The red jewish heifer (ePub)

"The student of Jewish religion realizes the importance of sacrificial life in Jewish culture, as it is the body of Judaism. Every body must have a soul that infuses life into it. The red heifer, priests, and temple are the soul of this body. Without the red heifer, priests, and temple, this body becomes defiled with the defilement of the dead and all other kinds of defilements. The Jewish law specifies several primary sources of impurity, the most important of which are dead bodies. Also, people or objects that touch impure things transmit their impurity to others, and this impurity is called secondary impurity."

"The rituals of purification vary depending on the source of impurity. The mikveh was considered sufficient for purification from impurities resulting from sexual intercourse or ejaculation, while animal sacrifices were required for purification from impurities resulting from childbirth or other sources. The highest degree of impurity was contact with corpses, which required sprinkling with water mixed with red heifer ashes. With the destruction of the Temple, the laws associated with it were discontinued, and the word "purity" came to refer to washing the body of the dead.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan emphasized the importance of purity in Judaism, based on the sensitivity of the Jewish people to impurities. He said that all the laws of the red heifer teach us about impurity and purity, and that all of this is the result of the Torah's laws. Without the Torah, we would not have laws of impurity and purity, as the infidel (non-Jew) does not have laws of impurity and purity because there is no infidel who becomes impure by the impurity of the dead, as is known, and that the issue of impurity for the Jew is due to carrying the Torah, through which we will become pure, and that any defect, even if it is in a matter easier than easy, affects us.

This book investigates the essence of the red heifer from a Jewish perspective in general and from the perspective of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides) in particular, based on the translation of what is mentioned in his book The Rambam's Mishneh Torah.