(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה ה' לֵאמֹ֑ר דַּבֵּ֣ר ׀ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֣וּ אֵלֶיךָ֩ פָרָ֨ה אֲדֻמָּ֜ה תְּמִימָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֵֽין־בָּהּ֙ מ֔וּם אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־עָלָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ עֹֽל׃
(1) Ad-nai spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) This is the law of the Torah that Ad-nai has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow unblemished, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid.
(43) Ad-nai said to Moses and Aaron: This is the law of the Pesach offering: No foreigner shall eat of it. (44) But any slave a man has bought may eat of it once he has been circumcised.
- What are the reasons you know we read the Red Cow before Pesach? What is the function of this extra reading?
- What are the connections you can find between the two sources above?
- If you had to rank them in importance, how would you do it, and why?
(ב) ... דָּבָר אַחֵר, יְהִי לִבִּי תָמִים בְּחֻקֶּיךָ, זֶה חֻקַּת הַפֶּסַח וְחֻקַּת פָּרָה אֲדֻמָּה, לָמָּה, שֶׁשְּׁנֵיהֶן דּוֹמִין זֶה לָזֶה, בָּזֶה נֶאֱמַר: זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח, וּבָזֶה נֶאֱמַר (במדבר יט, ב): זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה, וְאִי אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ אֵיזוֹ חֻקָּה גְּדוֹלָה מִזּוֹ. מָשָׁל לִשְׁתֵּי מַטְרוֹנוֹת דּוֹמוֹת שֶׁהָיוּ מְהַלְּכוֹת שְׁתֵּיהֶן כְּאַחַת נִרְאוֹת שָׁווֹת, מִי גְדוֹלָה מִזּוֹ אוֹתָהּ שֶׁחֲבֶרְתָּהּ מְלַוָּה אוֹתָהּ עַד בֵּיתָהּ וְהוֹלֶכֶת אַחֲרֶיהָ. כָּךְ בַּפֶּסַח נֶאֱמַר בּוֹ: חֻקָּה, וּבְפָרָה נֶאֱמַר בָּהּ: חֻקָּה, וּמִי גְדוֹלָה, הַפָּרָה, שֶׁאוֹכְלֵי פֶּסַח צְרִיכִין לָהּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר יט, יז): וְלָקְחוּ לַטָּמֵא מֵעֲפַר שְׂרֵפַת הַחַטָּאת...
... Another opinion "may my heart be complete in Your laws"(Ps. 119:80), this is concerning the law of Pesach and the law of the Red Cow. Why? Because the two of them are similar one to the other, regarding one it is stated "these are the laws of the Pesach" and regarding the other is it stated "these are the laws of the Torah". And you can't know which one is more important than the other. It is like the parable of two distinguished ladies that were walking, and they looked similar. How would you know which one is greater [more distinguished]? The one [greater one is the one] whom the other accompanies to her house and walks after her. So too, regarding Pesach it is written "law" and regarding the Red Cow it is written "law", and which one is more important? The Cow, since Pesach needs it, as it says "And they will take for the ritually impure from the ashes of the burnt sacrifice" (Numbers 19:17)...
The midrash is pointing out that these two set of laws begin with "zot chukat" - and of course this is craving to receive meaning.
(ד) בשלישית פרה אדומה. להזהיר את ישראל לטהר עצמם כדי שיעשו פסחיהם בטהרה. ואיזו היא שבת שלישית, כל שסמוכה לפורים מאחריה. וכשחל ראש חודש ניסן להיות בשבת, הויא לה שבת שלישית שבת הסמוכה לראש חודש ניסן. כדי לסמוך אזהרת טהרת טמאי מתים לפסחים:
On the third the Red Cow. to warn Israel to go through the ritual of purification themselves so as to make their Pesach [offering] in an state of ritual acceptability. And which one is the third Shabbat, the one that falls immediately after Purim. And when the New Month of Nisan falls on Shabbat, the third Shabbat is the one immediately following Rosh Chodesh Nisan. This is so to add the warning of purification of those who were rendered ritually unacceptable due to their contact with dead bodies to the ones for Pesach.
