.png)
Rashi cites a Midrash in the name of Rabbi Moshe the Darshan:
משל לבן שפחה שטינף פלטין של מלך אמרו תבא אמו ותקנח הצואה כך תבא פרה ותכפר על העגל
The Parah Adumah can be compared to a child who soiled the palace of the king. The royal attendants say, bring in the mother to clean up after her son; so too, the Red Cow should come and clean up after the Golden Calf
It is clear from this midrash that besides the legal mechanism of purifying the ritually impure, the Parah Adumah serves as a form of atonement for the sin of the golden calf.
Rav Schwab z”l explains this message beautifully.
We tend to ascribe significance to the physical world, our livelihood, and our daily routine, more than to our spiritual needs, and service of Hashem. The reason for this is very simple; we live in a physical world, and that is what we see around us. The spiritual world, is something more abstract, something that we know exists, but don’t see clearly with our own two eyes.
If we analyze the root of the sin of the golden calf, it was the over-emphasis of physicality; when Moshe was late coming down from the mountain, we should have learned a powerful lesson- perhaps even the great Moshe was unable to withstand the intense spirituality of the Shechina, and became nullified to it; all the more so, we, should also nullify ourselves to Hashem and serve Him wholeheartedly. Instead, we felt the need to hold ourselves back, and create a physical image to cling to- the golden calf, which became the source of idolatry. Instead of running to our true source, we ran away to cling to something physical.
When someone passes away, we also tend to subconsciously think that since the person is no longer with us in the flesh, somehow, he is no more; again the spiritual side being something abstract. This is the source of tumah, and idol worship.
The ceremony of the Parah Adumah forces us to change this attitude; we take a strong, healthy cow, one that has never been submitted to the yoke, the epitome of strength and physicality, and completely burn it to ash. We then mix it with spring water. This process is meant to symbolize the nullification of the physical, and submitting it to the spiritual.
The Parah Adumah then, serves as the perfect antidote to this feeling- let’s remind ourselves that the physical is nothing but a ‘garment’ for the spiritual, and elevate ourselves to a sense of purity.
May we constantly keep our eyes focused on our true goal, to grow in our service of Hashem, and to prioritize the spiritual!
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
Comments