신명기 31:21의 Musar

We will deal with the significance of the שור in connection with פרשת פרה, which is usually read on the Sabbath we read פרשת כי תשא. Due to our being in exile on account of our many sins, our preoccupation with Torah is unfortunately greatly reduced; this situation will not be drastically changed until the time of the final redemption when the whole world will become filled with the knowledge of G–d (Isaiah 11,9). Our sages state that though generally speaking the Torah is referred to as masculine, when the Torah is spoken of in connection with exile it is referred to as feminine such as in Deut. 31,21 כי לא תשכח מפי זרעו, “For she will not be forgotten by its descendants." When Torah is thus "weakened," it assumes the image of a feminine שור, i.e. a cow. This is the mystical dimension of the פרה אדומה, the red heifer and of the legislation concerning its treatment. We view the red heifer as the instrument that is to expiate for the fact that the Torah has been downgraded from the image of the male (ox), to the female (cow). The ash of the red heifer purifies a person who has been ritually contaminated by contact with a dead body or exposure to the enclosed airspace harbouring a dead body.

The best way to explain the Midrash is by reference to the three different kinds of crowns. When G–d describes Israel as a flock and Himself as its shepherd, this is an allusion to the crown of Torah. We have a verse in Ezekiel 34,31: "Now you My flock, flock of My pasture—you are Adam. I am your G–d, says the Lord G–d." The meaning of this verse is that though, at this time, Torah knowledge amongst the Jewish people is only at the level of sheep, there will come a time when the Jewish people will once more be comparable to Adam, a time at which the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of G–d. David Kimchi explains the verse by saying that even when we are in exile the Torah will not be forgotten, since we have an assurance כי לא נשכח מזרעו, "it will not be forgotten by his descendants" (Deut. 31,21). We are only called צאן. Our sages have used similar terminology for Jews who have studied little Torah whom they describe them as גדיים, rather than as תישים, young goats instead of mature billy-goats (Berachot 63). Solomon, referring to such immature Jewish people, says in Song of Songs 1,8: צאי לך בעקבי הצאן, "Go out and follow the tracks of the sheep "