Ari Goldwag - Chukas - Pure From Impure

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast recorded with hashem's never ending assistance in ra Israel 5776 2016 this week's para in it's outside of Israel is Paras I'd like to share with you a thought on the very beginning of the para which speaks about the concept of par with the red heer verse says very beginning Chapter 19 Verse one God spoke to Moses and to Aaron and he said this this is the law the statute of the Torah that God has commanded as follows speak to the children of Israel let them bring to you a perfectly red cow that doesn't have any kind of blemish that no yoke has gone upon that animal the verse continues and speaks about the entire process that was involved with the red heer and the purpose of the red heer is ashes was to take them to sprinkle them on someone who had come in contact with the dead and had thereby become ritually impure taking the ashes of the red hepher this person would become purified from his impurity now the concept of the red heer the concept of the aduma is one which the Torah describes as a classically this means that it's a law that we can't understand the we can't understand the reasoning behind this law it's not something on the surface which when we examine it is something that we can understand it's something that requires a deeper depth in fact the me tells us that MOS Moses he was able to understand the depth of this idea of this Mitzvah of this concept but it's something that it's not something that we can easily understand the M the ran the different go into a depth what is the idea behind it what is the power of the what is the concept of it Rashi tells us that it's something it's it's coming to atone for the sin of the agel the Jews had worshiped the golden calf so this too is it's not a calf it's a it's a cow the mush the the analogy that Rashi gives us is to a child who had caused the king's Palace to become dirtied in the language is mun which usually means it became dirty with soya with with excrement as a result of this they said the officers of the king said let the mother of this child come and clean up the king's Palace so too there's a ttin there was a dirtying there was something which was comparable to excrement which was the service of the golden calf we find that idolatry is referred to as aidas galim serving exent and so the paruma which is the mother so to speak there's a calf and there's the mother there's a cow the cow comes let the mother come and clean up after its child what is the idea here what is the concept of the paruma what can we take from it what can we understand from it what is the idea that the mother so to speak is coming to clean up after its child what is the concept of the red heer why is it red what is the concept of the color red why is it referred to as the the quintessential law which we can't understand why is it indeed something that we don't understand and what is the why do we have to have mitus that we don't understand why are there Commandments that are difficult for us to comprehend the First medish on this week's para addresses this question it says it brings this verse this is the this is the immutable law this is the law that we don't understand the law of the red heph says the this is what the verse says amazing thing the M tells us something which seems to be unconnected but of course is very much connected we find that the verse tells us in job 14:4 how is it possible says that a a pure thing can come from something which is completely impure and the example that's given there that the explains as the the the simple understanding of the verse is how could it be that someone pure a good person a sadic a righteous individual can come from two parents who are completely completely not righteous you could have two people who are they're absolutely Wicked and yet they could have a child who is amazingly tough he amazingly pure who's a good person how does that happen says the M we see a few examples of this says the you have Abraham his father was the greatest idolator of his generation his father the M describes him as a Salesman who would sell idolatry what that really means as a says is that he was a k he was he was a priest to the idolatry so ter was this amazing priest to the point that he gave over his son Abraham when when Abraham was speaking and preaching about the one God so ter his father gave him over to the authorities for this blasphemy ter was this evil person who was completely involved in this idolatrous practice and yet he had a son named Abraham Abraham the forefather of the Jewish people the the one who brought to the world or clarified to the world or spread the concept in the world of a one God of a single God the god that we believe in the god of Abraham as we refer to Hashem so how is it that Abraham came from someone who was so evil he came from someone who was so wicked such a beautiful pure person came from someone who is so impure a we see numerous examples of that Hezekiah came from a who also was a great sad he was a righteous individual and he came from someone his father was someone who was not righteous at all he was wicked yes Josiah came from someone who also was wicked morim Mor who was the protagonist of the story of the Milla he also came from someone who wasn't righteous the people of Israel also came out so to speak from the idolators from the nations of the world and it could be that the the the simple understanding of this is that the Jewish people the nation of Israel was forged within The Crucible which was MIT which was Egypt the Jewish people remain a nation we are who we are even because of the fact that we've been spread out throughout the Nations this is where we've become the people who we are the strong spiritual guides to the world that we are this world world is a Crucible which also makes possible the world to come the world to come which we speak of that spiritual realm that age when all will be we'll all have a knowledge of God as the nvi describes the prophet speaks about we'll all have an awareness an absolute awareness of God it's a result of this world it's born out of this world amazing thing that we see in all of these examples that the very place of the greatest Darkness produces something which is the greatest light now the says who did this who commanded this mear who decreed this is it not the one the one who created the world is it not the one who's the most unique of the world which is a reference to God this seems like something which is impossible to do impossible to be how could it be that the greatest evil produces the greatest good it's Hashem Hashem is the one who decides these things Hashem is the one the unique one of the universe God himself the unique one is the one who orders the world in this way who brings