Chukas: 5785 - The decree of the Torah: "Let the mother come and clean up her son's filth" - the Red Heifer comes to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf. What is the inner, substantive connection between a 'chukah' without logic, and the sin of the calf?…

00:02 Speaker 1 We’re in Parshas Chukas. “This is the statute of the Torah.” Why is it called a statute? Because the nations of the world and Satan challenge the Jewish people: What is the reason for this mitzvah? What logic is there in the mitzvah of the red heifer? It has two opposite effects. It purifies those who are impure, and on the other hand, it renders those who are pure impure. There’s something here we can’t understand. Hakadosh Boruch Hu says: “This is the statute of the Torah. I have enacted a statute; I have issued a decree. You have no right to question it.” Rashi brings another explanation in the name of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan. Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan says: What can this be compared to? The son of a maidservant in the king’s palace soiled the palace. So they said, “Let his mother come and clean up her son’s mess.” The same applies to the mitzvah of the red heifer. Since the Jewish people sinned with the calf and committed idolatry, the red heifer atones for the sin of the calf. Let its mother come and clean up her son’s mess. That is brought in the name of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan. The question is, it’s true that a calf is born from a cow; the cow gives birth to the calf. But what connection is there between the mitzvah of the red heifer and the sin of the calf? Surely there must be some inner connection, a connection between the substance of these two things. Why is it specifically the mitzvah of the red heifer—a statute, “I have enacted a statute; I have issued a decree,” with no logic to it? On the contrary, it runs exactly counter to logic. Why does that atone specifically for the sin of the calf? There’s a beautiful explanation. If we think about the sin of the calf, a question arises. Moshe Rabbeinu brought the Jewish people out of Egypt. He performed so many miracles for them: the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, leading them through the desert. What happened at the sin of the calf? Moshe Rabbeinu went up Mount Sinai and told them, “I’ll be on Mount Sinai for forty days, and after forty days I’ll return.” The fortieth day arrived,

02:40 Speaker 1 and they understood that Moshe Rabbeinu would return on the fortieth day, by the end of that day. Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t come. Moshe was delayed; he wasn’t arriving. So immediately, without much thought, the Jewish people said, “We need someone to lead us, someone to guide us. As for this man Moshe, we don’t know what has happened to him. He isn’t here. We need another leader.” Right away they went and made the calf. Wait a moment. Have some patience. Think about it a little. After everything Moshe Rabbeinu did for us—bringing us out of Egypt, performing all those miracles—he hasn’t come. Let’s wait patiently a little longer. But those among the Jewish people who sinned with the calf did nothing of the sort. Moshe Rabbeinu was delayed, and without much thought, without any logic, they immediately made a calf and said, “These are your gods, O Israel.” Where’s the logic? Where’s the thought? Surely they should have held back. Wait a moment; be patient. He hasn’t come. Maybe he has some reason for not coming. He isn’t coming now; he’ll come tomorrow. But they didn’t think much about it. So to atone for that act, they were given the red heifer, which also has no apparent logic. How does the red heifer defy logic? It brings together two opposites: it purifies those who are impure and renders those who are pure impure. That’s why they were given this particular mitzvah, corresponding precisely to what happened with the calf. And with the red heifer, the Torah says there are three conditions. First, it must be perfect, with no blemish, and no yoke must have been placed upon it. Those are the three conditions for a red heifer. A question arises: Why does the Torah say, “This is the statute of the Torah”? Shouldn’t it say, “This is the statute of the heifer”? Is this the entire Torah?

04:41 Speaker 1 Rather, it teaches us how to observe all the mitzvos of the Torah. There are three conditions. First, it must be perfect. “Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d”—without trying to be clever, but as it says, “Fortunate are those whose way is wholehearted.” That is the first condition in observing the mitzvos: to do so with wholeheartedness, as it says of Noach, “He was a righteous man, wholehearted.” The second condition is that it must have no blemish. That means that when we observe the mitzvos, we have to do so completely, without cutting corners or skipping over passages or details. It must be “without any blemish”; it must be complete. If the Torah says to wait six hours between meat and milk, then it’s six hours, not five. It has to be complete, without blemish. And the third is “upon which no yoke has been placed.” What does that mean? We have to observe the mitzvos with joy, not as something I’m doing because I have no choice, as a burden. Those are the three conditions, and that’s why it says, “This is the statute of the Torah.” How do we approach the Torah and observe all the mitzvos? With these three things. Have a good Shabbos, and may we hear good news soon.

06:06 Speaker 2 Amen.