(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יהוה 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....
(יג) כׇּֽל־הַנֹּגֵ֡עַ בְּמֵ֣ת בְּנֶ֩פֶשׁ֩ הָאָדָ֨ם אֲשֶׁר־יָמ֜וּת וְלֹ֣א יִתְחַטָּ֗א אֶת־מִשְׁכַּ֤ן יהוה טִמֵּ֔א וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֑ל כִּי֩ מֵ֨י נִדָּ֜ה לֹא־זֹרַ֤ק עָלָיו֙ טָמֵ֣א יִהְיֶ֔ה ע֖וֹד טֻמְאָת֥וֹ בֽוֹ.... (כא) וְהָיְתָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לְחֻקַּ֣ת עוֹלָ֑ם וּמַזֵּ֤ה מֵֽי־הַנִּדָּה֙ יְכַבֵּ֣ס בְּגָדָ֔יו וְהַנֹּגֵ֙עַ֙ בְּמֵ֣י הַנִּדָּ֔ה יִטְמָ֖א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃
(1) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) This is the ritual law that יהוה 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 impure until evening. (8) The one who performed the burning shall also wash those garments in water, bathe in water, and be impure until evening. (9) Another party who is pure shall gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place, to be kept for water of lustration for the Israelite community. It is for purgation.
(13) Those who touch a corpse, the body of a person who has died, and do not purify themselves, defile יהוה’s Tabernacle; those persons shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water of lustration was not dashed on them, they remain impure; their impurity is still upon them....
(21) That shall be for them a law for all time. Further, the one who sprinkled the water of lustration shall wash those clothes; and whoever touches the water of lustration shall be impure until evening.
Some of the essential elements of the PA ritual are:
- it is called a "sacrifice" but it is not brought up on the altar;
- it is burnt totally outside the camp;
- its ash is collected to be added to water and aspersed on a person contaminated by a corpse;;
- these rituals were performed before the associate Kohen;
- it was not done by the Kohen ha-Gadol;
- a female cow was used, not the usual male species;
- it was burned but still identified as a sin offering (v.9);
- the color red plays a major role in the ritual - crimson thread, cedar [red]wood, blood;
- any kohen involved in the processing of the cow became impure.
The Humash clearly identifies purification from death as the objective of this ritual (v.13), not moral or ritual sinfulness, petition for divine salvation, etc. The focus of this ritual was the polluting impact of the human corpse on the Mishkan.
Avoidance of sanctuary pollution and the resultant exile of the Shekhina is the objective of the Para Aduma ritual.
This unusual ritual perplexed the rabbis. The midrash even assumed gentiles were astonished by this ritual.
Midrashim interpreted these elements variously, including the problematic opinion that we cannot impute any rational interpretation for this ritual.
(ו) וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמשֶׁה: לְךָ אֲנִי מְגַלֶּה טַעַם פָּרָה, אֲבָל לְאַחֵר, חֻקָּה....
(ח) שָׁאַל עוֹבֵד כּוֹכָבִים אֶחָד אֶת רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, אִלֵּין עוֹבָדַיָּא דְּאַתּוּן עָבְדִין נִרְאִין כְּמִין כְּשָׁפִים, אַתֶּם מְבִיאִים פָּרָה וְשׂוֹרְפִין אוֹתָהּ וְכוֹתְּשִׁין אוֹתָהּ וְנוֹטְלִין אֶת אַפְרָהּ וְאֶחָד מִכֶּם מִטַּמֵּא לְמֵת, מַזִּין עָלָיו שְׁתַּיִם וְשָׁלשׁ טִפִּין וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים לוֹ טָהַרְתָּ. אָמַר לוֹ: לֹא נִכְנְסָה בְּךָ רוּחַ תְּזָזִית מִיָּמֶיךָ, אָמַר לוֹ לָאו. רָאִיתָ אָדָם שֶׁנִּכְנְסָה בּוֹ רוּחַ תְּזָזִית, אָמַר לוֹ הֵן, אָמַר לוֹ וּמָה אַתֶּם עוֹשִׂין לוֹ, אָמַר לוֹ מְבִיאִין עִקָּרִין וּמְעַשְׁנִין תַּחְתָּיו וּמַרְבִּיצִים עָלֶיהָ מַיִם, וְהִיא בּוֹרַחַת. אָמַר לוֹ יִשְׁמְעוּ אָזְנֶיךָ מַה שֶּׁאַתָּה מוֹצִיא מִפִּיךָ, כָּךְ הָרוּחַ הַזּוֹ, רוּחַ טֻמְאָה... מַזִּין עָלָיו מֵי נִדָּה וְהוּא בּוֹרֵח.
