"Torah Lights"
 
Video Insights on the Parsha
 
 by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel: “This is the inscribed statute [hok] of the Torah which the Lord has commanded saying ‘Speak to the Children of Israel and they shall take for you a red heifer…’” (Numbers, 19:1,2). 

The strange and mystical nature of the ritual of the Red Heifer is a hok, one of the commandments we follow not because they are rational, logical or moral, but only because they are Divinely commanded. The very notion of the priest purifying an individual who has been defiled by contact with a dead body by sprinkling the ashes of a red heifer mixed with spring waters upon him seems irrational. The ritual is even paradoxical because those priests involved in preparing this mixture are themselves defiled by it. How can a substance with the capacity to purify the defiled simultaneously defile those who are pure?  

The Red Heifer ritual described in the first half of this week’s portion is not simply one more hok among all the other hukim of the Torah. Rather it is the archetype of all the Torah’s hukim. This is indicated by the words which introduce it, “zot hukat haTorah”– “This is the decree of the Torah,” conveying a lesson far beyond the specific ritual of purification. Indeed, were the ritual of the Red Heifer limited to its function as a ritual of purification, it would belong in the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus), with the Biblical portions that concentrate on impurities and purification. Why then does the Torah place it in the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers), right after the rebellion of Korah and immediately before the transgression of Moses at the rock? Perhaps this positioning of the law serves as an introduction to – and explanation for – Moses’ sin of striking of the rock, which prevents him from entering the Promised Land.

The portion of Hukat is read near the time of the passing (yahrzeit) of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Menahem Mendel Schneerson, the greatest Jewish leader of the 20th Century.  Since there is always a connection between the portion of the week and the timing of the death of great Jewish leaders, the Red Heifer ritual provides a fascinating insight and commentary on the life of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.  

The people of Israel is eternal, and the Torah of Israel is eternal; G-d is identified with both the nation and its Torah. When G-d threatens to destroy Israel for forsaking the Torah and worshipping the Golden Calf, Moses chooses to ‘break’ the Torah Tablets and preserve the nation. His action is a direct commentary on the question: which is more important, the Nation of Israel, or the Torah of Israel?

The Kohen-priest is our teacher and guardian, our religious inspiration and guide; his special garb reflects his unique vocation (Exodus, 28: 12-38). On the one hand, the shoulder strap of his apron (ephod) and the breast plate (hoshen mishpat) worn next to his heart bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, demonstrating his love and responsibility for the nation. On the other hand, inscribed on the head-plate placed on his forehead, seat of the mind, are the words, “…sacred unto the Lord,” expressing his commitment to the intellectual study, understanding and propagation of Torah. Clearly, both the nation and the Torah are essential. But which is foremost?

For nearly three hundred years, Eastern European Jews had two models of religious leadership; the Lithuanian Rosh Yeshiva and the Hassidic Rebbe. The former devoted most of his attention to the priestly head-plate (tzitz), the intellectual pursuit of Torah, while the latter dedicated most of his attention to the priestly breastplate and shoulder strap, the pastoral concerns of the flock.

I’d like to suggest that the priestly role of sprinkling the Red Heifer’s ashes indicates the correct approach in determining priorities. The Torah teaches that the very mixture which purifies those defiled defilesthe Kohen-Priest performing the purification. But is this really paradoxical? If my friend falls into a mud-pile, will I not become sullied and muddied in the process of helping him out? Built into the very enterprise of purifying the defiled is the idea that the purifier himself must be touched by some of the impurity! 

This is precisely why the Kohen must bless the nation “out of love”; when the Kohen-leader truly loves every Jew, he assumes a new level of responsibility. In his desire to rescue a fellow Jew from contact with spiritual death, he willingly sacrifices some of his own comforts and even some of his spirituality (mesirat nefesh). A loving leader must be ready to leave the ivory-tower kollel bet midrash and make his way to the furthest and darkest hinterlands to infuse them with the light of spirituality. In effect, this is what G-d tells Moses at the time of the Golden Calf: “Get down from the supernal heights of Mount Sinai and go down to the errant Jews worshipping the Golden Calf; the only reason I bestowed greatness upon you, Moses, was for the sake of the nation Israel; if your nation is sinning, what need have I of you?” (B.T. Berakhot, 32a) 

In the beginning of his ministry, Moses was completely committed to his people. When he killed the Egyptian taskmaster to defend an Israelite slave; he sacrificed his position as a prince in Pharaoh’s empire and risked his own life. However, the endless carping, ingratitude and insurrections of the Israelites finally wears him down, so that eventually, he calls the Israelites “rebels,” striking the rock instead of speaking to it, which we understand to be an act of displaced anger against his stiff-necked nation.

Here lies the connection between the two parts of our Biblical portion, the ritual of the Red Heifer and Moses’ sin and punishment. Once a leader loses even the smallest amount of his capacity to love his people, even if his feelings are justified by the shabby and derelict way they have treated him, he can no longer continue to lead them. 

The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a great and profound scholar, but he devoted the lion’s share of his time and energies to the nation. The style of Lithuanian religious leadership could not survive the holocaust. Hassidut in general, and Habad in particular, did survive and, amazingly enough, are stronger today than they were before Hitler’s devastating destruction. The timeless and constant message of Habad is love; the empowerment of love, the divinity of love, and the eternity of love: “Be among the disciples of Aaron, love humanity, and with that love, you will bring everyone close to Torah” (Ethics of the Fathers, 1: 12).

In the final analysis, the preservation of the eternal Torah requires a people strong enough and determined enough to devote their lives to it. And so the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson ztz”l raised an army of emissaries (shluchim) whose love and commitment to our nation is so great that they readily leave batei-midrash, their families and communities for the farthest recesses of the globe to bring Jews back to their Parent-in-Heaven. 

Shabbat Shalom