The class tonight will be concerning פרשת פרה. פרשת פרה means that it's a Shabbos in which we read a special portion of the Torah. For maftir, Shabbos, in the קריאת התורה, when we read the Torah, the maftir we will read not the regular maftir of the פרשת השבוע, of the portion of this week, as we do in most שבתות, that the last part of the parshah we just repeat for the maftir, for the last aliyah. But we read a special portion in a different place, and we take out two sifrei Torah, we read it from the second sefer Torah, and that is the portion that deals with the mitzvah of making the פרה אדומה. The mitzvah of burning this red cow, or whatever they call it in English, red heifer, they call it, and the Torah discusses the mitzvah of פרה אדומה. This is one of the four פרשיות. You know that before Pesach, there are four שבתות. Not necessarily consecutive, but there are four שבתות where we have special maftir, and they have a special name, and the four are: פרשת שקלים, פרשת זכור, פרשת פרה, and פרשת החודש. פרשת שקלים is always the Shabbos of Rosh Chodesh Adar or the one before Rosh Chodesh Adar, if Rosh Chodesh Adar is on a Shabbos. Then we read a special portion that deals with the מחצית השקל, with the mitzvah of giving the half a shekel. Then, and the reason for that is because the beginning of Adar, that's when they would make the announcements in the time of the בית המקדש for people to contribute the half a shekel, which was needed to buy the korbanot, the sacrifices in the בית המקדש, because every year from the beginning of Nisan, they would use the new money that people would give for the korbanot, it had to be bought with the new money, so they gave a month in advance notice so people should be able to bring in. So we read פרשת שקלים. Then, Shabbos before Purim, we read פרשת זכור, and we talk about Amalek, because Purim has to do with Amalek, and the Shabbos before that is when we talk about remembering what Amalek did to us. Then, the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh Nissan, or before שבת מברכים ניסן, we read פרשת פרה. We read in the Torah the פרשה that deals with the mitzvah of making the פרה אדומה. And then the Shabbos after that, which is or שבת החודש or Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh, we read פרשת החודש. פרשת החודש is the portion in the Torah where Hashem spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu while he was still in Mitzrayim. And He said to him, החודש הזה לכם ראש חודשים, this month should be the first month, and that's the portion of the Torah that deals with the mitzvah of establishing the months. And in that portion of the Torah, we learn about the mitzvah of the קרבן פסח, of bringing the קרבן פסח. And since that was told, that פרשה was told to Moshe Rabbeinu on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, so on or around Rosh Chodesh Nissan, we have that Shabbos called שבת פרשת החודש. This coming Shabbos is going to be פרשת פרה, the third of the four, the פרשה that deals with פרה אדומה. Yerushalmi, which is the Gemara, but not the regular Gemara that we know is Talmud Bavli, but in the Talmud Yerushalmi, it says that really פרשת החודש should have come before פרשת פרה. That should have been the order. Why? Because on ראש חודש ניסן, which is connected to the words החודש הזה לכם, that parashah deals with the first day of the month of Nisan. But on Rosh Chodesh Nisan, that's when the Mishkan was put up. That means almost a year later, when the Yidden were in Mitzrayim, two weeks before they left—they left Egypt on the 15th day of the month of Nisan—15 days earlier, Hashem said to משה רבינו, החודש הזה לכם, this portion, to tell them about the korban Pesach and about Rosh Chodesh. Then they went out of Mitzrayim. Then during the next few months, they received the Torah, and Hashem commanded them to make the Mishkan. Rosh Chodesh Nisan, a year later, the Mishkan was put up. The next day, which is ב׳ ניסן, the second day of ניסן, Hashem commanded them to bring the parah adumah, to make the parah adumah. So it comes out that parah adumah comes, came after the first day of Nisan. It came on the second day of Nisan. So therefore the Yerushalmi says that really פרשת החודש should be before, and after פרשת החודש, which deals with Rosh Chodesh, which is the first day of the month of Nisan, then you should have פרשת פרה, which took place the second day of Nisan, which is later. Why is it that the order is different, that we have first פרשת פרה and then we have פרשת החודש? So the Yerushalmi says, because פרשת פרה deals with טהרתן של כל ישראל, it deals with the purity of all of the Yidden. Because what was the parah adumah done for? What was the parah adumah for? We know that if a person became טמא מת, if a person became impure by touching a dead body, so this person is tamei. Now normally, when a person becomes tamei, we know that the way to become tahor is going to the mikveh. But if