לְאַחַר שֶׁיָּצָא אָמְרוּ לוֹ תַּלְמִידָיו, רַבֵּנוּ, לָזֶה דָּחִית בְּקָנֶה. לָנוּ, מָה אַתָּה אוֹמֵר? אָמַר לָהֶם חַיֵּיכֶם, לֹא הַמֵּת מְטַמֵּא וְלֹא הַמַּיִם מְטַהֲרִין, אֶלָּא אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא חֻקָּה חָקַקְתִּי גְּזֵרָה גָּזַרְתִּי אִי אַתָּה רַשַׁאי לַעֲבֹר עַל גְּזֵרָתִי, דִּכְתִיב: זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה.
וּמִפְּנֵי מָה כָּל הַקָּרְבָּנוֹת זְכָרִים וְזוֹ נְקֵבָה, אָמַר רַבִּי אַיְּבוּ מָשָׁל לְבֶן שִׁפְחָה שֶׁטִּנֵּף פָּלָטִין שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ, אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ - תָּבוֹא אִמּוֹ וּתְקַנֵּחַ אֶת הַצּוֹאָה, כָּךְ אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא תָּבוֹא פָּרָה וּתְכַפֵּר עַל מַעֲשֵׂה הָעֵגֶל.
(8) A certain idolater asked Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakai: ‘These actions that you perform seem to be a type of sorcery. You bring a heifer, burn it, crush it, and take its ashes. One of you becomes impure from a corpse, one sprinkles upon him two or three drops, and you say to him: You are purified.’ He said to him: ‘Has a spirit of insanity never entered you?’ He said to him: ‘No.’ ‘Have you seen a person into whom a spirit of insanity has entered?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘And what do you do to him?’ He said to him: ‘We bring roots, smoke them beneath him, and sprinkle water on it, and it flees.’ He said to him: ‘Let your ears hear what you express from your mouth. The same is true of this spirit, this spirit of impurity.... After he left, his students said to him: ‘You rebuffed this one with a reed. What do you say to us?’ He said to them: ‘As you live, it is not the corpse that impurifies, and it is not the water that purifies. Rather, the Holy One blessed be He said: I instituted a statute, issued a decree; you are not permitted to violate My decree, as it is written: “This is the statute of the Torah.”’
Why are all the offerings male and this is female? Rabbi Aivu said: This is analogous to the son of a maidservant who defecated in a king’s palace. The king said: Let his mother come and wipe the excrement clean. So, the Holy One blessed be He said: Let the heifer come and atone for the act of the calf.
(א) זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה – לְפִי שֶׁהַשָּׂטָן וְאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם מוֹנִין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל.... לְשׁוֹן רַשִׁ״י.... וּכְבָר כָּתַבְתִּי בְּעִנְיַן שָׂעִיר הַמִּשְׁתַּלֵּחַ (ויקרא טז ח) מַה טַעַם לָאֻמּוֹת שֶׁיִּהְיוּ מוֹנִין אוֹתָנוּ בָּזֹאת יוֹתֵר מִשְּׁאָר הַקָּרְבָּנוֹת...כִּי מִפְּנֵי הֱיוֹתָהּ נַעֲשֵׂית בַּחוּץ, יֵרָאֶה לָהֶם שֶׁהִיא נִזְבַּחַת לַשְּׂעִירִים עַל פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה.
וְהָאֱמֶת שֶׁהִיא לְהַעֲבִיר רוּחַ טֻמְאָה וּשְׂרֵפָתָהּ כְּרֵיחַ נִיחוֹחַ בַּחוּץ.
וְטַעַם טֻמְאַת הַמֵּת בְּעֶטְיוֹ שֶׁל נָחָשׁ.... עַל כֵּן הִיא פָּרָה וְהִיא אֲדֻמָּה מִמִּדַּת הַדִּין,
וְנִתְּנָה לְאֶלְעָזָר לְהֵעָשׂוֹת לְפָנָיו אֲפִלּוּ עַל יְדֵי זָר, אֲבָל הַסְּגָן יִרְאֶה מַעֲשֶׂיהָ כְּדֵי שֶׁתֵּעָשֶׂה עַל כַּוָּנָתוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יַחְשְׁבוּ בָּהּ מַחְשָׁבָה רָעָה כָּאֻמּוֹת וְהַשָּׂטָן....
