“This is the decree of the Torah.”

Because Satan and the scoffers ridicule Israel for observing the law of the Parah Adumah, which does not seem to make any sense, God declares, “It is a decree from Me. You have no permission to question it!”

My father zt”l used to say, “Look how powerful is the influence of those who make fun of us and question us! God has to demand our observance of the Parah Adumah in order to protect us from their laughter at our commitment to His Mitzvot.”

There is very real power in the laughter, jests and jokes of those who want to weaken our observance.

The Mitzvah of Parah Adumah is where God gives us the strength to stand up to their ridicule.

And, there’s more…

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

There are contradictions in the Parah Adumah. The Cohen who purifies others becomes impure as he purifies.

There are contradictions in the Parah Adumah just as there are contradictions in life.

Judaism, torah, nurture our independence. They use our drive to become something to attach us to God, when we can only truly be. And yet, in order to attach to God, we must let go of ourselves, and stand in total and absolute humility before Him.

We nurture our growth and independence, our Bechira Chofshit, our Free Choice, and yet, ultimately, we understand that we can limit ourselves when we focus on our development. We can become too self-defined.

Development that can limit. There are contradictions in our spiritual lives. These are the contradictions of the Parah Adumah. They are part and parcel of Creation.

The Parah Adumah reminds us not to become too lost in one approach or the other. It gently reminds us that our struggle to grow is the struggle of all human beings. We cannot be frustrated by the contradictions. They are not only ours. They are everywhere and everybody’s. They are part of the Parah Adumah.

And, there’s more.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

If not for celiac disease, I would protest Turkey’s recent hostility toward Israel by eating croissants.

In 1683 an army of more than a hundred thousand Ottoman Turks was besieging Vienna. They tried tunneling under the walls, but the Viennese bakers working through the night heard the digging sounds and raised the alarm. Their early warning prevented the Turks from breaching the city walls and delayed the attack until the Polish King John III reached Vienna and drove the Turks away.

The bakers celebrated the end of the siege by copying the crescent moon from their enemy’s flag and turned it into a commemorative pastry; the croissant.

We don’t need the complex and seemingly contradictory laws of the Red Heifer to realize that there are deep mysteries to God’s laws; even pastry can have a hidden meaning.

This week’s Torah Reading – Chukat – Statutes Beyond Our Understanding – is not about one statute: “God spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ‘This is the statute of the Torah..speak to the Children of Israel.” (Numbers 19:1-2) God did not instruct Moses to teach that the Red Heifer is a statute. The verse does not say, “Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them this is a statute.” The Chok, or statute, is that every teaching of the Torah must be presented with the idea of Chok – This is beyond human comprehension.

Torah learning is an invitation to explore the hidden meanings of absolutely everything in life, even croissants. Each Mitzvah we perform is a call to search for the hidden lessons of our lives and relationship with God.

When we study God’s laws as rules without a sense of mystery, or Chok, we forfeit their vibrant messages and delicious insights.  Reading the Bible, Talmud, or prayerbook without an appreciation for the hidden meanings waiting to be discovered by us turns perfect croissants (available, of course, only in Argentina as Media Luma) into Krispy Kreme Donuts.

We step into the world of Chok each time we pray. We have a chance to discover hidden treasures each time we open a Bible. The Mitzvot train us to step into different worlds with every action.

There are three categories of commandments, but all Mitzvot contain an element of all three. Each category triggers different lessons: Mishpatim ask us to reexamine our assumptions about life. Eidot, or Testimonies, remind us to always consider how we fit into the broader history of God and Israel. Chukim challenge us to always reach deeper into the mysteries and hidden meanings of absolutely everything.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

The Mitzvah of Parah Adumah can be quite confusing and demanding. The more we learn the more demanding it becomes.

Children had to be raised from birth in a secluded environment specially designed to protect them from any possible impurity in order to have people with the proper level of purity to prepare the Parah Adumah. They were not able to live among a normal functioning society.

This situation is not unique to the Parah Adumah. There are many of us who feel that in order to live as we should we must separate ourselves from society. In order to maintain the purity of our prayers, blessings, learning and Mitzvot we must seclude ourselves from any external and corrupting influences. How can we possibly maintain our spiritual integrity in an environment, which seems so contradictory to so much of what we believe?

These children were not being secluded from a corrupt society. They lived at a time when people were living with great spiritual honesty and awareness. They still had to be separated. There is no perfect society. There is no way to live in absolute spiritual purity and holiness. This was the gift of the Parah Adumah. When we felt overwhelmed by the demands of life, of making a living and raising our children, when we felt torn away from the joy of connecting with God as we desire in the deepest part of our being, we could travel to Jerusalem and taste perfection, if only temporarily.

The contradictions of the Parah Adumah are the contradictions of life. They are part and parcel of human existence and are not bad. They are the core of our job to discover the holy even in the impure.

And, there’s more…

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

All the Mitzvot in the Torah were designed as an expression of the Ultimate Will and Infinite Wisdom. They are all beyond human ken and understanding.

However, there is one category of laws called “Chok” which are blatantly beyond any human understanding.

Parah Adumah is the paradigm of Chok. We cannot understand how a Red Cow can bring purity. We cannot understand why the Cohen who purifies becomes impure.

A Chok changes us; it forces us to confront the fact that we cannot understand. The Chok reminds us that we of finite mind and understanding cannot begin to comprehend the Infinite Will and Wisdom of the Creator.

The Chok does more: Each time we observe a Chok, whether it is the separation of milk and meat, or wool from linen, or a Red Cow, we are observing with a sense that what we do matters in ways that are beyond us. The Chok teaches us that we cannot fully appreciate the power and implications of our actions.

The Chok nurtures a Sixth Sense in us, a sense that we can use with each Mitzvah we observe, the sense that what we are doing attaches us to the Infinite. The Chok can transform all we do.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.