A Jewel and a Cow
On the most basic level we honor our parents, because we are grateful to them for what they’ve given us: life, sustenance, education, love and concern. It is our way of saying thank you for all that they have done for us.
Preparing for Passover with a Red Heifer
In addition to the regular Torah reading this week, we read a special section of the Torah that deals with the Red Heifer (Parah Adumah), the purification rite for one who has come in contact with a dead body. This special section, taken from the Book of Numbers, is referred to as Parshas Parah, the section of the cow.
Parshas Parah is read now, our Sages tell us, as a preparation for the upcoming Festival of Passover.
In the days of old, when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem—and we pray for its restoration every day— every Jew had to partake of a Paschal lamb for the Passover Seder. However, if one had come in contact with a corpse they would be rendered ritually unclean, and would not be eligible to partake of that Festival offering unless they were purified with the ashes of the Parah Adumah. The Red Heifer that was used for this purification ritual, had to be completely red. Even two hairs that were black would render it unfit for use. Indeed, the phenomenon of a completely red heifer is so rare that our Sages record that in all of Israel’s history only nine were used; the tenth to be found and used in the Messianic Age.
Learning Filial Respect from A Roman
The Talmud relates how a certain Roman official, Dama ben Nesinah, refused to sell the rabbis a jewel that was needed for the High Priests Breastplate. His reason for not selling it to them was that the key to the jewelry box was underneath his father’s pillow and he refused to disturb his father’s sleep. The rabbis tried to offer more money but it was to no avail.
When his father woke up he pursued the rabbis and sold the jewel to them, but only for the lower price they had originally offered. He refused to be reimbursed for the Mitzvah of honoring his parents. As a reward for this exceptional respect for his father, Dama became the proud owner of a Red Heifer that he sold for a sum that was equal to the money he had turned down as a result of his filial responsibilities.
Commentators wonder why of all ways of rewarding someone with wealth G-d chose to give him a red cow. There are so many other ways G-d could have used to reward him for his Mitzvah of honoring his father. Why did G-d choose this rather unusual fashion?
Mitzvah of Reciprocity
One answer is to highlight the difference between Dama’s exceptional devotion to his parents and the even greater and purer devotion demanded by G-d for the Jewish people.
Honoring parents is no less of a Mitzvah, a Divine command, than any other commandment. In fact, the Talmud states that it is one of the most difficult commandments to fulfill properly. To facilitate proper observance of this great and difficult Mitzvah, the Torah thus promises us something in return: long life.
To begin with, we honor our parents, because we are grateful to them for what they’ve given us: life, sustenance, education, love and concern. At the very least, we owe them our devotion simply because it is our way of saying thank you for all that they have done for us. There is quidpro-quo. Because we were recipients of their devotion to us, we reciprocate with devotion to them. And once we perform our filial responsibilities properly—as in the foregoing case of Dama, the Roman official—we again become recipients to many of G-d’s blessings, from longevity to wealth and prosperity.
Based on this analysis of the commandment to honor one’s parents, one could have thought that Judaism’s conception of performing the Mitzvot is one of reciprocity. G-d gives us so many blessings, so we serve Him by doing His bidding, which, in turn makes us eligible for more of His blessings.. And while this “quid-pro-quo” element can be found in Judaism as one aspect of the performance of the Mitzvot, it is by no means its central or primary focus.
Transcending Reciprocity
To underscore this notion that Judaism transcends the “what’s in it for me” approach, G-d rewarded Dama for his scrupulous observance of respecting his father with a Red Heifer, which was used for a ritual, concerning which our Sages comment that it has no rational basis. There is no rhyme or reason—other than it is G-d’s command to us— for us to perform this ritual.
When we approach the Festival of Passover, the time when we were liberated, we might view its rituals as our way of repaying G-d for His infinite kindness, for which we anticipate more of in the future. To dispel this notion, we read Parshas Parah, the section of the Torah that underscores the “purity of Israel,” i.e., the idealistic attitude towards Judaism, that we serve G-d because this is what being Jewish is all about, and not simply as a response to the good we received in the past and the good that it will generates in the future.
Preparation for the Messianic Age
Just as reading the section of Red Heifer was intended as a preparation for Passover, the Festival of Redemption, so too, our preparation for the Messianic Age, must also be informed by the concept underlying the Red Heifer.
To be sure, the Messianic Age will be a reward for all the good we have done for the last three thousand years. And if the prospects of a better life is what makes us want Moshiach and work towards bringing Moshiach, the better off we are. Nevertheless, the focus of Redemption should go beyond the notion of what we will get out of it. We must realize that Moshiach and Redemption are about rising above the narrow perspective on life and responsibility. Moshiach will inspire us to uncover the dimension of our souls that is holy and pure and that can see everything through the prism of holiness and purity.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Tzav by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
