זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר דַּבֵּ֣ר ׀ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֣וּ אֵלֶיךָ֩ פָרָ֨ה אֲדֻמָּ֜ה תְּמִימָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֵֽין־בָּהּ֙ מ֔וּם אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־עָלָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ עֹֽל׃
여호와의 명하는 법의 율례를 이제 이르노니 이스라엘 자손에게 일러서 온전하여 흠이 없고 아직 멍에 메지 아니한 붉은 암송아지를 네게로 끌어 오게 하고
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 19,2. “This is the statute of the Torah which the Lord had commanded, saying;”
We subscribe to the rule that G’d did not reveal to us the innermost reasons for the individual commandments of the Torah. Nonetheless, by giving the Torah to us He also encouraged us to try and understand as much as we could, as the better we understand the meaning of the commandments the greater the love with which we perform them. By introducing this portion with the words: זאת חקת התורה, G’d hinted that we must remember that basically the entire Torah consists of a string of commandments and that all that has been revealed to us is what is needed to enable us to perform these commandments in the proper manner. One reason why the rationale for the commandments has not been revealed is to ensure that we observe them because G’d has so commanded us and not because we agree with G’d’s reasons.
This principle enables us to understand that the ashes of the red heifer have been chosen to be the vehicle whereby we can cleanse ourselves ritually after having become contaminated in one way or another through contact with a dead human body. We have to remember also, that, due to the origin of our souls being immediately below G’d’s throne in heaven, the soul is naturally anxious to carry out all of G’d’s desires. The body, being a product of the earth, opposes the urgings of the soul as a matter of principle. Whenever we succeed in defeating the opposition of our bodies to perform G’d’s commandments we accumulate merits for ourselves.
The reason why the body opposes performance of the Torah’s commandments is simply that it cannot fathom the reason for these commandments. Had the body known the reasons for the commandments it would certainly have cooperated with the soul every step of the way.
In view of the above, when a person dies and his soul has departed on its way to rejoin its Maker in the celestial regions, the body has been bereft of every spiritual stimulus and becomes ritually contaminated. This is also the reason why, according to our sages, the bodies of the righteous do not confer ritual impurity on people who contact them, as these bodies have become refined already while the souls inhabited them, so that they had become willing partners in performing the commandments of the Torah. An allusion to this is contained in the words: זאת חקת התורה, i.e. “on account of the Torah being a statute containing laws whose meaning has not been revealed, as a result of which most bodies refused to cooperate with their souls, these bodies are now ‘punished’ by becoming a source of ritual contamination for people that come in contact with them.
We subscribe to the rule that G’d did not reveal to us the innermost reasons for the individual commandments of the Torah. Nonetheless, by giving the Torah to us He also encouraged us to try and understand as much as we could, as the better we understand the meaning of the commandments the greater the love with which we perform them. By introducing this portion with the words: זאת חקת התורה, G’d hinted that we must remember that basically the entire Torah consists of a string of commandments and that all that has been revealed to us is what is needed to enable us to perform these commandments in the proper manner. One reason why the rationale for the commandments has not been revealed is to ensure that we observe them because G’d has so commanded us and not because we agree with G’d’s reasons.
This principle enables us to understand that the ashes of the red heifer have been chosen to be the vehicle whereby we can cleanse ourselves ritually after having become contaminated in one way or another through contact with a dead human body. We have to remember also, that, due to the origin of our souls being immediately below G’d’s throne in heaven, the soul is naturally anxious to carry out all of G’d’s desires. The body, being a product of the earth, opposes the urgings of the soul as a matter of principle. Whenever we succeed in defeating the opposition of our bodies to perform G’d’s commandments we accumulate merits for ourselves.
The reason why the body opposes performance of the Torah’s commandments is simply that it cannot fathom the reason for these commandments. Had the body known the reasons for the commandments it would certainly have cooperated with the soul every step of the way.
In view of the above, when a person dies and his soul has departed on its way to rejoin its Maker in the celestial regions, the body has been bereft of every spiritual stimulus and becomes ritually contaminated. This is also the reason why, according to our sages, the bodies of the righteous do not confer ritual impurity on people who contact them, as these bodies have become refined already while the souls inhabited them, so that they had become willing partners in performing the commandments of the Torah. An allusion to this is contained in the words: זאת חקת התורה, i.e. “on account of the Torah being a statute containing laws whose meaning has not been revealed, as a result of which most bodies refused to cooperate with their souls, these bodies are now ‘punished’ by becoming a source of ritual contamination for people that come in contact with them.
