{"id":47689,"date":"2019-01-17T16:37:22","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T14:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=47689"},"modified":"2022-08-11T16:53:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T13:53:02","slug":"red-heifer-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/red-heifer-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Heifer \u2013 Then And Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[414,363,752],"acf":{"old_id":"47689","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"136","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"We no longer have the ritual - but don\u2019t have a cow!","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our chapter begins with God telling Moses: \u201cThis is the statute of the law (<em>huqqat ha-torah<\/em>), which the Lord has commanded, saying: \u2018Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer, faultless, in whom there is no imperfection, and upon whom no yoke has come\u2019\u201d (Numbers 19:2). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Rabbinic Sages, the law of the \u00a0Red Heifer is specifically referred to as a <em>choq<\/em> (\u201cstatute\u201d), which may be categorized as a divine commandment not based on any practical reason, but which is to be observed out of unquestioning acceptance of the authority of God. Such statutes are understood to be beyond normal human understanding (Numbers Rabbah 19:3 &amp; 8). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 19:6), God revealed the rationale for this commandment only to Moses. Another midrashic tradition (Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana, Parah 4:7 and parallels), dramatically narrates that as Moses is ascending to receive the Torah, he first hears God reciting the opening Halakhah in Mishnah Parah. This tractate of the Mishnah consists in full of 96 separate mishnayot, divided into twelve chapters, all devoted to the elaboration of this one biblical commandment. The commandment of the Red Heifer so concerned the Rabbis because its ashes were necessary for the purification of highly \u201ccontagious\u201d corpse-impurity that was contracted by any direct (or even indirect) contact with a dead body, as detailed in the continuation of our Chapter (verses 3-22, see Maimonides, Hilkhot Tumat Met). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because the offering of sacrifices ceased after the Destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, purification from ritual corpse-impurity has also not been possible since then. However, in our day, the Temple Institute in Jerusalem has instituted a program to raise a herd of Red Heifers in Israel, in accordance with the stringencies of Halakhah and under strict Rabbinic supervision, in preparation for the Coming of the Messiah, the Rebuilding of the (i.e.Third) Temple and the subsequent purification of our world. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The possibility of again preparing new ashes of a kosher Red Heifer is based on the teaching of Maimonides (Hilkhot Parah Adumah 3:4, compare Mishnah Parah 3:5). Maimonides concludes this Chapter of his monumental Code of Jewish Law (Mishneh Torah) with the following details and &#8211;unconventionally for his general manner of writing in this work &#8212; with a prayer: \u201cNine red heifers were offered from the time that they were commanded to fulfill this mitzvah until the time when the Temple was destroyed a second time. The first was offered by Moses our teacher. The second was offered by Ezra. Seven others were offered until the destruction of the Second Temple. And the tenth will be offered by the king Messiah &#8212; May he speedily be revealed! Amen. So may it be God&#8217;s will!\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:R%C3%B8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM.jpg#\/media\/File:R%C3%B8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM.jpg<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":47690,"id":47690,"title":"Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM","filename":"Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/red-heifer-then-and-now\/num19-rod_dansk_malkerace_rdm\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"num19-rod_dansk_malkerace_rdm","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":47689,"date":"2019-01-17 14:37:08","modified":"2019-01-17 14:37:17","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":910,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM-300x213.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM-768x546.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":546,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM-1024x728.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":728,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":910,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":910,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM-1200x853.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":853,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num19-R\u00f8d_dansk_malkerace_RDM-591x420.jpg","home_baner-width":591,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Red Heifer \u2013 Then And Now","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"We no longer have the ritual - 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