02.07.2011                      30.Siwan, 5771                      Chukat

Judentum:

Parshat Hukat: Out of the ashes

One of the unfathomable mysteries of the Bible is this passage about the red heifer, a law which appears to be without any rational explanation.

‘And the pure person shall gather the ashes of the cow and shall place them outside the encampment in a pure place; this shall be a keepsake for the witness- community of the Israelites, to be used as purifying water; it is a sin-offering’ (Numbers 19:9).

One of the unfathomable mysteries of the Bible is this passage about the red heifer, a law which appears to be without any rational explanation, and about which the wisest of mortals, King Solomon, declared, “I thought I could fathom it with my wisdom, but it remains far away from me and elusive” (Ecclesiastes 7:23)….