Tag Archive for Red Cow

The sin of the Golden Calf and its repercussions today

March 3, 2016 Uncategorized No comments
This article was constructed with the help of either writings, lectures or shiurim of Rabbi’s Yissachar Frand,  Asher Herzberg, Yossi Bilus, Pinchas Winston, David Etenoff  and Dr. Abba Goldman


The sin of the golden calf remains to be a blemish on the “score card” of the Jewish nation that won’t go away. Indeed, as Rashi points out, there is no punishment inflicted on the Jewish people that does not carry with it a measure of “payment” for the sin of the golden calf (Rashi on Shemos 32:34). Seems like this “little mistake” carried a lot of mileage.

There are much questions raised, including the most obvious one. How can the children of Israel do such a thing? This parsha leaves many scratching their heads. This is one of the most difficult parts of the Torah to understand. The Jewish people… fresh from the Exodus… fresh from witnessing the splitting of the Red Sea… fresh from receiving the Torah… — go and make themselves an idol! This is the chosen nation? It’s pretty absurd!!

As a matter of fact, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there were periods of great dispute between Christianity and Judaism, and the many public debates and disputes directly affected the Jews’ status, personal safety, religious observance, and degree of assimilation. Christianity claimed that while indeed the Jews had been the Chosen People, God had removed that status from them. The Jews had sinned, and thus God had now conferred that status on the Christians. They are obviously wrong, but the point remains: What could be worse than a nation who commits treason against its God the very moment it received His Law?

Perhaps we should give a little background before we analyze one of the most intriguing incidents in our holy Torah.

BACKGROUND
After G-d revealed Himself to the entire nation at Mount Sinai and told them the Ten Commandments, Moses ascended the mountain where he remained for forty days. Moses studied the Torah and received the Tablets. The Jews then miscalculate when Moses is supposed to return, and when he doesn’t appear on the day when they anticipate him, they grow impatient and demand of Aaron to make for them a new god. Aaron seemingly cooperates, but really all along he is intending to postpone them and buy time until Moses’ return. Despite his efforts, a Golden Calf emerges from the flames. The festivities and sacrifices start early next morning. Moses pleads with an incensed G-d to forgive the Jews’ sin. G-d acquiesces and relents from His plan to annihilate the Jews. Moses comes down with the Tablets, sees the idolatrous revelry, and breaks the Tablets. Moses enlists the Tribe of Levi to punish the primary offenders. Three thousand idol worshippers are executed on that day. Moses ascends Mount Sinai again, in an attempt to gain complete atonement for the sin.

COMENTARY
There is a very famous Ramba”n that says that this was not real idolatry. This commentary is accepted by many. The Ramba”n explains that Jewish people felt that since Moshe Rabbeinu was apparently gone, they needed an intermediary — someone to act as a go-between, between them and G-d. Until now, Moshe had filled that role. The Ramba”n explains that they wanted an object on which the Divine Presence of G-d could descend and so they fashioned themselves this golden image in the shape of a calf.

So the Golden Calf was not there to replace G-d but it was there to replace Moshe. The Golden Calf was there to be the intermediary. If that is the case, one knows from their familiarity in the corporate world, when the head C.O is unavailable what usually tends to happen is they go to the number two man. Why then was Aaron bypassed for the Golden Calf? Furthermore, why did the Israelites choose a Golden Calf in the first place? What’s so special of the calf? Why not perhaps a golden football like the one presented to the winner of the Super bowl? There are thousand species and objects to choose from. What then follows is an obvious question upon our opening statement: If the Golden Calf was NOT there to replace G-d but merely an intermediary, then why are we punished with such severity throughout the generations?

***Let’s tackle why Aaron, and for that matter, a human was passed over first. The state of mind among the bnai Yisrael was of total fear. They were painted a picture in their psyche that their beloved leader was dead. The last thing they wanted was a mortal leader.

***Secondly, let’s shed light as to why the Israelites chose a “calf”. We have to understand what a calf, or for that matter the ox it will grow up into, represents. The twelve tribes of Israel were each represented by an animal and the ox symbolized Yosef. In fact they used the same method, for the same plate which Moshe raised Yosef’s bones that was hidden in the Nile, bnai Yisrael used to create the Golden Calf by throwing the plate within the forge. What is this plate? Moshe took upon himself the responsibility to take the bones of the ten tribes for burial in the land of Israel. However, the whereabouts of Yosef’s bones were unknown. The plate was divine intervention which Moshe used; this plate had upon it the words of the bracha that Yaakov blessed Yosef before he passed away: ALAY SHORE – Rise, ox. This was the power of Yosef. Dr. Abba Goldman mentions Man has the ability unfortunately to take a high level of holiness and drag it into the mud. The Israelites took Yosef’s bracha, his ability of leadership and made a mere figure head. They took his powerful restrain of sexual forbidden desires and performed the most decedent behavior.