you became tamei in this specific type of tumah, in this specific type of impurity, which is טומאת מת, by touching a dead body, going to the mikveh will not help you. What you have to do is that on the third and on the seventh day you have to sprinkle on the person a little bit of the ashes of the פרה אדומה mixed with special water, מים חיים, and you sprinkle it on the person, and then at the end he goes to the mikveh, that will be, that is the only way that will purify this person. So the פרה אדומה deals with the taharah, with the cleanliness, with the purification of the Yidden. And he says therefore the פרה אדומה, פרשת פרה comes before פרשת החודש, because that is the taharah, the cleanliness, the purification of all the Yidden, which comes before פרשת החודש, which deals with the קרבן פסח. פרשת החודש starts off with the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh, and then goes on to talk about the קרבן פסח. But who could bring the קרבן פסח? Only a person who is tahor. A person who is tamei cannot bring the קרבן פסח. So therefore, first you have to have the פרה אדומה to make the people tahor, and then you could have the קרבן פסח. Therefore the order is, first פרשת פרה, then we have פרשת החודש. But the expression in the Yerushalmi is that פרה אדומה is טהרתן של כל ישראל, it's the taharah, the purification of all the Yidden. What does that mean? How is it a purification of all the Yidden? It's only a purification of those Yidden who are tamei. Are all the Yidden tamei? Only those that were tamei could not bring the קרבן פסח, so there were only few. As a matter of fact, if the majority of the Yidden were tamei, then you could bring the קרבן פסח on Pesach, you didn't have to even be tahor. The din is that טומאה הותרה בציבור or טומאה דחויה בציבור. If the whole ציבור, the whole community, which means at least the majority of the community were טמא, טמא מת, were tamei by touching a dead body, let's say how did that happen? Let's say for instance a few days before Pesach the leader passed away, and they all went to the levaya and funeral, they all became tamei, I'm just giving you an example, so when Pesach comes you could bring the קרבן פסח. If it's not the majority, then you cannot bring the קרבן פסח unless you're tahor, and if you were tamei you had to wait for פסח שני, for a month later, for Pesach, second Pesach. But if the majority were tamei, then you could bring the קרבן פסח even on the regular time. So really, to if the whole community is tamei you don't really need the פרה אדומה. So what does the Yerushalmi mean that the reason פרה comes before is because that's the taharah of all the Yidden? It's only the taharah of a few, or those who are tamei. But here it says the taharah of all the Yidden. Obviously, it seems from this Yerushalmi that the mitzvah of פרה אדומה, which we have it through reading the parsha of פרה, but it seems that the mitzvah of פרה אדומה is a mitzvah that has to do with all the Yidden, with all the Yidden. Which is strange, because it doesn't! It only has to do with those Yidden who are tamei. Obviously, at least the spiritual part of פרה אדומה has to do with all the Yidden, and it is the cleanliness of all the Yidden, meaning it is the taharah, the purification of all the Yidden. Now, how is פרה אדומה the purification of all the Yidden, even of those Yidden who are not tamei? There must be something there.

So, a little bit let's get into the halacha of פרה אדומה. We're not going to get into the halacha of how to make the פרה אדומה or all the dinim, but one point. The Rambam in Sefer Hamitzvot, when he goes through all the mitzvot, when it comes to the mitzvah of פרה אדומה, among the things that he says is that the mitzvah of פרה אדומה, one of the things is that there should always be ashes of the פרה אדומה available for anybody who will need it. In other words, he says something interesting here. The mitzvah is not just that because there are people who might be tamei, so the פרה אדומה is needed to make them tahor. Part of the mitzvah is that there should always be ashes of the פרה אדומה available. In other words, what he's saying is that there is a constant commandment of always having פרה אדומה, because we have to always have it available, because people might need it. Now, let's think: how many people really must have the פרה אדומה? How often is it that a person must have the פרה אדומה? First of all, it's only for people who are טמאי מתים, as we said before, and even And that, you don't have to have the פרה אדומה. There is no mitzvah that you're not allowed to be tamei. A person could be tamei. There are definitely many laws concerning a person who's tamei. Tamei, he cannot do this, he cannot do that. He can't walk into the Beis Hamikdash, you can't bring a korban, a lot of restrictions on the person who's tamei. But there is no mitzvah for the person to become tahor. What happens if a person says, \"I'm tamei, I don't mind staying tamei. So I won't eat terumah, I won't eat a korban, I won't go to the Beis Hamikdash.