Bamidbar 19: Seeing Red

“This is a chok that God 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.” (verse 1 — זֹאת חֻקַּת ה' אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה' לֵאמֹר דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה תְּמִימָה אֲשֶׁר אֵין־בָּהּ מוּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָלָה עָלֶיהָ עֹל).The rabbis instituted extraordinary safeguards to ensure absolute purity in the parah adumah ritual, including raising children from birth in specially built courtyards over hollowed rock to prevent any possibility of tum’at met (impurity from a corpse) (Mishnah Parah 3:2). These children drew the water for the ashes using only utensils made of stone—materials that cannot contract impurity—to avoid even the smallest halachic risk (Mishnah Parah 3:2–3). The Sages also required that all participants undergo immersion and be handled as if potentially impure even when no impurity was known, a unique stringency applied only to this mitzvah (Rambam, Hilchot Parah Adumah 2:2–3). To reinforce the gravity of maintaining purity, even minimal rabbinic impurities were treated as disqualifying for the process, reflecting a level of precaution unmatched in any other Temple procedure (Mishnah Parah 4:4; Rambam ibid. 15:1).The Red Heifer is the quintessential example of a chok. According to Rashi, a chok has no reason so that from the outset, there is no need to explain it. A chok is a chok and that’s that. The idea of a chok does not stop us from trying to figure out the reasons behind aspects of the chok. One interesting part of the Red Heifer is that it is sacrificed outside the Mishkan. Another similar chok that is sacrificed outside the camp is the Azazel Goat. The two have another connection- the color red. The Red Heifer must be entirely red, without a single non-red hair. The Azazel Goat has a red strig tied to its horns before it is thrown over the cliff. Sforno explains that the color red is used to connect a passage in Isaiah “Be your sins like crimson, They can turn snow-white; Be they red as dyed wool, They can become like fleece” (Isaiah 1:18 — אִם־יִהְיוּ חֲטָאֵיכֶם כַּשָּׁנִים כַּשֶּׁלֶג יַלְבִּינוּ אִם־יַאְדִּימוּ כַתּוֹלָע כַּצֶּמֶר יִהְיוּ).This makes sense in connection with the Azazel Goat. The red crimson thread had a matching one hanging in the Temple. If God had forgiven the people, the red thread would turn white. But what is the connection to the Red Heifer? A person who required the use of the Red Heifer did not commit a sin. It is simply for one who came in contact with a dead body- for any reason. Perhaps the answer lies in the use of another unique ingredient- the hyssop. The only other time the hyssop is used is part of the ceremony for the person with tzaraat. That ceremony occurs in the Mishkan. When someone encounters death, their life is forever changed. It can be hard to move forward. The person may feel responsible for the death- as if they committed a sin- even that is not the case. The person can also feel depressed and low like the hyssop. Perhaps, the Red Heifer borrows two symbols from the tzaraat ceremony and the Azazel Goat as a way to remind the person that they are not condemned as a sinner and are in fact absolved like the Azazel Goat. They are also encouraged to be lifted up from their depressed state like the hyssop.