Yosef was an attractive choice for he represented royalty He also represented Egypt for if it wasn’t for him the children of Israel would not have entered Egypt. They outlined exactly what they wanted out of a leader, dictating their choices based on the convenience of their desires. Yosef represented a comfort zone to them.
Rav Soloveitchik maintained that the entire concept of an intermediary between man and G-d is false from its inception.

The sin of the Egel was, in contrast, to the Original Sin, the consequence of man’s denial and self-downgrading. The awareness of their smallness actually motivated them to sin… the people could not visualize the fulfillment of the great promise without Moshe’s leadership. In essence they were saying: We don’t have to reach that level. We relinquish our responsibility. This was their mistake; it was no matter that Moses was the greatest prophet, the greatest of all men. Every plain Jew has access to the Ribono shel Olam (The Master of the Universe.)

ATTONEMENT FOR THE SIN
Rashi says much later on in Parshat Chukat that, though the Red Heifer was used to purify a person from spiritual defilement resulting from contact with the dead, it also atoned for the sin of the golden calf (see Bamidbar 19:2). After all, death is the result of the golden calf, for the rabbis teach that after accepting Torah, the Jewish people returned to the level of Adam before his sin, regaining immortality. Creating and worshipping the golden calf was tantamount to a repetition of the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil all over again, bringing with it the consequence of death. Therefore, as Rashi says, the heifer comes to “clean up” after the mess of its young (i.e., the calf).

Rashi develops many parallels between the Ref Heifer (the ashes of which were used to purify the impure) and the Golden Calf. For example, just as the Golden Calf was fashioned by fire, the body of the Red Heifer was to be consumed by fire. Rabbi Goldwasser points out an interesting contrast between these two cows. The making of the Golden Calf involved a transformation from an inanimate object (gold) into something that became alive, through fire. On the other hand, the ashes that were needed to carry out the Red Heifer sacrifice came about in a reverse process: something alive would, through fire, become inanimate (ashes). Rabbi Yaakov Yisroel Bifus comments (Lekach Tov) that one can see that the power of fire (and other elements of nature such as water, wind, and earth) can be used to build the world or destroy it.

Rashi also points out that the mitzvah of the Red Heifer is not a commandment, but a statute. (The actual Hebrew word for this, chok, cannot be defined in the English language, so we will use the term statue. The more complex meaning of the word is a mitzvah whose logic defies us). For these statues, the yetzer hara-evil and nations of the world laugh at us, asking, “What purpose does that serve?”
Our answer to the question, “Exactly. You answered the question with your question.”

Rashi says that a statute is a law of which G-d says, “It is a decree from Me, and you have no permission to think into it.” Implicit in this statement is that, though we may be brilliant, and capable of so much, our brilliance has an upper limit. We can be like G-d, but we can’t be Him, and therefore, we certainly can’t second guess Him. Many mitzvot may make sense to us, and Western society has adopted many as its own, such as “Don’t steal,” and “Don’t murder,” etc. But that is only because Western society sees the value in such ordinances, and how they make life more secure for the average individual. But what value does the Red Heifer have for the average working man? How does abstaining from eating meat cooked in milk make mankind more civilized? What damages does wearing clothing woven from a mixture of wool and linen cause?

The answer: it prevents golden calves. This is the answer to our earlier question on the severity of the sin.
Aside from the actual, non-visible spiritual impact on creation mitzvot have, statutes remind us that Divine logic is divine, and mankind’s is not. They remind us that our decisions can barely take into account the past and the present, let alone the future. They remind us that there is a master plan for creation, one that you have to be G-d to see from beginning to end in a single eyeshot. Statutes inform us that G-d is privy to knowledge that we are not, knowledge that provides invaluable perspective on the events within our lives, and our long history.

They tell us: Don’t second guess G-d.

