Paradigm of the Rule of Life

          Rashi, at the beginning of Parashat Hukat comments that the Parah Adumah (red heifer) is a Ḥok, a law which is to be observed despite the fact that its underlying logic is beyond human comprehension. Yet later in the Parasha, Rashi quotes our Sages’ explanation that the Parah Adumah is a rectification of the sin of the golden calf.

          Concerning the apparent contradiction in Rashi’s comments, we can say that the Ḥok aspect of Parah Adumah lies in the apparent oxymoron: as our Sages say “the prosecutor does not become the defender”. That is, it seems inconsistent that the heifer (and its offspring) represent both sin and absolution for that sin. The same apparently inherent contradiction is seen in one of the laws of the Parah Adumah: it purifies the impure and makes the pure impure. While the ashes of the Parah Adumah are necessary to effect ritual purification (tahara) following contact with a dead body, the Kohanim who prepared the Parah Aduma became ritually impure (tamei).

          Perhaps the Torah is teaching a lesson which it conveys many times: things, in and of themselves, are neither good nor bad. What gives value to things is the way man uses them. Indeed, the same creature which was involved in one of Israel’s gravest sins can be used to achieve penitence for that sin. The same Parah Adumah can purify the impure and yet make the pure impure.

          The opening verse of the chapter of the Parah Adumah: “Zot ḥukat haTorah..” can be understood to mean “this is the rule of the Torah”. That is, the Torah presents the Parah Adumah as a paradigm of the rule of life: the value of things is not inherent, rather it is man’s use which determines their worth.