Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses some laws regarding the Red Heifer used to make ashes that are the only antidote to purify from exposure to a corpse.

The famous paradox of the Parah Adumah is that it simultaneously purifies and contaminates. Those who perform the rite and come in contact with its parts take on a secondary impurity, while those who came in contact with a corpse and have the water/ashes combination from the Parah Adumah sprinkled on them, through a seven-day ritual, become purified.

The paradox in our Gemara is as follows: According to the opinion that the mitzvah of shechitta is active from the beginning of the slaughter through the end, if the Parah Adumah becomes invalidated mid-Shechitta, oddly, anyone engaged in the rite prior to the invalidation will become impure, and anyone engaged in the rite afterward, will not. Technically, this is because the Parah Adumah only contaminates those who perform the rite properly. At the moment the sacrifice becomes invalidated, the rite is no longer real and so there is no effect. While this is technically true, in appearance and subjective experience, it is one more paradox amongst the numerous paradoxes within the Parah Adumah. The forces of contamination are more present when performing the mitzvah properly, even though in general proper sacrifices trend toward purity, while invalid sacrifices trend toward impurity. (See Mishna Pesachim 10:4. Though the impurity is rabbinic, it represents a sentiment that may be more than rabbinic, as we discussed in Blogpost Psychology of the Daf Chulin 20.)

Other anomalies in this ritual are the fact that it is a kind of sacrificial process but performed outside the Temple, and the mitzvah is to be performed specifically NOT by the high priest, but the assistant kohen (Sifri 19:18).

Arvei Nachal (Chukas, Aleph) reflects on the big idea behind these paradoxes, which I will paraphrase. Every mitzvah has a reason, and generally speaking, he says, it is proper to reflect on the possible meaning and to perform it with that intent. Parah Adumah is different and it is to be performed plainly without sophistication. This is also represented by having the ritual outside the Temple and eschewing the Kohen Godol.

This sophistication paradoxically allows for a reversal of a calamity: death and the absence of life. A body without a soul is like a mitzvah without intention; it’s devoid of the divine spark. But in the recognition of its utter loss and complete impossibility and paradox, we have only one place to turn — back to God. Only God has the power to erase death and only He can fill the nihilistic void and psychic damage that assaults us when we confront a corpse. We perform the mitzvah simply with no intent because we recognize that there is nothing that can outdo death except for God. No formulas and no tricks.

I will add, there is a chassidish interpretation of the verse in Psalms (121:1): “I raise my eyes to the mountains, from where (me-ayin) will my salvation come?”

The Hebrew word me-ayin can also be read as “from nothing.” Mei Shiloach (ibid) says when we recognize that we have nothing and despite all our efforts, only Hashem can save us, then we let go of the physical bonds and rationalizations and make room for Him. That is what “from nothing” means. To see that all is nothing except for God, paradoxically opens us up to infinite possibilities. For God, anything is possible.

To purify from the psychic trauma and loss of meaning that comes from encountering death, we have to recognize it’s all nothing so we allow God to fill in the empty space. The Parah Adumah immerses us in the world of impossibility, and vertigo of no meaning - so that we can find God in that void.

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Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com