The Talmud states that the people allowed the golden calf to be built initially as a replacement for Moshe, whom they had thought had died on the mountain (see Rashi on 32:1). Darkness had descended on the whole world, and they felt left out in the cold, in the middle of desert within which survival was only possible through miracles. They didn’t know WHY this had happened, or what G-d had wanted from them, but they didn’t wait to find out either. They panicked. They second guessed G-d, and did they ever pay a price for it…

Thus the Red Heifer, the quintessential statute, truly does “clean up” for the calf. And according to the Brisker Rav, it is the mitzvah of the Red Heifer that will play a major role in the final redemption from the “red” nation called Edom. Maybe it is time to stop second guessing God, to increase our faith in His master plan, and to hang in there to see how the whole thing will unfold. We have it on faith from very reliable sources, that we will be quite pleasantly surprised

By creating the Golden calf what essentially they are saying is: We are denying G-d. We are doing it ourselves as we see fit.

Now we can also understand how the people fell so quickly. The issue here was not choosing actual idol worship, but rather the method of serving the same God whom they had seen throughout the previous year. In the Ten Commandments, God said they should worship Him directly, not through any intermediaries or representations. When the people perceived that Moses was not returning, they were unable to remain on the level of closeness to God they had attained during the revelation. So they co-opted part of that great Sinai prophecy, and worshiped the calf they had seen in the heavenly image. This, then, is the conflict of a nation that has reached great heights, not of the conflict of a people who have sunken to a new low.

What does the parah adumah truly teach us? Ultimately, it teaches us to live with the impossibility of understanding everything, or, perhaps, even anything. It teaches us to live with the question, with doubts. Moshe Rabbeinu was a great leader of the nation; again and again, he showed his caring and devotion for them. The nation knew that they were blessed with Moshe as their leader. Moshe would always protect them. But then came this moment when they did not know what happened to Moshe and thus, what would happen to them. They had a challenge of insecurity, a challenge of not knowing. They went for the easiest answer, which was the wrong answer. The real answer, though, is that we ultimately always live in a situation of not knowing. That is the human condition. The challenge for us is to live with the question. This is the message of the parah adumah and why Moshe himself had to be seen within its gamut.

Dealing with life and death

April 17, 2015 Uncategorized No comments
This article was constructed with the help of either writings, lectures or shiurim of  Rabbi’s,Yisschar Frand, Baruch Dopelt, Aharon Tendler Dr. Abba Goldman

 

Sassoon children

In this week’s parsha we read about the sudden tragic and untimely death of Aharon’s two sons Nadav and Avihu, the air apparent to Moshe and Aharon, the leaders of Israel. There have been many reasons given of why they died, however, perhaps it might be interesting to explore and possibly learn a lesson on to reconcile with passing of a loved one or prepare for our departure after a hundred and twenty years.

