27 Jun PARSHAS CHUKAS: TUMAH AND TAHARAH DEFY OUR UNDERSTANDING

The whole
ceremony of Parah
Adumah [Red
Heifer] is the
q u i n t e s s e n t i a l
chok [mitzvah-decree
with no apparent
reason]. Rashi cites the Medrash that the
Satan and the nations of the world mock
Israel concerning this commandment –
taunting us to explain its rationale.
The Parah Adumah contains within itself
the greatest of paradoxes. Ashes of the
Parah Adumah mixed with water have
purifying powers. They are the only mode
by which a person who has come in contact
with a dead corpse (tumas mes) may
become pure again. And yet the halacha is
that the people who prepare the Parah
Adumah, that sprinkle its waters, and that
have anything to do with it become tameh
(spiritually impure) themselves.
The Rambam writes at the end of Hilchos
Mikvaos: It is a clear matter that the laws of
impurity and purity are Divine decrees
(gezeiros hakasuv hem) and we cannot
understand their rationale. They are in the

category of Jewish law known as chukim.
Likewise, the fact that immersion in a
mikveh removes tumah is a chok, because
tumah is not dirt that can be removed by
water.
The Shemen HaTov addresses the paradox
of the Parah Adumah. The Parah Adumah
comes to purify from death impurity (tumas
mes). When did death begin? It started at
the beginning of time with the sin of Man’s
eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Why
did Adam eat from the Tree of Knowledge?
Everything was available to him in the
Garden of Eden. The Torah says that the
motivation was so that “you will be G-d like,
knowing the difference between Good and
Evil” [Bereishis 3:5]. He ate from the Tree
of Knowledge because he wanted to know
everything and to understand everything.
He wanted to become intellectually
equivalent to G-d.
The way to correct the sin that brought
death to the world is by teaching man that to
reverse the effects of death; he must undergo
a procedure about which he understands
NOTHING. Rather than understanding
everything, by eating from the forbidden

tree, Man ruined everything. The correction
of that sin is to nullify ones understanding,
to engage in a process which defies
understanding. Even Shlomo HaMelech
[King Solomon], the wisest of men did not
understand it: “I said I would make myself
wise, but its interpretation is far from
me.” [Koheles 7:23]. This is the tikun
[correction] for the sin of partaking of the
forbidden fruit, which was supposedly to
give man G-dlike understanding and
knowledge.
The Gemara in Shabbos [31a] expounds
the pasuk in Yeshaya [33:6]: “V’haya
Emunas Itecha Chosen Yeshuos Chochmas
V’Daas (yiras Hashem hi otzaro)” [the faith
of your times will be the strength of your
salvations, wisdom and knowledge, (fear
of Hashem that is man’s treasure)].
The Gemara says that each of those six
words represents one of the six orders of the
Mishneh. Emunas = Seder Zeraim (because
farmers who plant need faith
that Hashem will help their crop grow);
Itecha = Seder Moed, having to do with
time; Chosen = Seder Nashim; Yeshuos =
Seder Nezikin; Cochmas = Seder Kodshim;

and V’Daas = Seder Taharos.
The reason why Daas [knowledge]
represents Seder Taharos is because Seder
Taharos requires nullification of one’s Daas.
It requires one to put his own understanding
(sechel) on the shelf, so to speak, and say I
will study it anyway even though it is
beyond my comprehension.
The reason for this is because the first man
sought to know everything. That is
impossible. Certain things are beyond our
comprehension. Thus, tikun of that sin are
the laws of tumah and taharah, which
require a person to nullify his understanding
and subjugate his power of reasoning to that
of a Higher Power (sechel Elyon).