\" He didn't do any aveirah. He's just missing out certain certain advantages he might have, but there's no aveirah in not becoming tahor. There is no chiyuv in him becoming tahor. The only time we find for a person that must become tahor, it says חייב אדם לטהר עצמו ברגל. When it comes to Yom Tov, before Yom Tov a person has to make sure he's tahor. But the truth is, even that, first of all, some say it's only mid'rabbanan, it's not even from the Torah, but besides that, it's only for those people who are planning to go up to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov. In the time of the Beit Hamikdash, there was a mitzvah of עלייה לרגל, that you have to go up for Yom Tov. And when you go up for Yom Tov, you have to go into the Beit Hamikdash, and when you go into the Beit Hamikdash, you have to bring certain korbanot, so you have to be tahor. That's why there's a דין חייב אדם לטהר עצמו ברגל, you have to become tahor. But if a person is not planning to go to go up, and there were cases where people didn't have to go up, if a person was old, if a person was sick, if a person lived outside of Eretz Yisrael, he didn't have to go up to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov. If a person did not own land in Eretz Yisrael, was exempt from that obligation of going up to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov. So many people didn't have to go, so they don't have the mitzvah. So it's a very minority that have this obligation. So how many people must have the פרה אדומה? Not so often, and not so many. Nevertheless, there's a mitzvah that there always should be פרה אדומה available. The mitzvah, again, is not only that when a person is tamei you have to sprinkle the ashes of the פרה אדומה mixed with the water on this person, that's not only that's not the only part of the mitzvah. There's another part: למשמרת, that there always has to be פרה אדומה available. In other words, it's like a constant thing. So what it comes out from the Rambam is that פרה אדומה is a mitzvah, but not only when you are tamei you have to sprinkle. Even when you are not tamei, in other words, even if it's not נוגע to you, there is a general mitzvah that there always has to be ashes available of פרה אדומה, which again indicates the fact that a פרה אדומה is something that's constant, not only at a time when you are tamei and if this happens, it's a constant thing. And the truth is, as it seems from the Rambam in a different place, this is a constant thing not only at one time that you should have the פרה אדומה, all the times that they made new פרה אדומות, it was all one continuation. And just in brief to explain, the Rambam in one place in הלכות פרה אדומה says that altogether, till now, there were nine פרה אדומות made. The first פרה אדומה was made by Moshe Rabbeinu in the desert, like I said, on the second day of Nisan he was commanded to make a פרה אדומה, they made it, and they had a whole storage of ashes, and that was used whenever a person was טמא, and that lasted, believe it or not, till the second Beis Hamikdash. Second Beis Hamikdash. Ezra, who rebuilt the second Beis Hamikdash, was the one that made the second פרה אדומה. Then they had seven more throughout the second Beis Hamikdash. Imagine the difference in time. The first one lasted for close to a thousand years, that all those ashes. It started off in the desert, 40 years of the desert, 14 years of Gilgal, 369 years in in in Shiloh, 57 years in Nov veGivon, then 410 years of the Beis Hamikdash, I'm not counting, but it seems to be close to a thousand years. And then you had the 70 years of גלות בבל. They had enough from those first ashes. Then they made another one, and then seven more times they needed throughout the second Beis Hamikdash, which was only 420 years. So there were nine. And then the 10th one will be made when Mashiach will come, by Mashiach, and we'll have 10, like many things we have 10. And the question that the Rebbe asks is, why does the Rambam tell us the history of the פרה אדומה? The Rambam is not a history book, the Rambam is כולו הלכה. Doesn't tell us stories of things that happened, even though they're nice things, important things, but they're not that's not the Rambam. There are other sefarim who deal with that, and not the Rambam. So the Rebbe says the Rambam wants to tell us halachah. The halachah is that there always has to be פרה אדומה. So all the ashes are all like one. That's why he mentions they're all. There were nine, and those nine are one המשך, because always, always, must you have the ash of פרה אדומה. But anyway, all this shows is that the mitzvah of פרה אדומה is something that's constant, and as the Yerushalmi says, it's טהרתם של כל ישראל. It always has to be available and important for the taharah, for the purification of all the Yidden.