Most people are afraid of death and dying, and almost none of them ask themselves, “Why?” “Why are we afraid of death and dying?” It seems that something that must happen to everyone should have gained a degree of acceptance that mitigates the fear. Yet, we are afraid.
Some will explain that the fear of death is the fear of pain. Granted, that is true for those who unfortunately die in pain; however, there are many who peacefully pass away in their sleep, seemingly in painless journey to the next stage of their existence. Yet, we are afraid.
There are those who will explain the fear of death as the fear of the unknown. In general we fear change and we fear the untried or untested; yet, there are many who thrive on adventure and exploration, and it seems that the after-life is the greatest adventure possible. This adventure is ingrained in us as a result of being exposed to popular science fiction storylines involve exploring “to boldly go where no man has gone before”, the afterlife.
Others will explain the fear of death as the fear of not living. Life is filled with opportunities for accomplishment and love. Who wouldn’t wish to be present at their grandchild or hopefully great-grandchild’s wedding and beyond? Who wouldn’t wish the added time to learn one more page of Talmud, do one more Chessed (kindness), hear one more symphony or nigun (tune), read one more classic, or admire one more majestic display of G-d’s natural grandeur?
Perhaps, one is afraid of dying because he missed an opportunity. Being sensitive enough to grasp the subtle message that G-d is trying to convey throughout our lifetime might not be so easy. Perhaps, that’s our task in this world. So it seems like before we continue with dealing with death one must know how to live!!!  
The Talmud relates a story of Rebbi Eliezer ben Dordia who was a womanizer to say the least. He was under the impression that every woman was permissible to him. One of his conquests made a chance remark one time, with a snickering expression, alluding to the fact that his actions in his lifetime will never enable any repentance to be accepted and he’ll never see the gates in heaven. In one’s lifetime there are few, very few times, where words pierce the heart. Her words had such a powerful effect on him that he sat down on a mountain and cried until he died. A heavenly voice proclaimed, “R Eliezer did repentance and has entered the World to Come”.
What is mind boggling is what  the Talmud conveys next. The Talmud continues describing how Rebbi cried after hearing the story. Everybody in the study hall wondered why was he crying? He should have been joyous towards R’ Eliezer. R’ Eliezer ben Dordia had raised himself from the degrading cesspool in life, to a place in heaven in an instant, wow!! R’ Eliezer ben Dordia was able to capitalize on the feeling in which he was so overwhelmed by the words of his companion in sin.
So why was Rebbi crying when he heard the story of R’ Eliezer? Rebbi didn’t cry for R’ Eliezer’s sake, but rather for all of humanity. Each one of us experiences a moment of awakening that is capable of impacting one’s entire life. Yet only one in a thousand, in fact, utilizes the moment. Most of us miss a chance; that is the very reason why we were put on this earth. This is why Rebbi cried.
 Perhaps, this is what we should be afraid of when our time is up. There will be nothing more embarrassing than to face the Creator and be seen one’s potential that was not taken.
In order to better understand the concept of death one should be aware of an interesting topic in our Torah.
 “Tell the Israelites to procure for you a red heifer that is free from every blemish and defect and on which no yoke has ever been laid…” (Bamidbar. 19:2ff).
One of the biblical conditions for the rebuilding of the Third Temple in Jerusalem may have perhaps been met recently when a red heifer was discovered in the United States.
In January 2014 a red heifer, or Parah Adumah, was born to a cow herding family in an undisclosed location in the US, who wish to see the animal used for the purity service during the preparations for the rebuilding of the Third Temple.
The family has reportedly not marred or maimed the animal in any way, nor will they be using the animal for work or feeding it any growth hormones. All this to comply with Jewish law of keeping the animal as nature created it. It should be under strict watch until it reaches 3 years old.
The red heifer is a cow whose coat has no more than one single hair of any color other than red, and whose skin, hoofs, and eyelids are all also reddish. The Red Heifer is an extremely rare creature. The uniqueness of the red heifer, aside from its irregularity in nature – there has not been a red heifer born in Israel in over 2,000 years.
Strict rules also apply to its color. Two single hairs of a color other than red automatically disqualify it from becoming a Red Heifer. A Red Heifer candidate that was discovered in 2000 was disqualified after two black hairs were found on it.
Likewise, a cow that meets all other criteria, but is older than four is disqualified. The present calf has a long way until, if at all, it will become a real Red Heifer.
The discovery of a red calf that could potentially become a Red Heifer-Parah Adumah excites many Jews who believe that Moshe prepared the first Red Heifer and Mashiach will prepare the last one.
Parah Adumah is the classic example of a Torah law which seems to have –at least for us — no rationale. When a person comes into contact with a dead body he becomes ‘tameh’, “spiritually impure”, and the only way for him to regain his state of purity is to be sprinkled with the water which was mixed with the ashes of the Parah Adumah, the Red Heifer, which make him ‘tahor’ -“spiritually clean” once again. The topic of the red cow is very confusing: although it can purify the impure, the people who are involved in the process of preparing and administering the ashes of the Red Heifer become impure. Therefore, it remains the quintessential ‘chok’ – “a law without an apparent reason”.
Or Hachaim Hakadosh says, that Parah Adumah is the mainspring of performing commandments without rationale and therefore its labeled “the Chok of the Torah” [Bamidbar 19:2] . This Commandment embodies the very essence of Torah. Why? Because Torah –no matter how much we delve into its laws and no matter how much we try to understand it — ultimately presents a religion which one must practice even though he does not understand the why and the wherefore. The basis of accepting Torah is “We will do and we will listen” [Shmot 24:7]. One has to be prepared to accept even without fully understanding. That is why the verse emphasizes “This is the Chok of the Torah”. This law personifies Torah. This law teaches what Torah is all about: we must do it even if we don’t understand.
