Commentaire sur Le Lévitique 14:5

אל מים חיים OVER RUNNING WATER — He first places it (the water) in the vessel but only, just enough that the bird’s blood may remain discernible in it. And how much is this? The fourth of a log (Sotah 16b).

אל כלי חרס, “into an earthen vessel.” Allegorically speaking, the person preparing to rejoin society is to humble himself, like broken earthenware.

First in a vessel. Because at first it is written, “in an earthenware vessel,” and afterwards it is written, “over running water.” How could that be? Rashi answers: Both are true: He [first] places [the water in a vessel]...

ושחט את הצפר האחת, “the priest is to slaughter one of these two birds;” why was one of the birds slaughtered and the other one was let go and sent off into his domain? This symbolised the lesson that if the person now getting his atonement would perform sincere penitence, he would again become a useful member of society, fit to be associated with.

וצוה הכהן ושחט, “and the priest issues the order to slaughter. The order had to be given by a priest, whereas it could be executed by any ordinary Israelite. (According to Rabbi Yehudah in the name of Rabbi Yossi.) Some sages disagree that an ordinary Israelite could perform the act of slaughtering in this instance.

על מים חיים, “over spring water;” just as Naaman, the Assyrian general who had to bathe himself in the river Jordan.

A fourth. [Rashi knows this] from that which is written afterwards: “And immerse them and the live bird in the blood of the slaughtered bird...” This implies that the blood should be recognizable in the water.

ושחט את הצפור האחת, “the superior looking one of the two birds.” (Based on the prefix ה before the word (אחת

על מים חיים, “over running water,” (from a spring, not a tap.) The symbolism here is to show that the deadlike person who had been afflicted, was now on the way back and could take his place among them. על מים חיים, this spring water was to mix with the blood of the bird which had been slaughtered, so that the hyssop and the leaves from the cedar tree could be dipped in that mixture with the crimson wool and the living bird.