The statement that I used as the title for this essay appears in Kohelet (7:23), and our Sages asserted that Shlomo was speaking of the mitzvah of the para aduma, the red heifer. This association is made explicitly in Midrash Tanchuma on Chukat (6) and referenced twice in the Gemara (Yoma 14a, Niddah 9a). It is instructive to consider what precisely about this mitzvah is so obscure so as to be beyond the comprehension of Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest man to ever live.
The Maharal of Prague briefly touched upon the Gemara in Yoma in his Chidushei Aggadot with an eye toward its theological implications. He emphasized there that the seemingly interchangeable role of the ashes of the para aduma in making the impure pure and the pure impure demonstrates that there are not different spiritual forces over good and evil or darkness and light in the universe. We do not understand our universe through a lens of Manichaean dualism – we don’t serve the god of light in his struggle against the forces of darkness, nor do we lean into the corruption of the material world to pierce the illusions of a trickster god, as do the Gnostics, for example. Our G-d, the Creator of the Universe, is the source of all that has been created without exception. Everything comes from Him, whether we experience it in the moment as good or bad. The light, the darkness – everything was made by Him and serves His purpose.
In his book, Ner Mitzvah, dealing ostensibly with Chanukah and primarily concerned with the dreams of Daniel and Belshazzar, the Maharal expands upon the hidden significance of the para aduma as an historical allegory, illuminating the respective roles of Israel and the Nations of the world and the tension that frequently defines this relationship. The Maharal asserts that the mitzvah of the para aduma parallels the apparition of the cow in Daniel’s dream, but through various other textual and numerological bases can be seen to represent something intrinsic to the entire scope of the history of exile and redemption.
But first, he explains that all of this Divine logic comes from an exceedingly elevated source, beyond our logic and reason, and for this reason it is incomprehensible to Shlomo – to his ability to analyze and deduce the basis for the mitzvah or its efficacy. What Shlomo is really struggling with is the fact of the exile itself, the subjugation of Israel under four kings and the seemingly interminable length of the last present exile. This is the reason for the details and nuances of the ritual of the para aduma and why, if it isn’t done exactly correctly it can fail to bring about the expected outcome and will even make the pure impure without making the impure pure. This represents the role of Israel – Israel has to remain pure, completely under the yoke of the Divine commandments and without accepting any other yoke, never giving ourselves over to service of foreign gods. It is when we makes ourselves the spiritual cognate of the red heifer that we overcome the corruption of the foreign kings that rule over us, even the last and longest kingship of Edom, Rome.
Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzera in his commentary on the Torah called Machsof Halavan, also focuses on the complete purity expected for the heifer itself, and the rigorous standard governing the number of black hairs or broken hairs suggesting someone had laid a burden on that animal, rendering it unfit for the purpose. He explains that impurity always provides a refuge and a basis for the forces of evil in the universe, which we sometimes refer to as the side of corruption (in Aramaic) or the power of impurity (in Hebrew). We must remove every possible blemish from the heifer so there is no opportunity at all for evil to take up residence in ourselves or in our communities.
The proximal cause of this focus at the time of the giving of the Torah was the sin of the Golden Calf. Indeed, in Hebrew poetry and in Jewish mysticism, red and gold are often interchangeable as gold can appear red in certain light and especially when it is heated. The line between the Golden Calf and the red heifer is quite clear, and it was necessary for the one to be given in order to atone for the other.
And here we come full circle, through the allegory back to the original intent of the commandment. Because if it is corruption we are worried about, there is no greater corruption and source of impurity than the presence of death itself. So if we can overthrow corruption and evil in the world, we will also eliminate the need for death and suffering in the world. Therefore, the para aduma doesn’t only figuratively negate moral corruption and impure deeds, but it literally takes away the stigma of the presence of death from the entire nation of Israel.
Rabbi Akiva said, “Happy are you Israel: Before whom are you purified and who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven, as it says, ‘I will throw upon you the waters of purity and you will be purified’” (Yoma 8:9).
