This week we read the third of the four special Torah readings in the advent of Passover: Parshat Parah, the portion of the Red Heifer.
This reading was selected by our Holy Sages as a wake-up call to the entire Jewish People, as if to say: “Reb Yid! You are soon to embark on your pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Be certain that you have removed the death Tumah from yourself before you enter the Temple precincts!”
The concepts of Tumah & Taharah are very esoteric, and don't lend themselves to simple translations in English. (For a deeper treatment of this subject, click HERE.) Furthermore, Tumah & Taharah are super-sensual: they cannot be seen, smelled, tasted or palpated. And yet, we Jews are extremely careful regarding these laws (to the extent that we can be in the absence of the Holy Temple and the purifying ashes of the Red Heifer.)
The humbling lesson of Tumah & Taharah is that things exist in the universe – real things – which are beyond our ability to perceive. The fact that we cannot see or hear them makes them no less real.
Science, which, at its core, is a sophisticated form of observation, should declare: “That which we cannot perceive, we cannot comment upon,” but in its arrogance declares,”That which we cannot see does not exist.”
And yet “unseen” things are now known to exist that a mere one or two hundred years ago were not observable: bacteria, viruses, atoms, sub-atomic particles, distant stars, etc. In fact, Rav Shimon Shwab z”l suggested that the “mazikin” described in the Talmud were probably bacteria.
By carefully observing the mitzvot (commandments) of Tumah & Taharah we are affirming the existence of an unseen world beyond our reach, of Truth beyond our grasp. We have the humility to admit to the limitations of our senses and intellectual integrity to concede that there are things which defy observation, things which our limited senses can perhaps never know. There are limits to the human ability to know, and we are okay with that.
As I have often said, Judaism is the original counter-culture. We adamantly reject the position of post-modern, Rational Man that says, “If I can't see it or touch it it doesn't exist.” News flash, Modern Man: It's not all about YOU.
May we all merit to bring the Korban Pesach (Pascal Lamb) in a state of Taharah and Kedushah, in the rebuilt Temple, speedily and in our days, Amen!
- Shabbat Shalom
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