Beit Aharon
And we can say [about this] that the expression, who, applies when we ask about something that is possible to understand. It is just that I don't know what it is, so I ask about it, who. But it is not applicable to ask, who is it, about something that is impossible to understand! So this is the explanation of the Mishnah, "How fortunate are you, Israel; before Whom are you purified: The explanation is that a person purifies himself and comes to this aspect before it is possible to ask, "Who is He?" And this aspect called, "Who," purifies you, "as it is stated, 'And I will sprinkle purifying water upon you, and you shall be purified.' And it states, 'The mikveh (ritual bath) of Israel is God.'" Since, in the same way that a person must immerse himself in a mikveh, so too must he immerse himself in the Name of His Existence, blessed be He. And it needs to be 'water in water,' as it was before the creation of the world, so that he purifies himself before, "Who." And this is the aspect of Who purifying him. And this is the intention of the mikveh, as a person must immerse himself in the four letters of His Existence, may He blessed and blessed be His name, so that there be 'water in water' (ed. see Zohar Bereishit 6:60). And it is found in the Midrash, "'And they shall take a red heifer to you' (Numbers 19:2), etc. Such did Rabbi Tanchuma open [his teaching], '"The righteous man lives blamelessly" (Proverbs 20:7) - that is Avraham; "happy are his children who come after him" - everything that Avraham did to the angels was done afterwards to his children. He said (Genesis 18:4), "Let a little water be taken and wash your feet" - so do his children sprinkle upon themselves from the ashes of the red heifer, immerse themselves and become pure. For Avraham was truly the kindness of the world.'" The explanation is that he gave to everyone everything they needed. And just like Avraham did kindness to the angels and purified them - as the angels [appeared as] three men, as is well known, such that they needed purification, so he purified with water which did not have any aspect of impurity, but was rather completely pure - so too, did he purify Israel with the same water at that time. It is written (Exodus 30:18-20), "Make a copper basin, etc. When they enter the Tent of Meeting they shall wash with water (it can be read literally as, the water shall be washed)." It is implied that the water itself needs washing. But ostensibly, how is it possible to wash water in water? But it is according to that which is found in the Gemara - water that has become impure and requires purification, we adjoin it to pure water. And this is [the meaning of] "the water shall be washed": That the lower waters must be adjoined to the higher waters. And this is the explanation of "adjoining water to water." And this is the explanation of, "before Who": Before, "Who," you purify yourselves; as they are waters that are completely pure. And these are the waters that Avraham gave to the angels to purify them. So any time a person purifies himself, he must purify himself with those waters, in order to adjoin 'water with water' - 'the mikveh of Israel is God' (referring to God's name, which is seen as combining the two waters). And the trait called, "Who," is what purifies you. And this is [the meaning of] "and they shall take a pure red heifer to you that has no blemish in it" - that there should be no lack in it, but that it should be completely perfect; "upon which a yoke has not come" - for it is from the world of freedom. And that is the aspect called, "'Who,' which purifies you." And that is the explanation of the verse, "The righteous man lives blamelessly" - this is Avraham who did kindness with everyone; "happy are his children who come after him" - just as he did kindness with everyone, in that merit, his children are also purified in the same waters.
Avodat Yisrael
"It is customary to place pieces of chametz in a place where the searchers will find them, etc. However, if one did not place them, it does not invalidate [the search], since a person's intention is to destroy [chametz] if he finds any."It appears that they established this holy custom because the essential purpose of destroying chametz is [the destruction of] the yetzer ha-ra, as I wrote above. Therefore they instituted placing chametz [before the search] — to demonstrate that there certainly still remains sin within a person, and chametz represents the yetzer ha-ra. For "there is no righteous person on earth who does only good and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20).For a person who considers himself to have rectified everything has certainly not even begun to serve God, as I wrote elsewhere in my interpretation of the verse regarding the red heifer: "that has no blemish, upon which no yoke has been laid" (Numbers 19:2) — meaning, one who believes that there is no blemish in him has certainly never yet taken upon himself the yoke of Heaven.And as the wise author of Chovot Ha-Levavot said: if I were to say in my heart "I have not sinned," that itself would certainly be the greatest sin — for pride is the greatest sin of all.Therefore it is customary to place pieces of chametz — to demonstrate, as explained above, that one has certainly not rectified everything.