The Mishkan was a miraculous

A Deliberate Mystery The Parah Adumah

Rabbi Natan Kahlani Rosh Bet Medrash of Chazak UK

The parah adumah purified us, however the whole concept of taharah and tumah is somewhat of a foreign concept nowadays. We don’t really know what it gives us and we seem to function perfectly well without it. What is Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita lacking by not having the purity of the parah adumah? R’ Chaim is an incredibly holy man and seems to have mastery over as much Torah as someone can possibly hope to achieve nowadays. However, the gemara in Shabbat 31a brings a pasuk in which each word corresponds to one of the shisha sidrei mishnah, and the word corresponding to taharot which deals with all the laws of purity is ‘da’at’; the clear implication in the gemara is that this corresponds to the highest level of spiritual achievement. We must be missing something crucial, and if our sages instituted a yearly Torah reading of the parah adumah, that must mean we can still connect to its concepts somewhat nowadays.

We could perhaps dip our toes into this by means of a famous gemara in Megillah 6b. The gemara is discussing that success in Torah learning needs effort, and one who does not work hard will not succeed. However the terminology the gemara uses for someone who worked hard in his learning and succeeded is מצאתי - to find. The implication in the word ‘to find’ is odd. When a person studied hard for his exams, we would expect him to say הצלחתי - I succeeded, I achieved. ‘To find’ implies chance, some sort of help from outside forces and not a direct correlation with the preceding effort. Why did the gemara use this terminology?

To understand this is to appreciate that Torah is an Infinite wisdom and is set apart from any other discipline. Chazal say Hashem, Yisrael and His Torah are one. That means just as He is Infinite, so is His wisdom. When we come to tackle Torah and to achieve spiritual heights we are actually dealing with something that is infinitely deeper, wider and more complex than we can even fathom. We are akin to ants attempting to climb Everest, and even that isn’t a fair comparison. How do we approach such a task?

The answer is that indeed, we can never do it by ourselves. The finite cannot conquer the infinite. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu in His chessed gives it to us. מצאתיגעת - if you work you will find. Your success will not be proportionate to the effort, it will be exponentially more. Our Sages often compare a Talmid Chacham to a vessel that Hashem fills. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is willing to literally shower us with His light if we show him we are worthy. This is why we need taharah. The root of the word tumah - impurity is ‘blocked’. When we sin or connect ourselves with things that the Torah deems ‘impure’, that means that we are blocked and less connected to Him. This limits our ability to receive from Him. Hashem may very well want to propel us to greater understanding and spiritual sensitivity; but if we are blocked off, we are unable to receive it because the pathways that connect us to Hashem are clogged. That is why the word in the pasuk corresponding to seder taharot is da’at - ‘connection’. We often do not even realise what we are missing, because we will succeed to a point. But we are crippled and therefore our success pales in comparison to what it could be. The parah adumah had the ability to remove even the most severe tumah, and make us able to receive everything Hashem wants to give us. Perhaps this is why specifically the mitzvah of parah adumah, the process by which we become pure, is the only mitzvah that cannot be fully understood, even by Shlomo Hamelech. To make ourselves into a vessel able receive that which is beyond us, we must go through a process that is beyond our ability to fully grasp.

©Yeshiva World News Harav Chaim Kanievsky shlita

shefa and siyata d’Shamaya. Had our generation merited to having the parah adumah, everyone would be able to achieve more, even the greatest of the generation who have no sin.

The Messilat Yesharim explains at length that we are able reach levels of taharah through our actions. Rashi (Megillah 29a) says that Parashat Parah is to remind us to purify ourselves in preparation for Pesach. There is an abundance of inspiration and deveikut that is available to us and our families on Pesach, the cornerstone of the Torah. Prepare. Get yourself ready so you can receive the maximum available to you. Become a vessel that Hashem will fill. Just as we are starting to clean up the house in preparation for Pesach, we need to clean ourselves up. R’ Chaim’s mastery of the Torah is matched by his actions. He is a pure and holy man, as were all of our Gedolim and it is this tahara that leads to their greatness. Our Mesorah is that even the tiniest effort in areas of taharat ha nefesh can have an exponential effect. Being a little more careful with what we look at, or how we speak, or how we treat others will b’ezrat Hashem help us to have an incredible and uplifting Pesach and year of growth to come. M