30 Jun CHUKAS: TEMIMUS

The parashah begins
with the words Zos
Chukas HaTorah,
“This is the law of the
Torah…” and it goes
on to discuss the laws
of tumah and taharah,
related to the laws of
parah adumah.
The Or HaChaim asks,
“Why does the Torah
refer to this mitzvah
with a general name,
chukas hatorah, the law
of the Torah? It should
have stated… zos chukas hatumah…or zos
chukas hataharah, ‘These are the laws of
tumah,’ or “These are the laws of taharah?”
The Kedushas Levi zt’l explains that here the
Torah implies that the entire Torah is a chok.
The Kedushas Levi zt’l writes, “The reasons
for the Torah and its mitzvos are concealed
from every man… This is implied in zos
chukas hatorah, the entire Torah with all its
mitzvos are a chok, since its reasons weren’t
revealed to us. The primary purpose we keep
the mitzvos is because tziva Hashem lemor,
Hashem commanded us to do so.”
And since we don’t know the reasons for

the mitzvos, it is impossible to rationalize
or make exceptions. We do as we were
commanded because this is Hashem’s decree.
There is an ongoing battle between the
neshamah and the body. The neshamah wants
to serve Hashem while the body doesn’t. The
Kedushas Levi explains that this is because
the neshamah knows the taamim for the
mitzvos of the Torah, while the body doesn’t.
The body doesn’t know the reasons for the
mitzvos and, therefore, doesn’t want to
perform them.
When we don’t feel the need to understand
everything, we will accept the halachah as
Hashem told it to us. We won’t try to make
changes in the Torah, chalilah, to fit our
opinions, worldviews, and the like. This is
Hashem’s decree, and we will keep it exactly
as Hashem commanded it.
The first Rashi of the parashah states, “The
Satan and the nations of the world taunt the
Jewish nation, and they say, ‘What is this
commandment [of parah adumah]? What
is its purpose?’ Therefore, the Torah labels
parah adumah a decree (chok). I have decreed
it; You have no right to question it.”
The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 19:8)
elaborates:
“A non-Jew told Rabban Yochanan ben

Zakai, ‘The parah adumah process appears
like witchcraft. You take a cow, burn it, crush
it, and then take its ashes. If one became
tamei to a human corpse, you sprinkle two or
three drops on him and proclaim him pure.’”
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai rebuffed the
goy not to be so surprised by this procedure
because goyim have similar methods to cure
those who suffer from an evil spirit.
When the goy left, Rabban Yochanan ben
Zakai told his students the real answer. He
said, “I swear, death doesn’t create tumah,
and water doesn’t purify. Hakadosh Baruch
Hu says, zos chukas hatorah, this is My rule,
which you must comply with.”
In other words, parah adumah is a chok, a
rule that we keep without understanding its
reason, logic, or explanation.
The Midrash continues:
“All korbanos are male. Why is the parah
adumah female? It is a mashal to an infant, the
child of a maidservant, who dirtied the king’s
palace with excretion. The king commanded,
‘Let his mother come and clean up her son’s
mess.’ Similarly, Hakadosh Baruch Hu says,
‘Let the parah adumah come and atone for
the egel.’”
An egel is a young calf. The parah adumah

is like the mother who comes to clean up her
calf’s mess.
The end of this Midrash seems to contradict
the beginning of the Midrash. The Midrash
begins by teaching that parah adumah doesn’t
have an explanation, and then the midrash
brings down a reason for this mitzvah – to
atone for the egel!
Rebbe Yitzchak of Vorke zt’l answers that
parah adumah is a chok. We don’t know the
reason for this mitzvah, and we keep it solely
because we believe in Hashem. And now that
we have displayed our emunah in Hashem,
the emunah atones for the egel. The egel
was avodah zorah, a lack of emunah, which
we rectify by demonstrating our emunah in
Hashem.