The Power of the Unknown
This week’s Parsha and it’s central Mitzvah of the Parah Adumah, deal’s with the esoteric. Let’s take a short introductory course in Chassidic philosophy to better understand the themes here. Chassidic tradition teaches that the Torah is more than a document. It is a living entity by which G-d channels good to the world.
That being said, there are two parts to the Torah. One part meant to be understood in this world (Torah D’Isgaliah)..what we see read and learn from. This part of Torah remains our domain, given over for us to understand to the best of our abilities. The Meor Einayim, a talmid of the Baal Shem Tov, identifies another part of Torah, separate from the words, the letters and the stories. Beyond our reach and above our understanding, this Torah has the power to heal. It is called pnimius Hatorah- The secret power that lies behinds the simple words.
The Mitzvah of the Parah Adumah, keeps our nation pure and rests squarely in this section that we cannot understand, but that heals us. “Zos Chukas Hatorah”, don’t try and explain the unexplainable, our Parsha begins.. let us not seek to understand why the ashes of the Red Heifer purify us, for this is G-ds Holy grail. We can only hope to catch a glimpse of its eternal truth by strengthening our belief in the Creator by inner exploration and developing our Emunah.
But why is this Mitzvah written about here? It would seem more in place in the book of Vayikrah, together with the other laws of Purity and sacrifices. The answer lies in last weeks Parsha. When Korach challenged the authority of Moshe Rabbeinu—the world was shaken to its core. Hashem decreed that Heavenly medicine was needed to restore the balance and refresh the divine connection, as it were, between Moses and G-d. Hence the Mitzvah of Parah Adumah.
Korach believed that Moses had injected his own reasoning into the Commandments and therefore they were not infallible. He tried to trip Moses up by asking him several conundrums. For example, he asked, “If one blue string of Techeles, is enough to make a Tallis of white wool kosher—what would happen if the entire Tallis was made of this blue wool? In fact he was asking these questions to prove that Moses was an imposter and not a true messenger of G-d. But of course, the opposite was true and the fact that Moses could not answer these questions was proof positive of his divine connection to G-d.
This untenable faith in G-d and his Torah is best exemplified by the Mitzvah of the Parah Adumah. Totally beyond our understanding, it tugs at the strings of uncertainty that can sometimes be found in the cloth of our faith. But in reality, this Mitzvah can serve to strengthen our observance by giving us a glimpse into the Heavenly ways of our Creator. We cannot possibly fathom all the reasons for the commandments, but if we acknowledge that there is a difference between our minds and the Heavenly program we will have succeeded in entering the world of the Divine where all is possible.
Consider the story of the Tractor Trailer driver who transported large amounts of gas with his truck to far locations that had very little fuel. This Jewish driver asked his Rabbi- “I say many chapters of Tehillim every day before I go to work- do I still have to pray the Pesukei De Zimrah- the first part of the regular Shacharis service (composed of tehillim)? The Rabbi asked him, “If your truck carries fuel- does you still have to fill up its gas tank before you drive?” “Of course, “the driver answered,- “the 2 fuels are distinct and different from each other”. So too the Techeiles (the blue wool) in Korach’s question and so too our perception of the divine. Let us not make the mistake of relying only on what our eyes can see. There is a higher and more powerful world that we can only experience through the strength of our Emunah.
