Red heifer
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In Judaism, the red heifer (Hebrew parah adumah) is a heifer that is sacrificed and whose ashes are used for the ritual purification of people who came into contact with a corpse. A heifer is a young cow before she has had her first calf.
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[edit] The Red Heifer in the Hebrew Bible
According to the Numbers 19:2: "Speak unto the Children of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke". In other words, it must not have hairs of any other color, it must be in perfect health, and it must never have been used to perform work. The cow is then slaughtered and burned "outside of the camp". Cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet are added to the fire, and the remaining ash is placed in a vessel containing pure water.
In order to purify a person who has become ritually contaminated by contact with a corpse, water from the vessel is sprinkled on him, using a bunch of hyssop, on the third and seventh day of the decontamination process (Numbers 19:19). The priests who have performed the ritual then become impure themselves.
[edit] The Red Heifer in the Mishnah
The Mishnah, the central compilation of Rabbinic Oral Law, contains a tractate on the Red Heifer, tractate Parah in Seder Taharot, which explains the procedures involved. The tractate has no Gemarah (Rabbinical commentary). According to Mishnah Parah, the presence of two black hairs invalidates a Red Heifer. In addition to the usual requirements of an unblemished animal for sacrifice, there are various other requirements, such as natural birth (Caesarian section renders a Heifer candidate invalid). The water must be "living" or spring water, and came from the Spring of Shiloah in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem. The ceremony involved was complex and detailed. Enormous care was taken to ensure that no-one involved in the Red Heifer ceremony could have had any contact with the dead. The Mishnah recounts that children were used to draw and carry the water for the ceremony, children born and reared in isolation for the specific purpose of ensuring that they never came into contact with a corpse:
- There were courtyards in Jerusalem built over [the virgin] rock and below them a hollow [was made] lest there might be a grave in the depths, and pregnant women were brought and bore their children there, and there they reared them. And oxen were brought, and on their backs were laid doors on top of which sat the children with cups of stone in their hands. When they arrived in Shiloah [the children] alighted, and filled [the cups with water], and mounted, and again sat on the doors.
Various other devices were used, including a causeway from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives so that the heifer and accompanying priests would not come in contact with a grave. [1]
The ceremony of the burning of the red heifer itself took place on the Mount of Olives. A pure priest slaughtered the heifer, and sprinkled of its blood in the direction of the Temple seven times. The red heifer was then burnt on a pyre, together with crimson dyed wool, hysop, and cedar wood. In recent years, the site of the burning of the red heifer on the Mount of Olives has been tentatively located by archaeologist Yonatan Adler. [2]
[edit] In Jewish Tradition
The existence of a red heifer that conforms with all of the rigid requirements imposed by halakha is a biological anomaly. The animal must be entirely of one color, and there are a series of tests listed by the rabbis to ensure this, for instance, the hair of the cow must be absolutely straight (to ensure that the cow had not previously been yoked, as this is a disqualifier). According to Jewish tradition, only nine red heifers were actually slaughtered in the period extending from Moses to the destruction of the Second Temple. Mishnah Parah recounts seven, stating that Moses prepared the first, Ezra the second, Simon the Just and Yochanan the High Priest prepared two each, and Eliechonnai ben Hakkot and Hanameel the Egyptian prepared one each.
The absolute rarity of the animal, combined with the mystical ritual in which it is used, have given the red heifer special status in Jewish tradition. It is cited as the prime example of a chok, or biblical law for which there is no apparent logic, and is therefore of absolute Divine origin. Because the state of ritual purity obtained through the ashes of a red heifer is a necessary prerequisite for participating in any Temple service, efforts have been made in modern times by Jews wanting to rebuild the Temple to locate a red heifer and recreate the ritual. Most recently, a cow that was considered a potential candidate was disqualified because it sprouted several black hairs.
[edit] Search by Temple Institute
The Temple Institute, a controversial organization dedicated to preparing for rebuilding a Third Temple in Jerusalem, has been attempting to identify Red Heifer candidates consistent with the requirements of Numbers 19:1-22 and Mishnah Tractate Parah. [3] In recent years, the Institute identified two candidates, one in 1997 and another in 2002.[4] The Temple Institute had initially declared both kosher, but later found each to be unsuitable.
[edit] References
- ^ Mishnayoth Seder Taharoth, translated and annotated by Phillip Blackman, Judaica Press, 2000.
- ^ Y. Adler, "The Site of the Burning of the Red Heifer on the Mount of Olives", Techumin, 22 (2002), pp. 537–542. (Hebrew)
- ^ http://www.templeinstitute.org/red_heifer/red_heifer_contents.htm Temple Institute: Red Heifer
- ^ Red Heifer born in Israel Temple Institute, 8 April 2002