(1) This is ‘chukath’ (the statute of) the law. “Since Satan and the nations of the world ridicule Israel, saying, ‘What is [the meaning of] this commandment [of the Red Heifer]?’ therefore the Torah uses the term chukah (statute) in connection with it, [meaning]: ‘It is a decree from before Me, and you have no permission to question it.’” This is Rashi’s language, taken from the words of our Rabbis. Now I have already written in connection with the goat that is sent away [to Azazel the reason] why the nations of the world should taunt us about this [commandment] more than [they taunt us about] the rest of the offerings which effect atonement, and some of which bring about purification — such as the offerings of a man [or woman] who suffered a flux, or of a woman after childbirth. [The reason is] that since [the procedure of the Red Heifer] is performed outside [the Sanctuary], it appears to the nations that it is slaughtered to the satyrs which are in the open field. But the truth is that [the Red Heifer] is brought to remove the spirit of impurity, and the burning thereof outside [the Sanctuary Court] is like the sweet savor [of the offerings brought within the Sanctuary Court]. The reason for the impurity conveyed by a corpse is [due to man’s sin committed through] the instigation of the serpent.... it is a [female] heifer and must be red, [symbolic] of the attribute of justice.
It is given to Eleazar inasmuch as it must be slaughtered before him, even [though it may actually be slaughtered] by a non-priest, because the deputy High Priest [i.e., Eleazar] supervises the performance thereof, so that it should be done in accordance with his intentions, and so that they should not entertain any improper thoughts about it, as do the nations [of the world] and Satan [as mentioned above]....
(ט) אל אלעזר הכהן. כְּשֵׁם שֶׁנִּקְהֲלוּ עַל אַהֲרֹן, שֶׁהוּא כֹּהֵן, לַעֲשׂוֹת הָעֵגֶל;
וּלְפִי שֶׁאַהֲרֹן עָשָׂה אֶת הָעֵגֶל לֹא נִתְּנָה לוֹ עֲבוֹדָה זוֹ עַל יָדוֹ, שֶׁאֵין קַטֵּיגוֹר נַעֲשֶׂה סַנֵּיגוֹר: [רש"י בשם ר' משה הדרשן]
(9) אל אלעזר הכהן TO ELEAZAR THE PRIEST — just as they gathered together against Aaron who was a priest to force him to make the golden calf. But because Aaron had made the calf this rite was not entrusted to him that it should be carried out by him, because the prosecuting counsel cannot become the defending counsel (Rosh Hashanah 26a; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 16:4; Aaron who had caused the sin was not a fitting person to atone for it: therefore the rite had to be performed by another priest, viz., by Eleazar).
J.Milgrom (JPS Torah Commentary): "...the key to unlock the paradox of the red cow is that it is a hatta't sacrifice...the function is to remove contamination....[by] the blood.... It absorbs the impurity it has purged.... A bovine is required in order to provide the maximum amount of ashes. However, the bull cannot be chosen since it represents the hatta't of the High Priest or of the community".... The need for continuous priestly supervision betrays the inherent danger that the ritual may slip back to its pagan moorings. It bears comparison with pre-Israelite precedents. In Mesopotamia an impure person might be purified by changing or laundering his garments, bathing with pure water, being aspersed with tamarisk and a plant.... Purification rituals are performed on the body of the afflicted. Nowhere does it state that the corpse-contaminated person leaves the camp. The ashes deposited outside the camp are brought to the one who is corpse contaminated and not the other way around -- implying that he remains inside the camp.... Above all, the hitherto demonic impurity of corpses has been devitalized, first by denying it the automatic power to contaminate the sanctuary...and then by denying the individual need leave the camp during his purificatory period. Thus, Rabban Johanan's answer to the heathen reflects the probable origin of the red cow ritual. But neither the rabbi nor his students believed it. For them, and for Judaism, it was inconceivable that any rite was inherently efficacious....The break with paganism was complete... More than a half millennium earlier...this ritual had already severed its pagan roots and remodeled it to accord with their religious beliefs and practice."