Бамидбар 19:2 Галаха: Ben Ish Hai & Sefer HaChinukh

Blessed is our God who has created us for His glory, and separated us from those who err, and given us the Torah of truth, and planted eternal life among us, "Mah ashiv laShem kol tagmuluhi `alai/How can I return to Hashem all his benevolences toward me?"<sup>7</sup>Ps. 116, Who has permitted me in His great mercies and great compassions, to serve in the "courtyards of the Temple of Hashem," in the place that our holy forefathers served, nishmatam eden/their souls in Paradise, in the permanent dwelling each and every Shabbat, when the children of Yisrael assemble there, to expound to them holy scriptures, which they read on their Shabbatot each parashah in its time, as its arrangement and order is given; zot chuqat hatorah/This is the statute of the Torah. Also including drashahs of the Haftarah readings, though my original [work] was review of the Torah, and as Hashem Yitbarakh graced me in His great compassion, to some produce chidushim/novel words by the way of peshat [basic explanation of the scripture] or derash [mystical explanation] or the crown of remez, I recorded the chidushim for reminder. And already in the year 5624 I printed from my chidushim with the help of Heaven a book small in quantity, on the Pentateuch, and I named it Aderet Eliyahu (the cape of Eliyahu<sup>8</sup>II Kings 2), and behold, from that time until now, praise to El Yitbarakh, the chidushei Torah increased from what Hashem bestowed to me, and because we have heard an admonition from the mouth of scribes and from the mouth of sefarim/holy books that a man is obligated to print his sefarim in his lifetime, I awakened myself to bring to the printhouse chidushei Torah in the way of drash and remez on the Pentateuch, because I reasoned that it is proper to advance this before other chidushei Torah, because it is food for every man, and it is a staple for every soul, and benefits the masses a bit more, but because the printing expenses were great, and I have not the financial means, I was forced to bring to print at this time only a little of my produce, one quarter of what I have by the grace of `El Eylon, and if Hashem Yitbarakh desires He will help me bring what remains with me in a separate book, because that which remains has a great quantity, and furthermore has also the chidushei Torah that I darshened on the verses of the Haftarot of the whole year; I have not brought one of the here, because due to their great quantity they are fit to be a large sefer by themselves, if Hashem helps.

The commandment of the red heifer: That Israel was commanded to burn the red heifer so that its ashes will be ready for anyone who needs it to be purified from the impurity of the dead, as it is stated (Numbers 19:2), “Speak to the Children of Israel and they shall take to you a red heifer,” and it is written below this (Numbers 19:9), “It will be a safeguard for the Children of Israel.” Even though my heart has given me the gumption to write hints of the simple reasons for the previous commandments, with the excuse that [this] work is to instruct my son and his young friends, may God protect them; on this commandment my hands are weak and I am afraid to open my mouth about it at all, since I have seen that our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, spoke at length regarding the depth of its secret and greatness of its content; to the point that they said (Bamidbar Rabbah 19, Midrash Tanchuma 4:6:6) that King Solomon was able through his great wisdom to understand all the reasons of the Torah, except for this — as he stated about it (Ecclesiastes 7:23), “I have said that I will understand, but it is far from me.” They also said in the Midrash Tanchuma 4:6:8, “Rabbi Yose BeRebbi Chanina says, ‘The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, “To you I will reveal the reason for the red heifer, but not to others.”’” And there are many other similar statements. And now, the listener should not think that the matter of its secret and the matter of its being an arational commandment (chok) is that the ashes affect purification, as one will find a similar [process] with other sacrifices for the person with a discharge or a new mother, whose purification is completed by the offering of their sacrifices.

From the laws of the commandment are that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Mishnah Parah 1:1) the commandment of the heifer is that it be three or four years old, but if it was [older], it is [also] acceptable. And [that] we do not take a calf and raise her to maturity; but rather a cow (heifer), as it stated (Numbers 19:2), “and they shall take to you a heifer.” And [that] that which it states about it “pure” (temimah), is to speak about perfect redness, such that two black or white hairs disqualify it. Even if it was shrunken (other textual variants read “dwarfed,” meaning a dwarf), it is acceptable, so long as it is all red — as it does not need to be more perfect than other offerings. And if it had hairs whose roots were red and the tips were another color, it all goes according to the roots. And [so,] he trims the tips with a scissors down to the red.