so that if there are two black hairs in it (or two of any color other than red) it is unfitted for the rite here described (Mishnah Parah 2:5).
זאת חקת התורה. לְפִי שֶׁהַשָּׂטָן וְאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם מוֹנִין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, לוֹמַר מַה הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת וּמַה טַּעַם יֵשׁ בָּהּ? לְפִיכָךְ כָּתַב בָּהּ חֻקָּה — גְּזֵרָה הִיא מִלְּפָנַי, אֵין לְךָ רְשׁוּת לְהַרְהֵר אַחֲרֶיהָ (יומא ס"ז):
וזאת חקת התורה THIS IS THE ORDINANCE OF THE LAW — Because Satan and the nations of the world taunt Israel, saying, “What is this command and what reason is there for it”, on this account it (Scripture) writes (uses) the term חקה about it, implying: It is an enactment from before Me; you have no right to criticize it (Yoma 67b; cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 7).
זאת חקת התורה חוק של הוריות טומאה ובאחד בניסן ביום שהוקם המשכן נאמרה לפי שביום המחרת נשרפה הפרה להיות נטהרים לפסחיהם וקודם לכן לא יכלו לעשותה דבעינן והזה אל נכח פני אהל מועד וליכא. ואע״פ כן נכתב בה כאן לפי שהיו מהם טמאי מתים ממחלוקתו של קרח.
זאת חקת התורה, “This is the statute of the law of the Torah;” The “statute” referred to here are the laws of ritual defilement and subsequent rites of purification. They were communicated to the people on the first day of Nissan, on the day the Tabernacle was erected ready for service. (Talmud, tractate Gittin folio 60). It had to be communicated on that day, as on the following day the red heifer, the instrument without which purification could not take place, was burned. Without knowledge of these procedures, the Passover, which would be offered on the fourteenth day of that month could not have been offered. The Torah had stipulated in verse 4 of our chapter that the location for the sprinkling of the waters containing the ash of that red heifer was opposite, i.e. facing the Tabernacle. It had to be inserted here as there were people, who as a result of the rebellion of Korach had become ritually contaminated.
ונתתם אתה אל אלעזר הכהן זו נעשית באלעזר כמו שפרש״י ושאר פרות נעשות בין בכהן גדול בין בכהן הדיוט. וי״מ לפי הפשט לפי שמטמאה כל העסוקים בה לא רצה הקב״ה שיטמא בה כה״ג. כאן פירש״י דמצותה בסגן כלומר הסגן היה נגיד ומצווה בכל עניניה. י״מ צריכה שבעה כהנים לעשותה לז׳ ענינים שבה והוציא, ושחט, ולקח מדמה, ושרף את הפרה, ולקח עץ ארז, ואסף איש טהור, והניח האפר אל מחוץ למחנה.
ונתתם אותה אל אלעזר הכהן, “you (pl.) are to give it (the red heifer) to the priest Elazar. Rashi explains why this procedure was entrusted to Elazar, whereas all future red heifers were slaughtered etc., either by the High Priest or even an ordinary priest. Some commentators, explaining the plain meaning of our verse, suggest that seeing that handling the red heifer would contaminate the High Priest, so that he would be incapable of performing his duties for at least seven days, the task was entrusted to his deputy. Here, the deputy High Priest was entrusted with this task; according to Rashi, meaning that he was in overall charge of the entire ritual. He took the heifer out of the camp, slaughtered it, took some of its blood, sprinkling it in the direction of the Tabernacle, appointed a ritually pure man and deposited the ash of the heifer after it had been burnt in the vessel assigned for this. He took a little branch from a cedar tree and some hyssop, plus some red wool and cast it into the flames surrounding the red heifer.
והזה הטהור על הטמא. דקדק רבי עקיבא בגמרא דיומא ממה שכתוב על הטמא ולא אמר עליו, שבא ללמד שאם הזה על הטמא טהור ועל הטהור טמא. ואמר כי על זה אמר שלמה ע"ה (קהלת ז׳:כ״ג) אמרתי אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני.
. והזה הטהור על הטמא, “the ritually clean person is to sprinkle on the ritually impure person, etc.” Rabbi Akiva derived from the words על הטמא "on the ritually unclean person" instead of simply עליו, “on him,” that the extra word teaches that if the ritually impure person was sprinkled with the ash/water mixture he would be purified by it, whereas if accidentally a ritually pure person was sprinkled with the same ash/water mixture such a person would become ritually impure as a result (compare Yuma 14).
