The Medrash Tanchuma in Parshas Chukas (quoted by Rashi) discusses the Parah Adumah. The only way a person can regain tahara (purity) after becoming tamei through contact with the dead is via the ritual of the Parah Adumah. Therefore, nowadays when we no longer have access to the ashes of the Parah Adumah, we all remain contaminated with tumas meis (death impurity).
The Medrash gives an analogy for the Parah Adumah: It can be compared to the child of the king’s handmaiden, who soiled the palace. The king will command, “Let the mother come and clean up the mess made by her child.” The Medrash means to say that the purpose of the Parah Adumah is for the “mother cow” to come and atone for the aveira (sin) of the Eigel Hazahav.
The obvious question is that other than the fact that the parah is a cow and the eigel is a calf, which is the offspring of a cow, what is the connection between Parah Adumah, which is related to tumas meis and the purification therefrom, and the aveira of the Eigel Hazahav? The cheit ha’eigel was a form of avodah zarah, or at least an aveira bordering on avodah zarah. How is that related to tumas meis and the Parah Adumah?
I saw two interpretations of this Medrash:
The first is a beautiful Kli Yakar on the parsha. When Klal Yisrael stood at Har Sinai, the Gemara says they went through a spiritual purification process. Had we not sinned with the eigel, there would have been no such thing as tumas meis. That doesn’t mean that there would not be death in the world. No. People would still die, but they would die a different type of death. They would not die at the hands of the Malach Hamaves. They would die with what is called a misas neshika (death by a ‘kiss’). Somehow, the Ribbono Shel Olam would ‘kiss them’ and their souls would leave them.
It is for this reason that some people say that the death of the righteous does not engender tumah, but rather the death of the righteous comes via a ‘kiss’. Death via a ‘kiss’ does not cause tumas meis.
This, says the Kil Yakar, is what Chazal mean when they say that the Parah Adumah atones for the aveira of the Eigel Hazahav. The caused a descent of the whole concept of death, such that from that point forward, death engendered tumas meis. Now we need a Parah Adumah to regain a state of tahara. Therefore, the Parah Adumah is an appropriate kapara for the aveira of the Eigel Hazahav.
I saw another understanding of why the Parah Adumah is a kapara for the cheit haeigel in the sefer Meorei Ohr. Rashi notes on the fact that the Parah Adumah must be temima (without blemish) that the symbolism represents Klal Yisrael, who were without blemish (prior to the aveira of the Eigel Hazahav) and then became ba’alei mumim (blemished). They were given the Parah Adumah to allow them to return to their blemish-free status.
What does this mean? The author notes that Rashi says in Chumash on the pasuk, “Tamim you shall be with Hashem your G-d” (Devorim 18:13) that a person should just accept what the Ribbono Shel Olam gives and not try to figure out what is happening or what will happen in the future. The Meorei Ohr states that when they did the cheit haeigel, they were guilty of this very thing that they were warned against in the pasuk “Tamim you shall be with Hashem your G-d.” They tried to “outsmart” the Ribbono Shel Olam or to be more pro-active than the Ribbono Shel Olam himself.
All the Rishonim say that when they made the Eigel Hazahav it was not literally an idol. They were desperate: “Here we are in the wilderness. Until now, Moshe Rabbeinu was taking care of everything. Now what are we going to do?” They decided they needed to take matters into their own hands. They made an Eigel Hazahav in the hope that this calf would be the medium through which Hashem would speak to them. What were they actually supposed to do? They were supposed to follow the dictum of “Tamim you shall be with Hashem your G-d.” They should have said, “If the Ribbono Shel Olam took us out of Mitzrayim and the Ribbono Shel Olam gave us the mann and the be’er (well), etc., then the Ribbono Shel Olam will figure this out Himself. It is not for us to try to figure out new ways to interact with the Ribbono Shel Olam.” That is the temimus that was required under those circumstances.
Parah Adumah is all about nullifying our sechel (intellect) to a Higher Authority. As we all know, Parah Adumah is the quintessential chok (unfathomable mitzvah). It is a paradox that makes no sense. While purifying the impure, it makes those who are pure impure. So then why do we do it? Because the Ribbono Shel Olam said so! We accept that. We have no questions. And we go further. Parah Adumah represents the antidote of what they did by the cheit haeigel. The unblemished (tamim) Parah Adumah represents this concept of temimus / innocence that they lacked when they made the Eigel Hazahav. That is why it is the “mother cow who comes and cleans up the mess made by her offspring (the calf).” (R’ Frand)
