Summary of the day

Shabbat Parah is the Shabbat after Purim. A second Torah scroll is taken out and the passage of the red heifer is read (Numbers 19:1-22): instructions for preparing the ashes of the heifer which purify from contamination by the dead. The haftara from Ezekiel promises: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean… and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezekiel 36:25-26).

The mitzvot of the day

• Hearing Parashat Parah, a Torah obligation according to most authorities.
• Preparing for Pesach: the road from impurity to purity, in body and soul, and the start of checking for chametz.

Origin in history

The red heifer is the quintessential “chok”, a law with no given reason: it purifies the impure and makes those who handle it impure. King Solomon said he understood everything except the heifer (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:3). In Temple times, anyone contaminated by a corpse had to be purified before the pilgrimage and before eating from the Pesach offering. The haftara paints exile as impurity and redemption as purification through sprinkling and a new heart.

The message for today

Just as we cannot explain the heifer, there are values we keep even without fully understanding them. And also: before the festival, everyone cleans the house, and that is a chance to clean the heart too. The prophet promises that purification is possible, and that everyone can begin again.