This sheet on Numbers 19 was written by Mark Gersten for 929 and can also be found here
The Red Heifer is considered a paradox. The person who has it sprinkled on him becomes pure spiritually, while the Cohen who prepares the ashes becomes ritually impure. How can this be explained?
All ritual impurity is not equivalent. The man waiting for the ashes has come into contact with a dead body. His only recourse is to be sprinkled with the ashes. The Cohen who prepares the ashes becomes impure only for a day. This impurity is easily removed by going to the Mikvah at the end of the day.
This situation teaches us our responsibility as Jews. If someone is in desperate straits, (like the impure man who is kept out of the camp away from his family) and someone can relieve him of this desperate situation by suffering a little (like the Cohen who gives up his purity for part of a day), it is a Jew’s responsibility to help a fellow Jew and be willing to suffer the small inconvenience for the other Jew’s significant benefit.
All ritual impurity is not equivalent. The man waiting for the ashes has come into contact with a dead body. His only recourse is to be sprinkled with the ashes. The Cohen who prepares the ashes becomes impure only for a day. This impurity is easily removed by going to the Mikvah at the end of the day.
This situation teaches us our responsibility as Jews. If someone is in desperate straits, (like the impure man who is kept out of the camp away from his family) and someone can relieve him of this desperate situation by suffering a little (like the Cohen who gives up his purity for part of a day), it is a Jew’s responsibility to help a fellow Jew and be willing to suffer the small inconvenience for the other Jew’s significant benefit.
(ב) זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר דַּבֵּ֣ר ׀ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֣וּ אֵלֶ֩יךָ֩ פָרָ֨ה אֲדֻמָּ֜ה תְּמִימָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֵֽין־בָּהּ֙ מ֔וּם אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־עָלָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ עֹֽל׃
(2) This is the ritual law that the LORD 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.
Dr. Mark B Gersten earned his medical degree from New York University.
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