The Essence

Embedded in Strength

"Bring a completely red young cow" (Num. 19:2)

The red cow is an allusion to the Oral Torah, the attribute of Justice in its most severe form. This attribute is the source of ritual impurity. The reason why this chore was given to Eliezer to perform was in order that he should address the attribute of Justice in its most concentrated form. Such thoughts should not be held against him [seeing the author had stated repeatedly that all offerings are addressed to G-d's name Havayah, the attribute of Mercy, Ed.] as it was slaughtered outside holy precincts and was not considered as a sacrificial offering.

This is also the reason this legislation was prefaced with the words "This is the ordinance (chukat) of the Torah": as if to say, "this new kind of legislation that the Torah has seen fit to reveal here as something to be performed outside the precincts of the Temple is not meant to convey the impression that it is addressed to someone other than G-d, G-d forbid." It is embedded (in Hebrew, n'chkakat) in the Torah itself. However, its origin is the Oral Torah, which is the sixth of the sefirot (counting from malchut upward).

Ritual impurity is allowed to spread no further than the sixth sefira…

Even though a full comprehension of the mystical dimension of this statute is beyond our ability, it is important to understand that the concept of ritual impurity is allowed to spread no further (upward) than the sixth sefira, that of gevura. This is the emanation which is characterized Isaac, who lay on the altar bound by the attribute of Mercy on the outside. If the attribute of Mercy would not have been present and active and the attribute of Justice would have been allowed full reign, the world would face destruction immediately.

This is why the Master of Mercy provided us (through the procedure of the ashes of the red heifer) a method of turning the attribute of Justice at its fiercest into milder form of itself. This is the meaning of the above quoted verse: "They shall take to you a cow, one that is red, an unblemished specimen, an animal which has not been tainted by having been subservient to any (other) master such as the sefirot on the lower rungs of the Tree-of-Life diagram." We know that even the next lower sefira was not saved from having a "master" impose a yoke upon it as that sefira, tiferet, has been associated with the Holy Temple, which has been destroyed and therefore has been "mastered" by impure forces on earth.

The cherubs (on the cover of the Holy Ark) were exiled together with the other furnishings of the Temple, and we do not find that they had been hidden, as was the Holy Ark itself as well as the Menorah. The sefirot which are "higher" than that of tiferet, are described as "the houses of my hidden (treasure)" (Beitza 16).

Purity is derived from…an emanation higher than that of gevura…

The reason that this red cow was slaughtered outside the holy precincts of the Temple was in order for it to be able to diffuse the spirit of impurity. This is why the ashes of the cow together with the water from an original source ("living waters") would effect purification by means of the vessel within which it was contained (verse 17). Purity is derived from an influence exerted by the attribute of Mercy, an emanation higher than that of gevura, the attribute of strict Justice, the emanation responsible for every kind of impurity.

Some kabbalists are in doubt whether the fact that the procedure involving the red cow was carried out completely outside the confines of the Temple meant that it represented a higher degree of sanctity than that which pervaded the Sanctuary. In other words, everything connected with the red cow would have represented "Holy of Holies", whereas only a small portion of the Sanctuary itself was designated as "Holy of Holies". If so, the level of sanctity represented by the red cow, as well as its remains, would have been superior to that of the sacrificial animals offered on the Altar inside the precincts of the Temple.

On the other hand, some kabbalists think that the reason the procedure of the red cow was conducted outside the holy precincts points to the fact that its sanctity was below that of even the lowest level of sanctity inside and that this is the reason that no part of it was processed inside those confines. These people then raise the following question: assuming that the red cow was on the same high level of sanctity as the levels of sanctity inside the Temple, how could it possibly confer impurity on its (uncontaminated) handlers? On the other hand, if it was of such inferior sanctity that it had to be slaughtered and its remains kept outside sacred ground, how was it capable of conferring purity on the previously impure?

The Shechina displaces or relegates terrestrial fires…

Some kabbalists answered these questions by saying that, indeed, the entire red cow was on the level of the "Holy of Holies" and that the reason it conferred impurity on its handlers was that any pure person on earth would automatically become impure through contact with extraterrestrial purity. This concept is reflected in the Torah verse "…anyone touching the Altar will become holy" (Exodus 29:37), i.e. will be burnt (as happened to the two sons of Aaron Nadav and Avihu). Total terrestrial sanctity is relegated when it confronts celestial sanctity. What applies to relative sanctity, i.e. terrestrial sanctity versus celestial sanctity, also applies to terrestrial purity as opposed to celestial purity. This may be the meaning of Talmud in Yoma 21 that "One category of fire displaces another category of fire": the "fire" of the Shechina displaces or relegates terrestrial fires.

The Talmud there describes the penalty incurred by the angels who had opposed the creation of Adam by saying that he did not deserve G-d's consideration. G-d is reported as having stretched out His finger at these angels, burning them. If differences in the quality of fire exist among the angels in the celestial regions, it is easy to understand why terrestrial fire should be inferior to even the lowest of the celestial fires.

Selected from the seven-volume English edition of The Torah Commentary of Rebbeinu Bachya, as translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk. Rabbi Bachya ben Asher [1255-1340] of Saragosa, Spain, was the outstanding pupil of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the "Rashba"), a main disciple of Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the "Ramban").