From Reb Jeff Goldwasser, Chukat: The Reason for the Red Cow, https://www.rebjeff.com/blog/chukat-the-reason-for-the-red-cow
In the time of giving of the Torah, laws like that of the Red Cow made sense to people based on their traditions, customs and understanding of the world. There is no reason to assume that the Torah's first audience was more mystified by the ritual of the Red Cow than we are mystified by the pageantry of halftime at the Superbowl. On reflection, the ancient Israelites surely saw the strangeness of the law, but they accepted it as "the way we've always done it." Even if they did ask, "What is the point of this?" the answer could only have been the same one we give about the Superbowl: "That's just the way it is."
In the time of giving of the Torah, laws like that of the Red Cow made sense to people based on their traditions, customs and understanding of the world. There is no reason to assume that the Torah's first audience was more mystified by the ritual of the Red Cow than we are mystified by the pageantry of halftime at the Superbowl. On reflection, the ancient Israelites surely saw the strangeness of the law, but they accepted it as "the way we've always done it." Even if they did ask, "What is the point of this?" the answer could only have been the same one we give about the Superbowl: "That's just the way it is."
From Rabbi Adina Lewittes, "Perfection of Imperfection", https://www.keshetonline.org/resources/the-perfection-of-imperfection-parashat-chukat/
Another attempt sees in the text an important psychological insight: the complete burning of an entirely red heifer represents the burning or destruction of any notion of perfection. It teaches us that perfection is an impossibility. While we are mandated to fulfill our obligations to God, to community and to humanity, to slaughter the perfect cow is to symbolically slaughter the notion that any of us can be perfect in these enormous undertakings. This message of the burning of the Parah Adumah is that just as God doesn’t seek perfection from us, it is not perfection that any of us should seek from others, or from ourselves.
Another attempt sees in the text an important psychological insight: the complete burning of an entirely red heifer represents the burning or destruction of any notion of perfection. It teaches us that perfection is an impossibility. While we are mandated to fulfill our obligations to God, to community and to humanity, to slaughter the perfect cow is to symbolically slaughter the notion that any of us can be perfect in these enormous undertakings. This message of the burning of the Parah Adumah is that just as God doesn’t seek perfection from us, it is not perfection that any of us should seek from others, or from ourselves.
From Rabbi Naama Frankel, "Parashat Chukat: The Red Heifer", https://ots.org.il/chukat-the-red-heifer/
This link between the Sin of the Golden Calf and the red heifer isn’t incidental. Even though Rashi believes that this is an ordinance that has no logical reason, and that we are required to carry it out without understanding it, he also finds a link between it and the great sin that occurred moments before the Torah was given. The Golden Calf isn’t meant to provide a rationale for the commandment of the red heifer. Instead, it is there to teach us that the people sinned because they weren’t able to cope with the unknown and with things they didn’t understand, “for that man Moshe, who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.” When the Israelites follow the commandments concerning the red heifer, they are rectifying the sin of the Golden Calf and proving to themselves and Hashem that we know how to live our lives and keep the Torah’s commandments, even when we don’t understand them.
The red heifer is what purifies us, because of the simple and unquestioned faith it exemplifies – that it personifies proximity and belonging. This is the simple, innocent faith that the spies and those who complained at the beginning of Numbers lacked. There was still hope that the people entering the land would internalize this faith, taking it into the deepest reaches of their souls. When an impure individual goes through a process of purification, he or she demonstrates faith and perfect love, which makes it possible to achieve intense proximity later, bringing entire worlds into existence.
This link between the Sin of the Golden Calf and the red heifer isn’t incidental. Even though Rashi believes that this is an ordinance that has no logical reason, and that we are required to carry it out without understanding it, he also finds a link between it and the great sin that occurred moments before the Torah was given. The Golden Calf isn’t meant to provide a rationale for the commandment of the red heifer. Instead, it is there to teach us that the people sinned because they weren’t able to cope with the unknown and with things they didn’t understand, “for that man Moshe, who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.” When the Israelites follow the commandments concerning the red heifer, they are rectifying the sin of the Golden Calf and proving to themselves and Hashem that we know how to live our lives and keep the Torah’s commandments, even when we don’t understand them.
The red heifer is what purifies us, because of the simple and unquestioned faith it exemplifies – that it personifies proximity and belonging. This is the simple, innocent faith that the spies and those who complained at the beginning of Numbers lacked. There was still hope that the people entering the land would internalize this faith, taking it into the deepest reaches of their souls. When an impure individual goes through a process of purification, he or she demonstrates faith and perfect love, which makes it possible to achieve intense proximity later, bringing entire worlds into existence.