MOST ENIGMATIC MITZVAH; EXCEPT FOR MOSHE
The most enigmatic commandment in the Torah concerns the Red Heifer. This commandment involves taking a totally red cow, slaughtering it, burning its flesh, mixing its ashes with spring water and then sprinkling the mixture on a person who had become ritually impure by contact with a dead body. This procedure had to be done twice; on the third day and the seventh day after becoming defiled.
To make this ritual even more enigmatic, the people involved in the preparation of this mixture would themselves become ritually unclean even as they bring purity to others (albeit an impurity of a lesser degree, which did not require the same purification ritual).
This commandment was such a mystery that even King Solomon, the wisest of all people, stated, “I said that I want to fathom its meaning and I discovered it was remote from me.” Yet, G-d did reveal its secret to Moshe.
This is hinted in the opening words of this week’s parsha:
“This is the statute (Chukas) of the Torah that G-d commanded saying, ‘speak to the children of Israel and they shall take unto you a red heifer…’”
The words “unto you” our Sages comment mean that G-d revealed the secret meaning of this commandment to Moshe. To him it was no longer an enigma.
THREE-TIERED SYSTEM
This raises a question. The fact that this Mitzvah is trans-rational is understandable, for Judaism is based on a three pronged Mitzvah system: Mishpatim (judgments), Eidos (testimonies) and Chukim (statutes). We need the rational Mishpatim, such as the Mitzvos not to steal and to give tzedakah, because G-d wants us to develop kindness, compassion, love and sensitivity towards others and not just do things because we were commanded to do them. In other words, G-d’s will was that we perform these Mitzvos because of their underlying rationale and not just rely on the fact that they are G-d’s will.
The Eidos are those Mitzvos that we do, such as observing the Festivals, because they are constant reminders of G-d’s presence and expose our spiritual energies. While Mishpatim make us more moral, the Eidos make us more spiritual.
The Chukim, which we cannot fathom, were designed to connect us to G-d, who transcends rationality and spirituality. To do a Mitzvah “because G-d said so” unlocks our soul’s connection to G-d in a way that goes beyond conventional feelings and limited minds.
Of all the Chukim, the Red Heifer stands out as being the most enigmatic. This suggests that our most powerful connection to G-d comes through observance of this Mitzvah in a way that transcends our deepest forces of logic.
Why would G-d reveal the reason for this Mitzvah to Moshe and thereby deny him this level of commitment to G-d? And if there was a benefit in understanding this Mitzvah, why did G-d deny it to everyone else, including Solomon?
ASCRIBED TO MOSHE
The answer to this question can be provided by way of another interpretation of the words “unto you,” which suggests that Moshe had a special connection to this Mitzvah. Rashi states that “the Red Heifer will always be ascribed to your [Moshe’s] name; the Red heifer made by Moshe in the desert.” In other words, whenever people would use the ashes of the Red Heifer to purify somebody, they would always refer to the Red Heifer Moshe made in the desert.
The classic commentator Kli Yakar asks, why would we want to always ascribe the Red Heifer to Moshe in particular? What praise does this confer on him?
Kli Yakar answers that the mitzvah of the Red Heifer was intended as an atonement for the creation of the Golden Calf. In the words of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan (cited by Rashi): “Let the mother (Red Heifer) come and clean the dirt caused by its child (the Golden Calf).” Moshe began the atonement process when he burnt the Golden Calf and ground it into dust. Moreover, Moshe put his life on the line in his attempt to procure forgiveness for the children of Israel by offering to G-d to “erase him from His book.” Since it was Moshe who began the process of forgiveness, he too will complete the process.
Why was it so important for Moshe to be associated with the completion of the process?
“A MITZVAH IS ONLY CREDITED TO THE ONE WHO FINISHES IT”
The Kli Yakar explains that it is based on the Talmudic principle, “A Mitzvah is only credited to the one who finishes it.” By having all the Red Heifers identified with Moshe it can be said that he is the one who completed the atonement process.
According to the Kli Yakar, it was important that Moshe should be involved in the end of the process because one gets the credit for a Mitzvah only when it is completed.
