Parshas Chukas
“And they shall take for you a red cow…” (Bamidbar 19:2)
It is a positive commandment that Klal Yisrael were commanded to burn a red cow so that its ashes should be ready for anyone who needs them. It purifies from the impurity caused by contact with dead bodies, as it says “Speak to the children of Yisrael and they shall take for you a red cow… and it shall be a keepsake for the children of Yisrael etc.”.
Even though my heart fills me with ideas of allusions on a basic level for this commandment, in this particular commandment my hands have become weak and I am scared to open my mouth at all, even on a basic level, for I have seen that Chazal spent a long time explaining the profundity of its secrets and the magnitude of its purpose, to the extent that King Shlomo with the magnitude of his wisdom managed to understand all of the reasons of the Torah except for this one, and they said further that Hashem said to Moshe, “To you will I reveal the secret of the red cow and to no others!”.
The hearer should not think that its secrets are only in the fact that it purifies those who are impure, as we find that certain offerings do the same. The main enigma is in the fact that on the one hand it purifies those who are impure and on the other hand it makes those who are already pure (who deal with its burning) impure. The other mystery is in that that’s its service is performed outside the camp, as opposed to all the other offerings.
Amongst the laws of this commandment are the fact that the cow must be three or four years old, and if it is older it is also valid. One may not buy a calf and bring it up, but buy a cow. It must be perfect in its redness, so that even if it has only two white or black hairs, it is invalid. If it has hairs whose roots are red, but whose heads are another color, everything follows the roots, and he should cut the end with scissors until he reaches the redness of the root.
Working with this animal invalidates it, as it says “who has not had a yoke on”, and even if a person just put a garment on it, it is invalidated.
This commandment applies in the land of Yisrael, when the temple was standing. Chazal say that from the day that Klal Yisrael were commanded to keep this commandment there have been nine red cows, one that Moshe himself made, a second that Ezra made, and seven more between Ezra and the destruction of the second temple. The tenth will be made by the king Mashiach who will redeem us speedily in our days, Amen.