Now why is it? What is פרה אדומה, that it's the purification of all the Yidden. So obviously, in halachah, we won't find an explanation because not everyone has to become tahor. Some, many people are tahor before. So you can't say it in the simple sense. But in the spiritual sense of what the פרה אדומה means, it is important always and for everybody. What is the essential meaning of the פרה אדומה? So I'll tell you just in one word. פרה אדומה represents teshuvah, teshuvah for aveirot. Couldn't have said it better. It represents teshuvah, exactly. Why does it represent teshuvah? Because פרה אדומה is the cleansing, the purification of טומאת מת, of the tumah, the impurity that comes through a dead body. The concept of mitah has to do with aveirot. Aveirot, sins, have to do with death. We see it very simple. There's a pasuk that says, ואתם הדבקים בה׳ אלקיכם חיים. If you are connected to Hashem, your God, you're alive. The moment a person cuts off his connection in any form or shape, you lose the life. If a person does an aveirah, that means he's cutting, he cut himself off. An aveirah means you are passing away, you're cutting you off through a certain degree yourself from Hashem. The moment you are not דבקים בה׳, you're not connected to Hashem, there's no more chayim, there is mitah. So mitah and טומאת מת, which is a result of mitah, the tumah of a מת is a result of mitah, has to do with aveirot. We see it in another way also. Rashi explains in the פרשה of פרה אדומה, which is in פרשת חקת, that why did Hashem say to bring a פרה אדומה? Say that פרה אדומה is to forgive for the חטא העגל, for the sin of the עגל, which we learn about this פרשה. And it uses even a mashal. The פרה אדומה was a cow, the עגל was a calf. So the לשון is let the mother come and wipe up the dirt that the child made. The calf is the baby. Just like a baby who get make place dirty, so you call the mother, come and clean up the place. You call the mother, the פרה אדומה, to clean up. And by bringing the פרה אדומה, this would forgive for the חטא העגל. Now the חטא העגל is the source of all sins. Now on one hand we know that the source of all sins is the חטא עץ הדעת, is the first aveirah which Adam HaRishon ate from the tree, Chavah ate from the tree. But the truth is the same thing reoccurred by the חטא העגל because it says in Gemara that when the חטא עץ הדעת took place, there was a certain tumah that came into the world, into Adam Harishon, into the world. But when it came to Matan Torah, that tumah disappeared, and it came back to the same level as it was before the חטא עץ הדעת. Now the חטא עץ הדעת brought the concept of sin in the world, and from then on that was possible, but by Matan Torah that left. There was no more possibility of sin because they came back to the same level as it was before, before the עץ הדעת. But the Gemara says when they sinned with the עגל, חזרה זוהמתם, it came back. So it again brought back the same thing as it was before. So just like the חטא עץ הדעת, the source of all sins, so the חטא העגל is also the source of all sins. And since the פרה אדומה is to forgive for the חטא הדעת, so obviously the פרה אדומה is to go to counteract the inyan of sin, which is teshuvah. So פרה אדומה represents the concept of teshuvah. That's really what it is. And that is why we find an interesting thing by the פרה אדומה. Everyone knows that פרה אדומה is the chukah. It's the mitzvah which is considered a chok, chukah. Other mitzvot have reasons. Some have real reasons. Some mitzvot are mitzvot that it's out of the Torah, we would know it anyway. Some mitzvot are mitzvot that if it's not for the Torah, we wouldn't do it, but after the Torah told us, we understand why. Chukim are mitzvot that have no reason. But between the chukim itself, some of them have something, a little bit of reason, whatever, details. The mitzvah of פרה אדומה has no reason whatsoever. That is the chukah. Now what is so strange about פרה אדומה that they put it into the category of chukah and the biggest chukah? There's something that makes no sense here, and there's no explanation, and that's why it's a chukah. What doesn't make sense in פרה אדומה? Let me tell you. People are used to thinking that the reason it's a chukah and such a big chukah is because it has two opposites. The din is that if you are tamei and you sprinkle from this פרה אדומה, you become tahor. You're impure, you become pure. On the other hand, the people who are involved in preparing the פרה אדומה, who are tahor, become tamei. It's like a contradiction. Is it something that makes you tamei, or something that makes you tahor? On one hand, it makes you tamei, on the other hand it makes you tahor. It's a contradiction. Makes no sense. And therefore, people say this is a chukah. This is true, but not so really true. That's not such a big chukah, because don't we find in gashmiyut similar things? There are certain foods that are good for one thing and harmful for something else. There are certain medicines that have side effects. Well, it's good for your heart, but it's not good for your kidneys. It's good for, so it's possible. So the same thing: if you're tamei, it makes you tahor. It helps you. There are certain medicines that if you're weak, it'll help you, but if you're strong and you're healthy, don't take it, because it'll ruin and it'll harm. So if you're tamei, you'll become tahor, and if you're tahor, you'll become tamei. So what's the big problem?

