A Chok or decree is a
commandment that a human cannot find a reason for, as opposed
to a Mishpat, which is a commandment that a human can understand
and might even think up himself. To not murder, for example is
a Mishpat. One reason this Parsha is called Chukat
is because it deals with the ultimate Chok, the Parah
Adumah - the red heifer.
One interesting paradox in the
laws of the Parah Adumah: Its ashes purify people who have
become contaminated; yet those people involved in the preparation
of the ashes become contaminated.
This is why Parah Adumah
is considered the quintessential Chok of them all - beyond
human understanding. Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon), who
was said to be the wisest person who ever lived and expert in
every realm of knowledge, even he did not penetrate the secret
of the Parah Adumah and could not rationalize the seeming
contradictions in this commandment.
It was regarding the above paradox
that Shlomo Hamelech exclaimed, "I said I would be
wise, but it is far from me," [Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)
7:23]. In other words, he is saying that he thought he would become
wise enough to fathom the secret of the Parah Adumah, but
"it is far from me." The words "Vehi rechokah,"
(..it is far from me), is numerically equivalent (441) to the
words "Parah Adumah."
The Red Cow in History
These cows don't come along
too often.
There were altogether nine Red
Cows from the first one in the desert to the destruction of the
second Bait Hamikdash.
The first was that of Moshe
and Elazar.
The second was burned by Ezra Hasofer (the Scribe).
Two by Shimon HaTzaddik.
Two by the Kohain Gadol (High Priest) Yochanan.
The seventh was burned by Eliyahu Hanavi (the prophet Elijah).
The eighth by Chanamel the Egyptian, and
The ninth by Yishmael, son of Piabi.
The tenth one will be burned
by the Anointed King (Moshiach) who will be purifying all
of the Jewish people that will have become defiled by their sins.
The Talmud says in Tractate
Kiddushin (31a):
Come and see what a certain
Gentile in Ashkelon - Dama Ben Nesina - did for his father. The
Sages came to visit, wanting to purchase from him a precious stone
for the Aifod (the apron worn by the Kohain Gadol).
The key to the box where the
stone was kept was under the pillow of his sleeping father, and
the son refused to fetch the key so as not to disturb his father.
Hashem rewarded him, for the next year a red heifer was
born in his herd. The Sages came, and Dama ben Nesina told them,
"I know that you will give me any sum I ask, but I am only
asking the sum that I lost (last year) because I honored my father.
Why did Dama ben Nesina deserve
a red heifer as a reward for honoring his father?
Answers the Admor of
Kotzk ("Emes V'Emuna") that when this gentile
so distinguished himself in the mitzvah of honoring one's
father, a strong accusation was heard in heaven against Bnei
Yisroel. "It was not a Jew but a gentile who was willing
to make a great sacrifice to fulfill this mitzvah!"
As a reply to this accusation,
the Holy One arranged that a red heifer be born in the same gentile's
herd. Out came the Sages of Israel, prepared to pay ANY PRICE
in order to fulfill Hashem's mitzvah - one that
is a Chok, having no apparent reason or sense to it. By
contrast, the gentile only had been prepared to make a great sacrifice
to fulfill a mitzvah that is easy to understand - honoring
one's father.
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