about purity from impurity the Mish is giving this as a as an introduction to the concept of parad the red heer the red heer is something which we don't understand and we'll see soon how much we don't understand we'll see more questions about the par the red heer but the m is telling us that there are things that we don't understand that don't make sense that that are countering intive it doesn't make sense that something so pure should come from something so evil and yet Hashem designed it this way that that's possible not only is it possible but we see that it's something which is actually quite common the greatest good comes from a place of the greatest evil what is theat what is the idea who did this who commanded this who decreed this Hashem is the one who decreed this is it not Hashem it's interesting to look at the language of the Mish the setup of the mish how the Mish is even saying things it it lays down a concept it lays down a statement and it asks questions about it says who did this who commanded this is it not God the language of the Mish is very interesting what is the why does the Mish phrase itself in this way why is the measure speaking this way in this in this question format doesn't even answer the question so much it's almost like is it not God it's almost rhetorical why does the measure speak this way what is the concept here why why do we have to have again like we said it's very much connected to the idea of why do we have to have why do we have to have a Mitzvah which we can't understand what is the depth of this idea me continues we find it learned over thereis in regards to the concept ofas which literally is leprosy but it's a spiritual sickness which we've spoken about in the past in regards to this kind of sickness so if a person has the size of a griss which is a about the size of a dime if that's the size of this leprous infection so it's going to cause a person to become impure interestingly counterintuitively if it's covering his entire body it will not cause him to be impure rather he will be pure M who did this me uses the same language who did this who commanded this migar who decreed this is it not the unique one of the universe is it not Hashem so we see a very interesting thing again that when it comes to Purity and impurity even though a small amount of this leprosy can cause a person to become impure if it's a tremendous amount of the impurity he doesn't become impure he is considered pure so this mes here is also showing us just like we find that when there's a tremendous amount of evil the result it seems should be complete evil but no it's not true the result that the child that's born from a tremendous amount of evil has the potential to be someone who's tremendously righteous so too in regards to this impurity it's an analogy for the fact that if there's a tremendous amount of the impurity the person is not going to be impure only if there's a small amount counterintuitively the end of the men I just like to share with you it says we find that it's learned over there those who are involved in the processing of the red heer from the beginning to the end they become T they become impure even though their job is to create the mixture of the ashes of the red heer with water which is going to be sprinkled on someone to purify them from their impurity nevertheless their involvement in it paradoxically causes them to become impure themselves the points out that the purpose of the paruma one of the functions of it is to purify clothes they become tummy their clothes become tummy yet they're going to cause someone else to become pure says this is something which I have etched this is a this is a law which I've etched into reality it's something it's a decree that I have made you cannot transgress you can't pass over my decree my decree is as it is so here again we see that it's almost as if you have to have a tremendous amount of impurity a greater level of impurity in order to purify somebody very interesting remarkable what is the concept furthermore we find that the whole essence of the par aduma is that it's red it has to be completely red if there's even two hairs which are black or two hairs which are white disqualifies the red heer it has to be completely completely red what is the concept of red and interestingly it parallels the concept of the of the eel the concept of gold both gold and red those two colors in cabalistic thought represent the concept of D they represent the concept of judgments of separation from Hashem of separation from God we take something which is red which represents darkness which represents separation we burn it we we take it into a place of even deeper separation we Slaughter the animal we burn it up we take the ashes which are the farthest thing from life and we're able to use those ashes which represent death which represent separation in order to bring a person into a place of tahara he came into contact with the dead he came into a place where he experienced the separation of the soul from the body he is now unable to enter into the B mikd he can't come into the temple he can't come into the Tabernacle to serve God he has to be in a state of Purity he has to be in a state of wholeness he's no longer whole he's separate he's far he's distant one would think that I would have to do some action which shows my interest in coming close to God which shows my might reconnection but no that's not what we do we take something which is red which represents D which parallels and somehow comes to to atone for the golden calf which also represents DIN and separation we take it we Slaughter it we we take away its life we burn it we take away any connection to life that it possibly has it's completely has nothing has no value anymore and that's what we use to purify a person to bring a person back into a state of tahara back into a state of Purity where now he will be able to enter back into the B mes come back into the temple so difficult so challenging something we can't understand M who did this who commanded this mikar who decreed this is it not the the unique one of the earth of the universe what is the understanding of it what's the mystery why does there have to be a mystery I want to share with you that if you look at the talud if you study gar if you look at the approach of the you look at the approach of the sages the way that they get to the the way they get to an understanding of God's will the way that it's done is through consistent Shak lataria back and forth questions and answers and then when we have an answer we ask another question or two questions or three questions there's constant questioning constant trying to understand but the questioning that's going on is unique it's powerful it's not coming from a place of E ego and saying I already understand