OUR LAPSES DO NOT DEFINE US - A LESSON FROM THE RED HEIFER
Chukas - Parah
How could they ever be purified? This was the response of Moshe Rabbeinu on learning the laws of Tumas Meis. In some regards, impurity from contact with the dead is the most severe form of Tumah. Moshe was shocked and horrified. Hashem’s answer was that with the Mitzvah of Parah Adumah they could be purified. On hearing this, Moshe was calmed.
True life is connection to Hashem.ואתם הדבקים בה‘ אלקיכם חיים , “You who cleave to Hashem your G-d are alive”. Torah is life and G-dliness is life. Tumas Meis represents the opposite. Someone who has become disconnected from Hashem and the Torah has lost their relationship with the true source of life.
The antidote is the Parah Adumah which encapsulates the concept of Teshuvah, the ability to reinstate our connection and regain our purity.
All other Korbanos were only brought in the Beis Hamikdosh. They were only able to reach and elevate those who were pure and connected to holiness. In contrast, the Parah Adumah was brought outside of the city entirely, reaching even those who find themselves outside of the walls of holiness.
The details of this Mitzvah give us an understanding of how Teshuvah works and what is required to reinstate lost purity, allowing us to once again enter the Holy.
The source of our spiritual failings stem from our Animalistic Soul. This is represented by the Parah Adumah. A cow is a large, wild animal, reflecting a very coarse animalistic being. The colour red signifies the boiling passion of our animalistic side which lusts after physical pleasure and indulgence. The Parah Adumah was an animal on which a yoke has never been placed, reflecting someone who has not surrendered and humbled themselves to accept the yoke (will) of Hashem.
The Parah Adumah was slaughtered. Slaughtering removes the blood. The boiling blood, the life-force of the animal, represents the misdirected passions of the Animalistic Soul.
Afterwards, the Parah Adumah was burned and reduced to ashes. Chassidus explains that the ashes represent the essential Chomer, the substance of what the Parah Adumah was made of. The fact that these ashes were a red cow only moments before, was merely the Tzurah, the form that the essential matter had taken on.
Chassidus teaches that our Animalistic Soul is not intrinsically evil, in fact it can and should become a powerful drive in our service of Hashem. In the words בכל לבבך, the Shema requires us to serve Hashem with both of our inclinations.
The essential nature of the Animalistic Soul is a power of desire. Desire is neither negative or positive. It is the object of desire and the behaviours which result that may be unholy or negative. They become the form or garments which the Animalistic Soul takes on. Through burning, these expressions are purged away, and only the essential quality remains, a capacity to desire, which may now be redirected.
The message of the Parah Adumah is that our spiritual lapses and shortcomings do not define ourselves. We may be caught up in the wrong activities or behaviour, but since this is not our essential state, we are capable of change.
If the negative defines the person, then Moshe was right, how could they be purified? How could something essentially bad become good?
Through the Mitzvah of Parah Adumah Hashem was telling Moshe that sinful behaviour does not define the person. Since the person is essentially not corrupt and their sinful desires are extraneous, they are never beyond hope of redirection.
In stage two, the ashes were placed in Mayim Chaim, pure (lit. living) spring water. Water is metaphorical for Torah. Torah is life. Once we realise that we are not defined (and thus confined) by our wrongdoings, we can transform and redirect ourselves. How do we do that? By immersing ourselves in the pure waters of Torah and Kedushah and reclaiming our purity. If Teshuvah is the journey, Parah Adumah is the roadmap.
Based on Likutei Torah Parshas Chukas
True life is connection to Hashem.ואתם הדבקים בה‘ אלקיכם חיים , “You who cleave to Hashem your G-d are alive”. Torah is life and G-dliness is life. Tumas Meis represents the opposite. Someone who has become disconnected from Hashem and the Torah has lost their relationship with the true source of life.
The antidote is the Parah Adumah which encapsulates the concept of Teshuvah, the ability to reinstate our connection and regain our purity.
All other Korbanos were only brought in the Beis Hamikdosh. They were only able to reach and elevate those who were pure and connected to holiness. In contrast, the Parah Adumah was brought outside of the city entirely, reaching even those who find themselves outside of the walls of holiness.
The details of this Mitzvah give us an understanding of how Teshuvah works and what is required to reinstate lost purity, allowing us to once again enter the Holy.
The source of our spiritual failings stem from our Animalistic Soul. This is represented by the Parah Adumah. A cow is a large, wild animal, reflecting a very coarse animalistic being. The colour red signifies the boiling passion of our animalistic side which lusts after physical pleasure and indulgence. The Parah Adumah was an animal on which a yoke has never been placed, reflecting someone who has not surrendered and humbled themselves to accept the yoke (will) of Hashem.
The Parah Adumah was slaughtered. Slaughtering removes the blood. The boiling blood, the life-force of the animal, represents the misdirected passions of the Animalistic Soul.
Afterwards, the Parah Adumah was burned and reduced to ashes. Chassidus explains that the ashes represent the essential Chomer, the substance of what the Parah Adumah was made of. The fact that these ashes were a red cow only moments before, was merely the Tzurah, the form that the essential matter had taken on.
Chassidus teaches that our Animalistic Soul is not intrinsically evil, in fact it can and should become a powerful drive in our service of Hashem. In the words בכל לבבך, the Shema requires us to serve Hashem with both of our inclinations.
The essential nature of the Animalistic Soul is a power of desire. Desire is neither negative or positive. It is the object of desire and the behaviours which result that may be unholy or negative. They become the form or garments which the Animalistic Soul takes on. Through burning, these expressions are purged away, and only the essential quality remains, a capacity to desire, which may now be redirected.
The message of the Parah Adumah is that our spiritual lapses and shortcomings do not define ourselves. We may be caught up in the wrong activities or behaviour, but since this is not our essential state, we are capable of change.
If the negative defines the person, then Moshe was right, how could they be purified? How could something essentially bad become good?
Through the Mitzvah of Parah Adumah Hashem was telling Moshe that sinful behaviour does not define the person. Since the person is essentially not corrupt and their sinful desires are extraneous, they are never beyond hope of redirection.
In stage two, the ashes were placed in Mayim Chaim, pure (lit. living) spring water. Water is metaphorical for Torah. Torah is life. Once we realise that we are not defined (and thus confined) by our wrongdoings, we can transform and redirect ourselves. How do we do that? By immersing ourselves in the pure waters of Torah and Kedushah and reclaiming our purity. If Teshuvah is the journey, Parah Adumah is the roadmap.
Based on Likutei Torah Parshas Chukas