The Last Moo of the Cow

The Cow turns into Ashes

Do we sense any irony in the fact that ashes from a dead cow are used to purify those who have been contaminated by contact with death?

This law of the Para Aduma is the ultimate Chok, a law that must be followed for no logical reason other than the fact that it was commanded. Yet many attempts are made to give meaning to this law, with full understanding that King Solomon, the genius of all men for all time could not figure out a reason for this law.

A cow is symbolic of Chesed, kindness, because of all the milk it generously provides, but the REDness is symbolic of Din, harsh judgement. This law is a contradition from the start. But there is no question, that if man is to be purified from the sin of the first man who brought death into this world, then there will come a time in history filled with Chesed and Din that will result in purification from death.

The current incarnation of the Roman, Edomite, Red exile, led by a civilization that shown tremendous Chesed to Klal Yisrael and many other nations in the past, is now faltering. It is now following a totally illogical path of conducting a war on terror on one hand, and simultaenously encouraging those who perpetrated terror to set up their own state on the border of their ally, the Jewish State of Israel. This is a total contradition. It is Chesed on one hand and strong Din on the other simultaenously.

The ultimate purification of man will be via the destruction of this Red Cow by a "pure man", as the Midrash describes the Para Aduma as a purification from Golus in Maharal's sefer Ner Mitzva, who will prove to mankind the falseness of this civilization. Why do we need a process of Chesed and Din to purify man from the curse of death that the first man brought on the world?

A speculative answer is that things are purified the way they become impure. For instance, a fleishig metal pot that had hot milk placed on it by mistake can be kashered by heating it to a very high temperature. Just as it became "impure" by a hot material it can be purified by heat. So it is very likely that the original Chait of Adam and Chava was a distortion of Chesed and Din that can only be purified by a process of Chesed and Din. The desire of Chava to do a Chesed for mankind, by attempting to correct an "injustice" pointed out by the Nachash, the injustice that Hashem didn't let them eat from the Eitz Hadaas because they might become like Hashem; her attempt to correct the injustice led to a tremendous Din for their descendants. The harsh Din of death is in turn a tremendous Chesed, because it purifies man from the Yetzer Hara that the Nachash placed in them. So the Para Aduma, the Red Chesed, is capable of purification from Adam's Chait, the desire of the US and the UK to correct injustice is perverted by their desire and economic need for oil, supplied by very Din-oriented regimes. Regimes that cut off the hand that steals - literally.

This week a regime that also preaches justice, but practices harsh Din against Klal Yisrael today, and especially in the past during their blockade of immigration of refugees from Hitler to Palestine, was treated to a taste of the Din they handed out. Nobody wants to see innocents simply going to work suffer, but the past injustices and current support for Hamas terrorism shown by the British government cry out for correction. Another case of Chesed mixed with Din, the British did sacrifice and fight against Hitler, and against Saddam in Iraq, but together with their Chesed is a large dose of Din, perverted by their love of oil (and hatred of Klal Yisrael).

Finally, we see this week that Moshe Rabeinu desparately wanted to pass through a Red land, the land of Edom. M'or V'Shemesh writes that Moshe knew that in the future the Red regime, Edom (Red), Esav would cause tremendous pain to Klal Yisrael, and wanted to enter their land and draw off some of their Kochos. The Torah describes this desire to enter Edom immediately after Moshe is informed that he will not enter Eretz Yisrael because he failed to sanctify Hashem when he hit the rock. What is the connection between the decree on Moshe to die outside of Eretz Yisrael, and Moshe's desire to enter Edom?

Based on M'or V'shemesh the answer is obvious. If Moshe entered Eretz Yisrael, they would never be expelled and be subject to the decrees of exile among the nations, because Moshe could exploit the power of the Mitzvos of Eretz Yisrael and set up a shield from golus. But, once Moshe knew he could not enter, he decided to make his best effort to weaken the power of the nations that would subjugate Klal Yisrael, and Edom was the strongest (who we continue to suffer from today). Unfortunately for us, Moshe couldn't enter Edom or Eretz Yisrael, and it is now up to us to weaken the stronghold this Golus has upon us through our own efforts, as we are now living in the midst of Golus of Edom, Yishmael, and the Eruv Rav and must drain the power away from these forces of Golus and redirect them towards the truth.