Parshat Chukat

Parshat Chukat
Tammuz 7, 5773 ~ June 15, 2013
by Dan Cohen

Free Will & The Ritual of the Red Heifer.

(This drash is prepared in honor of the unique and fantastic contributions made to OHDS and our BJC community by Rabbi Ari Leubitz)

The fun thing about writing one of these is watching how the greats of the past and present wrestle with the topics raised in Parsha. This week’s Red Heifer Paradox was no different.

I liked this succinct summary of the need for the red heifer ritual as written by Naftali Silberberg. 

“There are many forms of spiritual impurity, of varying gravity. The most severe type of impurity is contracted through contact with a human corpse. In times past, in order to be permitted access to the Holy Temple, one who contracted this impurity needed to be purified by being sprinkled with waters mixed with the ashes of a red heifer.”

Most commentaries hover around the word “paradox” to describe this purification process.  They grapple with the idea that those who conduct the ritual become impure, but that those who benefit from the ritual become pure. 

Commentary after commentary speaks to our inability to comprehend this ritual, yet Hashem commanded it and therefore we did it.  However, are we really fulfilling the mitzvah and exercising free will if we don’t comprehend it?

In Pirkei Avos Chapter 3: Mishnah 19, we learn that:

“Everything is seen, yet the freedom of choice is given.  The world is judged with goodness, and everything depends on the majority of good deeds.”  

The Maharal shares three points in his commentary on this Mishnah that spoke to me.

First, that we all have the ability and desire to exercise free will, that the choices we make are exactly what places us in the image of G-d.   

Second, that “Everything is seen.” We benefit from the idea that G-d directs his attention to every action that is performed for his sake. 

Third, that when Hashem judges the world, it is not to find opportunities for punishment, but that instead he looks to provide opportunities for goodness.  And in creating these opportunities, Hashem gives us the window to repair the world.

So to follow are a few thoughts on free will, divine appreciation and the opportunities for goodness.

Free will.  Why do we do the things we do? 

In a commentary at Aish.com, an unknown author states there is a direct link between the two ideas embodied in the ritual.  That one who prepares the ashes from the red heifer becomes spiritually impure, but that the ashes themselves can be used to purify someone. The author goes on to highlight that in real-life, sometimes it’s the negative behaviors or decisions we make that lead us to hit rock bottom – at which point the negative behavior drives us to make a change in a positive direction.  The author said, “So the very act that was so impure is now the very same act that allows you make a real change.” 

Change is a choice. So too is the enactment of the Red Heifer ritual. It is a choice to perform an act that may cause (temporary) impurity, to help someone else achieve a reparative state of purity.  In a way, the parsha gives us the instructions to make a “comeback” from our most impure state.  With that knowledge, there is nothing we can’t achieve spiritually if we make choices with our eyes open.

Which then begs the questions…is anyone paying attention?  Does that matter? 

Appreciation by Hashem.

Free will is our uniquely human challenge and opportunity. The Maharal in the Pirkei Avos commentary connects these ideas.

He says that if Hashem withdrew a person’s free choice, that would undermine the divine nature of mankind, which finds its essence in that very same free choice.  However, if Hashem undermines a person’s ability to succeed in doing evil, he would undermine the system of nature, a system he created to run by consistent and predictable rules.

So, what is our role?  I would suggest that we are the essential spark that breathes life and opportunity into the natural outputs of the world.

Certainly, nature’s presence can be found in the fact that red heifers don’t come along every day.  They are a rare but natural occurrence.  Hashem has set forth natural biological systems that allow this wheel to start spinning.  

However, it is all of us and our free will that choose to see and act on this anomaly.  We can, with instruction from
G-d, follow a process to cleanse the spiritually impure and elevate a fellow member of the community. It is this elevation – from object to action – that the Maharal says merits special attention from Hashem.

So, if we can choose to partake in this ritual, and in doing so, merit special divine attention, do we ever really know why this specific action is so important?

Opportunities for goodness (and maybe transcendence). 

When it comes to wrapping up their red heifer analysis, many of the commentaries end with a theme of “trust in Hashem.”  Just trust him.  He knows all and we never can. 

These commentaries cite everyone from King Solomon to Job to Moshe saying to the effect that sometimes we humans just can’t understand.  Honestly, that’s a tough one in our post-postmodern world.

I took a measure of solace in a blink-and-you-miss-it line in the Stone Chumash in verse 19:9 and the words “It is for purification.” 

It’s the commentary and idea that the ashes are not to be used for personal benefit, but rather for community benefit (per Rashi). Rashi even states in the same commentary that those who use the ashes for personal reasons must make another (!) sacrifice to atone. While the red heifer is a challenging ritual, it also requires those who participate focus on the greater good, not personal gain. 

The Maharal says G-d created all of the mitzvot to give us a chance to repair the world – and I read it to mean this is true even when they defy rational comprehension. The restorative power of the red heifer ritual, to transform a fellow Jew from an impure state to one of ritual purity, is astounding.  Yes it defies logic, but in some ways it binds us to each other as Jews and gives us a roadmap to reach a higher plane together.  

Shabbat Shalom.

(For what it’s worth, does the “Red Heifer Paradox” sound like a lost Tom Clancy novel?)