The Para Aduma and her son Rashi quotes Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan's analysis of the mitzva and details of Para Aduma, which is based on Midrash, that the red heifer is the symbolic mother of the golden calf. "This can be compared to the son of a maidservant who soiled the king's palace. They said, 'Let his mother come and clean up the mess.' Similarly, let the cow come and atone for the calf." [Side point: a potential Para Aduma that is pregnant (similarly, if she gave birth to a calf) is invalid for Para Aduma - yet the analogy stands.] As we've pointed out in the past, becoming Tamei is not a sin; sometimes it is a great mitzva. Why then is purification from ritual impurity an atonement for sin? Let's put it like this: The Torah tells us that about 3000 men were killed for their participation in the sin of the calf. That's less than a half of a percent of the adult male population - maybe only a 10th of a percent of the total population. What about all the rest of the people? Some suggest that their sin was looking on at what was happening and not objecting. Or something like that. But perhaps we can see things from a different angle. The sinners were executed. The rest of the people displayed their human nature. They defined human nature. Namely, that the individual does not always act the way G-d wants him to. That sin is a betrayal of the Divine soul each person has, by the body that is its receptacle. And G-d therefore (so to speak), in His disappointment with us, declared the body to be the major source of Tum'a. Indirectly, the Calf caused a dead body to be Tamei. And the Para Aduma comes as a purifier and atonement. The following paragraphs are being added to the PDF file and text file which is accessible via email and on the web - there was no additional room available in the hard copy... An visiting dignitary is assigned a local guide and assistant to help him during his visit. After the visit, the assistant's performance is evaluated. Top rating earns the person reward AND a certain status as "good guide to important people", even when not functioning in that capacity. A poor rating - was disrespectful, not helpful, rude, counterproductive. And that becomes a reputation, even long after the assignment. In between - He was okay - will probably not affect the person's reputation either way. The visiting dignitary is the NESHAMA, the holy soul, part of the Divine Essence. The guide and assistant is the person into whose body the soul is placed during his lifetime. The analogy fits well on an individual level, as to what kind of judgment a person faces after 120 years, and as to how he will be remembered. But let's bump this issue up to a national level - the Jewish People. Obviously there are differences among individuals, and these differences range across a wide spectrum of behavior. But how does/did G-d evaluate the Jewish People as a whole. Perhaps we can say that the sin of the golden calf and the reaction of the people (or lack of a reaction), gave a bad reputation to us all, for all time. Decreeing that a dead body is AVI AVOT HATUM'A reflects G-d's dissatisfation (to say the least, or disappointment, so to speak) with the behavior of the People. The status of impurity says that we generally do not treat our NESHAMA properly. We do not generally act on its behalf, but rather indulge in typical "human nature". Because of this, purification is an atonement for sin, and the original analogy of R' Moshe HaDarshan remains intact and a poignant reminder of our constant challenge to rise above human nature and become the holy people and holy nation that G-d wants us to be. [The Parshat Chukat Homepage]
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