(י) אֲמַר לֵיהּ רִבִּי אַבָּא, וְהָא פָּרָה קַדִּישָׁא אִיהִי, דַּכְיָא אִיהִי, וַאֲמַאי. אָמַר לֵיהּ הָכִי הוּא, וְהָא אוּקְמוּהָ, כְּלָלָא דְּאַרְבַּע מַלְכְּוָון הֲוַת. פָּרָה, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמֵר (הושע ד) כִּי כְּפָרָה סוֹרֵרָה סָרַר יִשְׂרָאֵל. אֲדוּמָּה, דָּא מַלְכוּת בָּבֶל, דִּכְתִּיב, (דניאל ב) אַנְתְּ הוּא רֵישָׁא דִּי דַּהֲבָא. תְּמִימָה, דָּא מַלְכוּת מָדַי. אֲשֶׁר אֵין בָּהּ מוּם, דָּא מַלְכוּת יָוָן. (דאינון קריבין לארחי מיהמנותא) אֲשֶׁר לא עָלָה עָלֶיהָ עוֹל, דָּא מַלְכוּת אֱדוֹם, דְּלָא סָלִיק עָלֵיהּ עוֹל. וְרָזָא דְּמִלָּה דָּא, אַף עַל גַּב דְּכַמָּה מִלִּין אִתְיְיהִיבוּ לְמִדְרָשׁ בַּקְּרָאֵי, כֻּלְּהוּ חַד.
(10) Rabi Aba said to him: And this cow is sacred, this [cow] is pure, and why? He answered this is so, and the cow is established, it includes four reigns. "Cow", as it says "For Israel is stubborn like a stubborn cow" (Hosea 4:16). "Red" this is the reign of Bavel, as it says "You are a head of gold" (Daniel 2:38). "Unblemished", this is the reign of Persia."without any defects", this is the reign of Greece (because they come close to the ways of faith). "On which no yoke has been laid", this is the reign of Edom, in which no yoke has been laid. And the secret of this thing, even though there are many words in this midrash, all of them are one.
The whole ritual of the Red Heifer happens outside the camp, but it is for something inside: the Pesach sacrifice. In that sense, the ritual of the Red Heifer symbolizes the opening up of our camp, our houses, to those who are outside. In the days of the Torah, those were symbolized by the ritually impure, today, they are symbolized by the poor, by the outsider, by those who do not have a seder to go to.
According to the Zohar, the point of the Red Heifer reading is fixing the energies: to make what is ritually unacceptable, acceptable - as is the reading from Bartenura - but the Zohar goes one step further: the fixing is needed even in the most external, too, that is, the exiles. Note that the Zohar brings the point of an external exile even for Israel, in its stubbornness, and makes an effort to link our reading to Purim. The Zohar is making us aware that the fixing needs to be in two areas: the internal and the external. That's why it ends with "all are one". Meaning, the fixing needs to happen both inside and outside.
On the question of which is greater than the other, I'd like to present a very common question: which is greater, studying Torah or doing mitzvot? The connection, of course, is that we study nowadays the Red Heifer, but we act on Pesach. And here is two pieces of the Talmud that compare Torah to both fire and water.
Torah is compared to both water and fire, the essence, if you will, of the Red Heifer. Then you could make the jump of seeing the Red Heifer as a symbol for Torah study; and the laws of Pesach as the mitzvot.
This Shabbat I want to invite us to see the tradition beckoning us to do both: there is no one without the other, in a sense, the more important one, the Torah study, needs to have actions supporting it. And I'd like to invite us to see the two movements in these readings: the movement of Torah, as coming from the Transcendent, the Holy One to us, and our movement towards Transcendence, as the celebration of Pesach. We are moved by the observance of Pesach to be reminded of freedom, of community, of family.
The two movements make for what we call the Tree of Life. May our week begin with our awareness of those two movements, so our life will be enriched. Shabbat Shalom.
Passover= actions; Parah = study, Torah ... water and fire.
Passover= our movement towards the Holy One, like tefilah and teshuvah;
Parah = the movement as it were of the Holy One towards us, an open8ng to enter even to those that are outside of 5he camp.
reading before Passover as a remembrance! A symbol, of what we do on Seder night: all should have a place at the table.
Arnold Eisen