This however raises a question when we compare it to a different Mitzvah that Moshe inaugurated but for which he did not receive credit by its completion. This is the Mitzvah of designating six cities in Israel as Cities of Refuge. These cities were intended to protect those who committed criminally negligent homicide. It was part punishment, part atonement and part protection from revenge-seeking relatives. Moshe, the Torah tells us, designated three such cities, although they did not begin to function as refuges until the Mitzvah was complete with all six cities in operation. And even that is not the end, for in the Messianic Age an additional three cities will be designated. Yet, while Moshe initiated the Mitzvah, he was not to be credited for its completion.
The question thus is why Moshe’s name is attached to the Red Heifers of the future to credit him for the completion of the Mitzvah but not to the future Cities of Refuge.
The answer might lie in the different types of atonement these two Mitzvos accomplished.
CITIES OF REFUGE VERSUS THE RED HEIFER
The Cities of Refuge were atonement for the commission of a crime without malice or forethought. There was no evil intent; just negligence. The Cities of Refuge could not remove, let alone transform, unmitigated evil. However, the Red Heifer’s objective was to atone for the Golden Calf, which reintroduced death to the world. Death was introduced into the world when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit and allowed themselves to absorb pure evil into their systems. This is why in the Messianic Age death will be abolished and the dead will be brought back to life. In the words of the prophet, “The spirit of impurity I will remove from the earth.”
Moshe’s role was not just that of removing some quantum of imperfection from the world. While he started that process by designating the first three Cities of Refuge, that was not his primary goal. Moshe wanted nothing short of reversing the entire process of evil from the earth. This process, as stated, was introduced with Adam and Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit but it was reversed at Mount Sinai, when, as our Sages put it, “Their filth ceased.” However, when the people sinned with the Golden Calf, “their filth returned.”
Moshe’s life was then dedicated to removing that scourge from the earth. His quest will not be complete until he fully succeeds in the Messianic Age. Removing all evil and even transforming it into good is the core function of the Red Heifer, which atones for one’s association with death. The final Red Heifer in the Messianic Age will epitomize the completion and fulfillment of Moshe’s life-goal of making this world G-dly by removing the last vestiges of evil.
“FIRST REDEEMER AND FINAL REDEEMER”
This explains another saying of our Sages: “Moshe was the first redeemer and Moshe will be the final redeemer.” Although Moshiach will be the final redeemer, he will be empowered to be the final redeemer only because he embodies the qualities and, indeed, the very soul of Moshe. It is Moshe who stands for the ultimate end of evil and its transformation. And Moshiach, empowered with the soul of Moshe, will accomplish that goal.
We can now understand why Moshe’s name does not need to be attached to the future Cities of Refuge in the way it does with the Red Heifer. The Cities of Refuge do not bring us to the end goal of transforming unmitigated evil into holiness. Their Mitzvah does not remove pure evil; only the lesser form of evil of unintentional and negligent behavior. Moshe’s essence does not demand the completion of a Mitzvah that does not bring our world to its state of completion. Moshe wants the complete Redemption; not some superficial and provisional reversal of negative forces in the world.
Moshiach too, the Talmud tells us, suffers greatly from even the slightest delay in the process of Redemption. No matter how many transformative things happen in our world, Moshiach, imbued as he will be with the passion of Moshe, will not be satisfied by anything short of its total transformation. This explains why the Rebbe always referred to the “True and complete Geula.”
We can now understand why G-d revealed the secret of the Red Heifer to Moshe. Moshe was the ultimate leader. His entire life revolved around bringing the world to a state of perfection. This goal is symbolized by the Mitzvah of the Red Heifer, the completion of which will bring the world to that state of perfection. This is why Moshe’s entire being had to “wrap” around this Mitzvah in particular; his mind, emotions and all of his faculties. This was/is Moshe’s essence.
Moreover, in the Messianic Age even the deepest mysteries of life will be revealed to one and all. Moshe was given a taste of this future because his entire life was about the future.
The Rebbe quoted the abovementioned statement of our Sages in a letter, “A Mitzvah is only credited to the one who finishes it,” and then applied it to our generation as “the final generation of Galus-exile and the first generation of Redemption.” This Moshe-Moshiach passion to bring an end to Galus in all of its forms must be our passion as well, for each of us possesses a spark of Moshe and Moshiach who will never be satisfied until the Geula is complete.