The red heifer was burnt outside the camp by the deputy
High Priest, and its ashes were used to purify the ritually impure, enabling
them to take part in Temple activities. Strangely, the one who sprinkles the
water with the ashes becomes impure, while the one who is sprinkled becomes
pure. It is thus called an "ordinance" (in Hebrew, "chok" - thus the name
of the Torah reading) because it defies logic.
There was also a requirement of having had no yoke on
her, showing that Nukva is being represented as a virgin in respect to
Israel, referred to as Zeir Anpin, the masculine attribute. Nukva
is "jumping over the moon", standing independently of the higher spiritual
world, and is rectified via the mystery of the red heifer in a way that is
unusual because it is specifically designed to prepare her for
unification with Zeir Anpin rather than actually bring her into unity
with Zeir Anpin. Once an individual's general attribute of Nukva
is completed, i.e. purified, he can proceed into the presence of the Divine -
the Tabernacle or Temple.
This Torah reading opens with the commandment of the red heifer. The ashes of the red heifer are used to purify a person from the impurity of close contact with a dead person. "Death" is spiritually a falling from one state of divine consciousness to a lower one (or lack of one). Thus, the commandment of the red heifer contains within it the mystical explanation of evil and the purification from defilement of evil/death, i.e. loss of divine consciousness.
The Maharam from Padua comments on how contradictory it seems that certain celestial bodies are sources of light, while others only reflect light, having none of their own to give. Some stars race around the universe, others travel at a leisurely pace. Some natural phenomena exude heat, others cold. All these phenomena are examples of contradictions.
Surely, when G-d created Nature, He did so with intelligence! Likewise, G-d's laws do not need a rationale in order for us to observe and cherish them. G-d said to Israel: "Since you have accepted My sovereignty when I said 'I am the L-rd your G-d, etc.', now accept My decree[s].
We fail to comprehend the mysteries of nature and it appears to us that that He legislated apparently illogical laws. However, it must be that they are beneficial for us, though we do not understand how - a condition due only to the limitation of our perceptive faculties.
To grasp the meaning of G-d's supernal greatness and loftiness, one needs to
serve Him with utter devotion and a fiery burning love and enthusiasm. Yet,
should one achieve this, it is crucial to understand that it is not your own
accomplishments that brought you this far, but simply a chesed from G-d,
who is always prepared to help one who desires to elevate and purify himself.
Lest people be inclined to think, "His passion and enthusiasm is appropriate
for him since he is a tzadik, but what about the rest of us? We have
limitations and problems, how can we be expected to reach such ardent, fiery
levels of divine service?" - you must put your enthusiasm in a high place for
all to see so that they will understand that you were blessed from G-d, that
they too may become inspired and caught up in the fervor of your divine service.
In responding to their sin by unleashing deadly, poisonous snakes against them, G-d was telling the people that sin, which was introduced to humanity by the Primordial Snake, leads to death, while submission to G-d's will is the key to life.
When we convince the evil inclination that the truest comfort, pleasure, and excitement lie in holiness, it plunges headlong into fulfilling G-d's purpose on earth. Thus, the initially evil inclination becomes the source of merit and goodness. The snake is transformed from the source of death to the agent of life.
The mitzvah of the Red Heifer and the purification process from defilement incurred through contact with the dead is the classic supra-rational command.
Rashi explains that the specific wording in the verse addresses the taunts of the Adversary and the Nations of the World who question us regarding the reason for this mitzvah. "This is the statute" answers that the Red Heifer is a divine decree that cannot be comprehended. Rebbe Yechiel Michel notes that there is, in fact, a known Midrashic explanation for the Red Heifer: Just as a mother must clean the mess of her child, so, too, this heifer comes to repair the damage done through the sin of her child, the Golden Calf. When scoffers approach the Jews asking about the heifer, they are actually intending to remind us of our transgression. This is what the verse answers them: "This is a statute...which G-d commanded" and there is no reason for it, that we must only improve our relationship to G-d.
How a non-chasidic rabbi helps with some very chasidic tasks.
Shabbat Shalom.
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