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The ashes of the red heifer, blended with various other ingredients, creates a compound that somehow manages to make spiritually pure those who had been defiled after coming into contact with a dead body. Yet at the very same time that the person is purified, the Kohen who administers the compound is himself rendered tamei!
How can this be? How can the very same item have the exact opposite effect on two different people?
But to me, this is not the most challenging part of the puzzle. I find it even more mysterious that the ashes of a dead thing can bring one back from the dead; i.e. remove the stain of death from one who had touched death. Now,
I can understand how some acts - such as immersion in a Mikva - can serve to alter, or negate, the imprimatur of death, for in that instance it is life (in the form of water, a primary source of all life) which dispels death. But how
can death cancel death?! This is indeed mystifying.
While I certainly do not claim to be smarter than Shlomo HaMelech, who lamented that he could not unravel this ancient riddle, I do have a thought on the matter.
In the circle of life, there is a very close proximity of death to life. A leaf dies when it falls off a tree, but when it flutters to the ground it enriches the soil, which will then give life to new plants. A woman’s giving birth to a child will cause
her reproductive system to (temporarily) go sterile. A person dies, but at the moment of his death, he enters into life eternal (thus a cemetery is referred to in Jewish tradition as a Beit Chaim, a house of life).
On a national level, our greatest moments of life are connected to the bitterest pangs of death. So it was when we reached the lowest level of degradation in Egypt, only to be followed swiftly by our Redemption. And so it was 70 years ago, when from the ashes of the Shoa there arose the rebirth of our great nation Israel. It is as if Hashem cannot bear for us to remain tamei for long; we must always return to vibrant, dynamic, active life.
Sefer Shmot began with our entrance into slavery – a kind of living death - but it ends with the building of the Mishkan, a place that holds the Luchot - Torat Chayim - & the Shechina, the spirit of the living G-d. The final word is,
& shall always be, L’Chayim – To Life!
The section of the Torah read as Maftir this Shabbat of Parshat Para has baffled scholars & commentators for all of our history. Taken from the Sedra of Chukat, it is known as the Chok par excellence, the most perplexing of all the seemingly unknowable statutes of the Torah.
The ashes of the red heifer, blended with various other ingredients, creates a compound that somehow manages to make spiritually pure those who had been defiled after coming into contact with a dead body. Yet at the very same time that the person is purified, the Kohen who administers the compound is himself rendered tamei!
How can this be? How can the very same item have the exact opposite effect on two different people?
But to me, this is not the most challenging part of the puzzle. I find it even more mysterious that the ashes of a dead thing can bring one back from the dead; i.e. remove the stain of death from one who had touched death. Now,
I can understand how some acts - such as immersion in a Mikva - can serve to alter, or negate, the imprimatur of death, for in that instance it is life (in the form of water, a primary source of all life) which dispels death. But how
can death cancel death?! This is indeed mystifying.
While I certainly do not claim to be smarter than Shlomo HaMelech, who lamented that he could not unravel this ancient riddle, I do have a thought on the matter.
In the circle of life, there is a very close proximity of death to life. A leaf dies when it falls off a tree, but when it flutters to the ground it enriches the soil, which will then give life to new plants. A woman’s giving birth to a child will cause
her reproductive system to (temporarily) go sterile. A person dies, but at the moment of his death, he enters into life eternal (thus a cemetery is referred to in Jewish tradition as a Beit Chaim, a house of life).
On a national level, our greatest moments of life are connected to the bitterest pangs of death. So it was when we reached the lowest level of degradation in Egypt, only to be followed swiftly by our Redemption. And so it was 70 years ago, when from the ashes of the Shoa there arose the rebirth of our great nation Israel. It is as if Hashem cannot bear for us to remain tamei for long; we must always return to vibrant, dynamic, active life.
Sefer Shmot began with our entrance into slavery – a kind of living death - but it ends with the building of the Mishkan, a place that holds the Luchot - Torat Chayim - & the Shechina, the spirit of the living G-d. The final word is,
& shall always be, L’Chayim – To Life!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
