The Mishna (Parah 3:5) teaches that until the destruction of the Second Temple, ashes had been prepared from a total of only nine red heifers. The very first red heifer was processed by Moses himself - as the verse states, "... have them bring you a red heifer." The next one was done by the prophet Ezra at the beginning of the Second Temple. And during the entire era of the Second Temple only seven more heifers were used for ashes. This was enough to provide for the nation's needs for purification throughout all those years.
The names of all the High Priests who prepared those seven heifers during Second Temple times are recorded by the Mishna:
- Simon the Just, made two
- Yochanan, two
- El'yhoeini ben Hakof, one
- Chanamel HaMitzri, one
- and Yishmael ben Pi'avi processed one heifer
Thus, from the time that Moses received the commandment of the red heifer from the Holy One, blessed be He, until the destruction of the Second Temple, purifying ashes had been produced by the hands of these great leaders totaled nine red heifers.
The Tenth Red Heifer Will be Prepared by the King Moshiach
ויקחו אליך פרה אדמה (יט, ב )verse in this section)
“Take unto you a red heifer” (1st verse in this section)
Only to you, Moshe, and not to anyone else
Even Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest man in the world, could not decipher the logical secret.
לטמא מאפר שרפה החטאת (יט, יז) (last verse in this section)
This Parsha was given TO MOSHE (heads of letters in direct order) and NOT to SHLOMO (same letters but out of order)
קוהלת ז, כג כָּל-זה, נִסִיתִי בַחָּכְמָּה; אָּמַרְ תִי אֶחְכָּמָּה, וְהִיא רְ חוֹקָּה מִמֶנִי.
"I will be wise, but it was far from me” (written by ShlomoHaMelech)
והיא רחוקה (גמטריא 341) הפרה אדמה
ספר מצות הגדול
