“This is the statute/decree/law (chukat) of the Torah…and you shall take to you a red cow…” (Numbers 19:2)
Why is the ritual of the red cow, used to purify those who had come into contact with a corpse, referred to as the law of the Torah. Shouldn’t it have been called the law of the red cow or the law of purification?
There was a paradoxical nature to the law of the red cow. The person who was ritually impure through contact with a corpse became pure – but the person performing the ritual became impure!
Rav Moshe Feinstein explained that this paradox applies to Torah life in general. For example, we should be generous with our own money, but tight fisted when it comes to making sure that others don’t lose what is theirs. Or, we should never demand honor for ourselves – but we should be very concerned about the honor of others. Life is usually complicated, and we need wisdom to know how to navigate.
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
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