Ki Tissa (Parshat Parah) - Holy Cows

A few years ago, there were two cows standing in a field in Surrey.

The first turns to the second one and says:

"What do you think of this mad cow disease, isn't it frightening?"

The second replies: "Why should I be scared? I'm a chicken!"

I am reminded of this, when I look at this week’s parsha and the preoccupation that we seem to have with these bovine creatures. Firstly, we have the Egel Hazahav, the Golden Calf episode in Parshat Ki Tissa and then we finish with a maftir that is literally called "Parshat Parah" - the section about the Cow!

When we think of other faiths who venerate animals, our Hindu neighbours immediately come to mind, since they hold cows in such high esteem. This is due to their belief that the cow, in providing us with life-sustaining milk is representative of the divine bounty emanating from the earth.

Whilst we highly respect their belief system, as Jews, the idea of venerating an animal in such a manner does not feature at all in our religion, let alone history.

We are instructed in several Torah locations to respect the status of animals as Gd’s creatures and ensure that we actively work to promote the mitzvah of “tzaar baalei chayim” – to avoid causing them any suffering. 

At the same time, we also must remember that there is a huge difference between respecting the rights of animals and worshipping them - as witnessed in the sorry tale of the Golden Calf, described in this week's Parsha.

If that's not enough, this week’s Maftir describes the process of sprinkling the ashes of a Red Heifer (a female cow)  as constituting the only way that a person who has come into contact with a dead body can be ritually cleansed by the Cohen carrying out the ceremony.

Both the episodes of the Golden Calf and the Red Heifer seem to conflict with the notion that we don't elevate cows, or any other creatures to such an important level.

If this is the case, why does the Torah describe the use of cows in both parshiot, commencing with the creation and worship of a Golden Calf?

If we understand the ramifications of the first, we can start to comprehend the reason for the second.

Let's look at what happened at Sinai, from the ancient Midrash (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer)

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer: 45

(1) The Golden Calf

 When Israel received the commandments, they forgot their God after forty days, and they said to Aaron: The Egyptians were carrying their god, and they were singing and uttering hymns before it, and they saw it before them. Make unto us a god like the gods of the Egyptians, and let us see it before us, as it is said, "rise up, make us a god" (Ex. 32:1).

The text uses the following description:

שמות ל״ב:ד׳

(ד) וַיִּקַּ֣ח מִיָּדָ֗ם וַיָּ֤צַר אֹתוֹ֙ בַּחֶ֔רֶט וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֖הוּ עֵ֣גֶל מַסֵּכָ֑ה וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֵ֤לֶּה אֱלֹקֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃

Exodus 32:4

(4) This he (Aaron) took from them and cast in a mould and made it into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

The Israelites had regressed to the state of idol-worshippers - but why use a cow of all animals?

Rabbi Avraham, the son of the Rambam tells us something fascinating:

"I have a tradition from my father and teacher of blessed memory that this was because they held fast to their astrological beliefs, being convinced that they had left Egypt under the Zodiac sign of the Bull (Taurus) or that their destiny was governed by some other superstitious, idolatrous astrological notion".

Indeed, if we look at Egyptian mythology, the Sacred Bull or 'Apis' which was seen in the constellation of Taurus, was the embodiment of Ptah, the Egyptian creator god and by his will "thought the world into existence".

Is this starting to sound familiar - the idea of a god who has created the World?

Our Sages tell us that the incident of the Golden Calf was initiated by the ‘Eruv Rav’, namely the Egyptian non-Israelites who left Egypt alongside the Children of Israel, so we can understand why they would have wished to embed their idolatrous ideas into the hearts and minds of our ancestors. Unfortunately, the Israelites were all too easily led astray – easily drifting back into the immoral Egyptian culture that they should have deserted as they left the Sea of Reeds.

Let's look at the second example of a cow’s use in the Torah.

The maftir starts with the following verse:

במדבר י״ט:ב׳

(ב) זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה ה' לֵאמֹ֑ר דַּבֵּ֣ר ׀ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֣וּ אֵלֶיךָ֩ פָרָ֨ה אֲדֻמָּ֜ה תְּמִימָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֵֽין־בָּהּ֙ מ֔וּם אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־עָלָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ עֹֽל׃

Numbers 19:2

2) This is the ritual law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid.

Rashi notes something fascinating here:

'...the cow must be completely red, without blemish and without any sort of defect. Throughout the Bible, the colour red is associated with sin.'

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah) 5a, further informs us that the Israelites, at the receiving of the Torah, reached the state of Adam before he had eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and would henceforth not experience death. The sin of the Calf was therefore comparable to the eating of this fruit for it brought death back into the world.  

We can now see a definitive link between the Red Heifer, which removes the stain of death and the Golden Calf, which brought death back into the world, after the declaration of the Ten Commandments.

In Judaism, there are numerous parallels between negative events taking place and how they are matched over time through a Divinely ordained punishment.

For example, Jacob tricked his father Isaac over the birthright and was later deceived by his sons over the sale of Joseph.

The Egyptians drowned the Hebrew newborn boys in the River Nile and they similarly met their fate through the deluge at the Sea of Reeds.

Here too, the only animal that could expiate the sin of the Golden Calf would be an adult version of the very same creature. What had been golden in appearance in its youth, was now red, a colour ingrained into its fibre through sin.

The Red Heifer then squares the unholy circle initiated by the younger calf.

It makes sense that, for the sin of the Golden Calf to be forgiven, only a more adult version of the same creature can rectify the earlier sin (as per Rashi's understanding that the adult cow/Parah) by cleaning up 'the mess' caused by the younger one (Egel).

We can therefore see a striking link between the dual uses of cows in both parshiot and instead of viewing the Red Heifer as an anomaly, its usage makes perfect sense.

Finally, returning to second cow I referred to in my opening joke. It might have been a little confused about its identity if it knew how it might end up in Biblical (and please Gd, future) times. Perhaps, it would really have preferred to have been a chicken.

However, that's probably not a great idea either as chickens are not exactly safe when it comes to Jewish cuisine!

Shabbat Shalom

NB: Some of the ideas for this drasha can be found at “Insight #21 (5769) Egel and Parah by Rabbi Benjamin Hecht  https://www.nishma.org/articles/insight/insight5769-21.htm