09 Jul HUKAT: THE BLIND SPOTS

Parashat Hukat
introduces us to
the mitzvah of parah
adumah – the special red
cow that was used for
purifying. The cow was
slaughtered and burned, and the ashes
were then mixed with water. That water
would be used to make somebody or
something tahor after it had
become tameh by coming in contact
with a dead body.
The Midrash draws a connection
between the parah adumah and the sin
of the golden calf. A calf is a young
cow. And so the parah
adumah represents the “mother” of the
golden calf.
In the words of the Midrash: “Let the
mother come and clean up her child’s
mess.”
When a young child makes a mess, the
parent has the responsibility to clean up
the mess.
Thus, the parah adumah serves to atone

for the sin of golden calf – like a mother
cleaning up the mess made by her child.
The Midrash implicitly conveys what
might seem like an obvious message,
but which is, unfortunately, not always
as obvious as it should be:
When there is a mess to clean up, we
need to clean it up.
I cannot tell you how many times I
have heard parents of married children
complain, “CAN’T THEY AT LEAST
CLEAN THE HIGHCHAIR?!!?!”
Especially in the summertime, it is
common for young couples to spend a
lot of time in their parents’ houses, or
even move in for a few weeks. They
need to be responsible, and, quite
literally, clean up the mess. It is not
considerate to their parents to leave it to
them to clean up the kids’ mess. They
need to take responsibility.
But there’s a more general lesson here,
too.
People are sometimes oblivious to

their surroundings, to the “messes” that
they make without taking care of or
taking responsibility for. They go about
their business doing what they want to
do without showing any regard for
what’s going on around them, for the
“mess” that needs to be cleaned up.
This happens because of selfishness –
something that all of us have. We are all
selfish in some way. And to an extent,
this makes sense. We all have personal
needs that we need to care for. The
problem is that these needs create
“blind spots” that shield our vision, that
don’t allow us to see other people and
their needs. These “blind spots” prevent
us sometimes from seeing the “mess”
that we are making and that we are
supposed to be “cleaning up.”
The solution to this problem is to make
a special effort to keep our eyes open
and look around us. We don’t need to
live with blind spots. If we turn our
heads far enough, we’ll see more. If we
pay closer attention to the people

around us, we won’t be blind to their
needs.
So let’s try to always stay attuned to
what’s going around us. Let’s “clean
the highchair.” Let’s clean up the
messes that we are responsible to clean
up, and show greater concern and
consideration for all the people in our
lives – who will then, undoubtedly, do
the same for us.
This will make our homes, our families
and our community so much happier.