Our next question is: why is this particular law used to teach us this principle?
Forbidden mixtures (sha’tnez) are a chok; Milk and Meat is a chok; there are dozens of ‘chukim.’ Yet this is THE law that represents the fulfillment of Torah even when we do not understand. Why Parah Adumah?
Rabbi Yissachar Frand saw an interesting interpretation in the Shemen HaTov. Our Sages tell us that this world received a terrible punishment called ‘Death’ as a result of the incident with the Tree of Knowledge. Up until Adam and Chava ate from that tree, there was not supposed to be anything in this world called ‘Death’. Once they violated the prohibition to consume the fruit of that tree, Death descended into the world.
What was the key behind the sin of the Tree of Knowledge? It was so that “You may be like Elokim — knowing Good and Evil” [Bereishis 3:5]. The motivating factor behind that original sin was because people wanted to know ‘Why’. The snake fueled Chava’s curiosity.
Man does not want to be a robot. He has curiosity. He has a desire (ta’avah) to know ‘Why’. That passion led to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. As a result of that we received an appropriate punishment — death. How does one deal with death? When one has confronted death, he needs to subsequently confront the Parah Adumah, the Red Heifer. The Parah Adumah represents our inability to know why.
That is why this is the appropriate punishment for the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Man’s burning desire to know why – led him to death, and death makes man deal with the Parah Adumah, which teaches him that he cannot always know why. That is what life does about — sometimes not know why. That is why specifically this mitzvah represents the essence of what Torah is about: doing, even without necessarily knowing why we are doing.
At times of personal tragedy it is common for the individual to question G-d’s foresight. We feel that pain and loss justify the challenges and excuse the occasional lack of civility. Certainly, we cannot judge those who challenge G-d or society when it is due to personal loss or pain. However, even pain requires a perspective. The story of Nadav and Avihu provides the perspective.
In the aftermath of their deaths, the verse states, “Vayidome Aharon – and Aharon was silent.” What does Vayidome mean? It means acceptance. Aharon’s silence did not indicate a lack of emotion or feeling. It revealed the profundity of his personal devotion and sense of responsibility. As the Kohain Gadol he did not have the luxury of venting his pain. At the time of his inauguration, at the time of the lighting of the Mizbeach, he would not voice feelings that challenged G-d and served his own emotional needs. Instead he was silent.
Aharon was not the only one who was silent. Elazar and Isamar, the brothers of Nadav and Avihu, were also silent. They too had suffered a terrible personal tragedy and they too remained silent. Moshe was their uncle and teacher. He too had suffered a terrible personal loss. He too contained his feelings and remained silent.
In 11:2 Rashi writes, “At that moment, G-d’s directive to teach the Bnai Yisroel the laws of the Kosher and the non-Kosher animals, fish, and fowl was directed to all of them (Moshe, Aharon, Elazar, and Isamar) equally. Why? Because they were all equal in their silence and they had all accepted G-d’s decree with love.” G-d rewarded the family of Aharon with the opportunity of teaching the Bnai Yisroel the laws of Kashrut. Why was this their just reward for their silence in the face of personal tragedy?
Kashrut is one of classic “Chukim – statutes.” Although the Torah tells us that the laws of Kashrut are intended to “Make us holy – to set us apart from the other nations – to be Kadosh – nevertheless, it does not reveal why each individual item was permitted or forbidden. Why beef but not ham? Why Gefilta fish but not lobster quiche? Yet, Kashrus, more so than any other category of Mitzvot, dominates the religious life style of the Jew.
As with all the Mitzvot, personal preference does no enter into the equation. 
Kashrus is all the time. At home, the office, on airlines, in the Far East, and Queens Blvd. Kashrut is the standard of the observant Jew.
Just as the Kohain must serve the nation and not himself, so too, must the Jew be identified by the standards of our nation and not his personal cravings.
Because Aharon, Elazar, and Isamar set aside their personal pain and grief and accepted G-d’s devastating decree in silence and love, they merited joining Moshe in teaching the laws of Kashrut.
There is no doubt that a loved one’s passing will always be missed. When my father passed away, Rabbi Yitzchak Aminoff, who had lost his father when he was a teenager, said to me that he still feels a certain pain even now and he’s a great grandfather. 
Sitting shiva for my father, in Israel, where many of my relatives reside almost twelve years ago, I will never forget an incident.  I dosed off briefly and I saw a tall bald man approach me. He bent over and touched my hand; it was very comforting as I quickly awakened. I looked around and no one was in the vicinity except my mother and uncle, who had also dosed off, sitting shiva  next to me. The moment was a mystery till recently when I realized that as a child I always envisioned G-d as Bald. I kind of sensed that I knew, back then that it was who it is but I was in denial. If one tells you that he had contact with G-d then I equate him with the individual in the fifth avenue station who constantly brags he has conversation with G-d. Regardless if it was HE or just a desperate subconscious leap for comfort, I was in tremendous pain, considering how close I was with my father.
 Many have said to me “death is part of life”. We brought this punishment upon ourselves. But, now we see there is an added punishment that pertains to “tree of knowledge” devastation and that is “why” will never be answered until the future days where all our questions will have an explanation and G-d will lift the terrible sanctions and we will, not only, be death free, but also reunite with our deceased loved ones…..Amen.