what's going on it's not coming from a place of saying this doesn't make sense that's not the approach of the that's not the approach if a person enters into a study hall into a Bas medish you're not going to find that people are saying that this doesn't make sense they might say this doesn't make sense to me but they're not going to say it doesn't make sense the the approach of kazal the approach of our sages the approach of those who learn Torah is to question to question to question what is the word what is the concept of of a it's something that we don't understand that we have to understand we have to question to try to understand but the worda means to engrave or can also mean to to sculpt a person takes a rock it's raw person sculpts he he he takes the right implements and and he bangs and he bangs and he bangs if he knows what he's doing he can create a beautiful sculpture he can create a beautiful statue but he needs to take away to to to take off the dross to take off those things that are blocking so to speak that hidden statue that hidden beautiful figure which is underneath the stone which is there to be seen only in the eye of the wise Craftsman who has the ability to see it in the same way when they ask their questions and when the T has a Mitzvah which is a which we don't on the surface understand it's begging us to ask the questions m what is understanding why did Hashem make this command why is it indeed that it's so difficult to understand this law why is it that there's all of these things that don't seem to make sense that someone pure could come from someone so impure when I am standing in the mystery when I standing in the question when I am saying is it not God could it be the the unique one of the universe that God has done this that it's all from God even the evil itself is from God that somehow Hashem wants evil in the world in order to create it itself it's not just that Hashem creates good in places of good and as a second choice you know sometimes good comes out of bad no Abra Abraham specifically as the M seems to be saying these great sadik these great wretched individuals specifically came from a place of Darkness of evil Purity comes from a place of impurity and the asks us and demands of us to go through a process which creates seemingly more impurity but the results are a greater and deeper Purity through the questions if I ask the right questions I start to see I start to chip away at the layers that are covering the kernel of Truth which is underneath if I'm asking the questions properly if I'm asking the questions with humility if I understand at the get-go that I don't understand who could get this who could understand this if I could start off with that understanding with that depth with that humility so even something which only mosh and only Moses could understand even I can understand it and it's an understanding that comes not directly but indirectly it comes because of my humility when I when I enter into a space of questioning of asking but asking out of humility I get to a point where I can see that through the darkness throughout the darkness despite the darkness or because of the darkness even which is even deeper because of the darkness I can find the light and I really truly deeply believe that when a person faces challenges in their life when a person faces difficulties in their life our first NRI reaction is to say I don't want thism why are you doing this to me God why are you doing this to me the Mish is telling us that the the greatest places of darkness in our life are the places where the greatest light is about to shine through there's a certain amount of Darkness that because God wants her to be free will in the world there's a certain amount of Darkness that has to come into the world and that darkness is absolutely necessary you can't have light without Darkness light is imperceptible just like the air that's around us until the wind starts to blow it's not noticeable that there's air there dark gives us the opportunity for light and the deeper the darkness the greater the potential for light so the very Darkness itself is a sign that light is coming it's not a coincidence that all of that's involved in bringing about purity seems to be more and more Darkness more and more separation more and more Den paradoxically just because we've gotten very far doesn't mean that we're lost doesn't mean that we're too far gone in fact the the amazing thing is at the very point where it seems the most far the very point where it seems the most dark is the point where the turnaround is most intensely possible a little bit of Darkness okay that's a challenge but if there's complete darkness complete impurity the person's complete his whole body is covered with this leprosy with hisas he's to because the difficulties the darkness it's called there's a there's a sweetening of the judgments that occurs the more difficulties that are po born by the human being that person carries so it seems like he's going to break from them but if he doesn't break the result is that he's built that he becomes a greater human being that he becomes a higher human being that he becomes a pure human being we look around the world and we think there's so much Darkness so Much Death so much destruction even in the name of God and we say how could it be that good is going to come of this this one wants to destroy the Jewish people the people of Israel this one wants to destroy the whole world it's etc etc and we look at this and we say where's the good and I always think to myself and I've said this before that evil destroys evil ultimately there's a point that the saw is M the the measure is full at that point that the measure is full evil is destroyed and what's left what's produced interestingly beautifully what's produced is Purity is goodness the chaff is fall Falls away the the the stone the outer layer is carved it's removed and what's revealed is the beautiful edifice which is underneath that beautiful human being that beautiful person that beautiful mankind that we've been waiting for so long Hashem should bless you and ask you to bless me hashm should help us that we should be we should Merit to get to that place of Purity we should recognize that when we experience challenges in life that there's something good that Hashem is bringing to us the challenges themselves will result in something amazingly beautiful something amazingly pure hasem should help us recognize this Hashem should help us to ask the questions ask the right questions from a place of humility from a place of understanding that we don't understand has should help us ultimately to be able to recognize the unique one of the universe to be able to have a true relationship with him thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag [Music]