At Parasha Chukkat…

Today I began to think about the Parashah Chukkat. It means law or statute. Quite simply, Chukkat. There is no room here for any kind of escape from the Torah and its eternal source for the Jewish people. In the Parashah, the sons of Israel are addressed by Moshe Rabbeinu and Aaron. It speaks of the red heifer, which is offered as a sacrifice to Hashem by Eleazar, the Kohen. Interestingly, all who come into contact with it become ritually impure and must wash their clothes and themselves in water, but remain untainted until evening. This weekly portion describes in great detail what must be done. Therefore, it is very important, on the one hand, to know and follow all the steps; on the other hand, it is equally important that, should someone come up with the idea of ​​questioning what has been commanded, there must be no room for doubt, even if we do not understand the meaning of the actions. It is a kind of purification. Not meant as a moral category, but as an expression that anyone who touches a dead thing must remain outside until their ritual purification. Therefore, all of this is an unconditional expression of Hashem’s desire to place life above all else, and that nothing is more important than life itself. The red cow represents the animus, the animal, the living, and that is precisely why he, the priest, sprinkles the blood in the direction of the tent of meeting. Why in this direction in particular?!! Because every synagogue is a tent of meeting. A tent because it can only be a temporary solution for the Bet haMikdash yet to be built in Jerusalem.