Challenge, Goal, Stepping Stone

We have met the Torah concept of Tum'a and Tahara in various forms many times already in the Torah, but in Parshat Chukat we are introduced to the ultimate, "Father of Fathers of Ritual Impurity" and to the unique way of handling that Tum'a - the Para Aduma. And, although we are "warned" that the Para Aduma - and the wholetopic of ritual (im)purity - is considered a CHOK, not lending itself to easy logical explanations, we can learn many lessons and gain insights into what G-d wants of us.

Remember the old line about the physical human body consisting of a couple of dollars worth of chemicals? Well, it might be up a couple of more dollars in today's market, but the point is the same: materially, we are not worth all that much. Add to that the infinite value of human life, a person's intellect, personality,soul - and you are talking about something altogether different. Judaism, in a way, makes a similar statement: The body without life is the most severe source of Tum'a. On the other hand, the body WITH life in it has the greatest potential to be Tahor (in many different ways) and to become Kadosh, sanctified. Tahara brings a Jew closer to K'dusha. The Pele Yo'eitz explains that the Soul always strives towards sanctity, and it is the different forms of Tum'a that holds back the Soul.

Put in a positive way, if and when the Jew purifies himself, rids himself of Tum'a, then he becomes more in synch with his Neshama and can attain higher levels of Kedusha.

In some way or another, this includes: avoiding contact with sources of Tum'a, ritual immersion when called upon as (part of) the Tahara process, washing one's hands, eating kosher and shunning non-kosher, speaking without vulgarities, without anger, without hurting the feelings of others. The use of the term, TAHARAT HA'LASHON,purity of the tongue, is to impress upon us that misusing the power of speech is not only wrong, not only sinful, but is also counter-productive to our aspirations to Holiness. (Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Lashon HaRa is punished by Tzara'at, another "top-level" source of Tum'a. If one becomes "Tamei" by improperspeech, then he becomes Tamei "for real". And conversely, the T'shuva process for Lashon HaRa involves more than just being sorry and sort of promising not to do it again. A person prone to Lashon HaRa, or the use of vulgar language, and other misuses of the power of speech, needs a type of ritual purification. There's more to say, but that's it for now. I hope the reader got my drift (as is said).