All Mitzvot as Ḥok

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying (leimor): This is the statute of the Torah, which the Lord commanded, saying (leimor): Speak to the Children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer, faultless, wherein there is no blemish, and upon which never came a yoke.                                       Numbers 19:1-2

My father suggested that the repetition of the word “leimor” is intended to stress the fact that the law of the red heifer is a ḥok, a divine decree which is beyond human comprehension. It is incumbent upon us to observe the Law simply because it is God’s expressed will, even though we cannot comprehend the divine intent.

Rashi, quoting Bamidbar Rabba [19:5], defines ḥukka as that which defies human comprehension:

For Satan and the nations of the world say to Israel: what is this mitzva about and what is its reason? Therefore it is called ḥukka, it is a degree from Me, and you do not have permission to question it.

Re’em in his supercommentary on Rashi notes that the Torah [Exodus 12:43] uses the word ḥukka in connection with Passover too. Yet Rashi’s definition of ḥukka does not apply, since the Torah explains the underlying reason for the mitzva of Passover.

My father explained that ultimately we must accept every mitzva as a ḥukka. We perform mitzvot because God commanded us to, not because we understand the underlying reasons. Indeed, Aruch haShulḥan [Oraḥ Ḥayyim 1:13] writes:

Among the fundamentals of the Jewish religion is performing mitzvot not because our intellect requires it (for example the mitzvot between man and fellow man), but solely because God has commanded us.

Even those mitzvot which we “understand” have deep hidden implications which are beyond mortal comprehension. Since humans cannot understand the full meaning of any mitzva, ultimately all mitzvot are on the level of ḥukka, and are therefore comparable to the unfathomable law of the red heifer.