The main part why פרה אדומה is a chukah is not that. פרה אדומה has a different contradiction. פרה אדומה is a korban. The pasuk says חטאת קריה רחמנא, the Torah calls it a chatat. We know the rules of a korban means that it has to be made inside the בית המקדש, in the Mishkan or in the בית המקדש. There is no such thing as shechitah of a korban outside of the בית המקדש. And here this is a פרה אדומה and it had to be slaughtered, and the whole thing was done not only outside of the בית המקדש, חוץ לשלש מחנות, it had to go outside of the three camps. You know that Klal Yisrael in the Mishkan, in the מדבר in the desert were divided into three camps: the מחנה שכינה, the camp of the Shechinah; the מחנה לויה, the camp of the Leviim; מחנה ישראל, camp of the Yisrael. And that was everything, and then outside of that מחנה, that's called חוץ למחנה, the outside of the camp. The פרה אדומה had to be burned חוץ למחנה. The same thing in Eretz Yisrael, later by the בית המקדש, there were also levels similar, parallel to these three. You have the עזרה, and then you have Yerushalayim, and then you have, but this had to be done outside of all three. Now, if this is a קרבן, a קרבן has to be inside, and the same קרבן had to be done outside. Then we find something else. It says it has to be done outside of the three מחנות, but it says you have to sprinkle the the whatever by the פרה אדומה, נכח, נכח, what's the פשט, the בית המקדש, you have to stand facing the פני, the face of the בית המקדש, of the היכל actually of the בית המקדש, the building of the בית המקדש. Now here we see two opposites: is it something that belongs outside, or is it a קרבן that's inside? And then we see it has to do with inside because you had to stand and face and look at inside. The answer is, so this is a chukah, but nevertheless, we will have an explanation for this chukah. Before the class, someone said, \"Oh, you're going to tell us the secret of פרה אדומה tonight?\" So they asked, what's the class about? It's פרה אדומה, פרשת פרה. פרה אדומה we know, no one knows the reason for פרה אדומה. Even Shlomo HaMelech said, \"I tried to find out.\" All the other חוקים שלמה המלך was so smart, figured out. פרה אדומה was the only one he couldn't figure out. Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu, \"ולך אני מגלה טעם פרה, to you I'll tell.\" So he asked me, \"Will you tell us the secret of פרה?\" Yeah, I'll tell you the secret of פרה אדומה. The problem of פרה אדומה is that we have this contradiction. The answer is it represents teshuvah, and that's what teshuvah is. Teshuvah means that you are able to wipe out any behavior that you did even if it's connected to the worst of the worst, to שלש קליפות הטמאות לגמרי, even to the level of קליפה which is called the three levels of קליפה. You are even beyond that. You're in a level of מחוץ לשלש מחנות, you're beyond the three מחנות, and the three מחנות is, a number three is a רמז, it's beyond even the שלש קליפות הטמאות, you go to the furthest. And teshuvah can help you. Why? Because when you do teshuvah, you connect yourself to the deepest, to the פני, to the inside, to the deepest. So it's a korban, it has the koach of a korban, but even stronger than a korban. A korban, we don't find a korban, except in a few cases which is also an exception and there are explanations, I don't want to go into that, but a korban usually is only for a shogeg. A korban chatat is only if you did it by mistake, unintentionally. We don't find if a person went b'mezid, intentionally, to do an aveirah, he should be able to bring a korban. That doesn't help. There is an asham, certain ashamot that you could, but it's also, it's not so pashut, you have to do teshuvah even with that. But normally a korban is shogeg. פרה אדומה has the koach of being mechaper even for mezid. It forgives even if you do it intentionally, like teshuvah does. And that is because it has a koach even deeper than a korban. That's why it's a korban, but it's not limited to the restriction. The restriction of a korban has to be inside, it could be outside, and still have the koach. And that's why you have to stand facing, it says, the פני ההיכל. A korban usually is not brought in the heichal. All korbanot were brought in the azara, outside in the courtyard, not in the rooms. And here you stand, says, facing the heichal, facing the room, because that's what the פרה אדומה represents. It represents this high madreigah, this this level of teshuvah, level of teshuvah that is is is very high, which is higher even than the Torah. It says like this: Hashem said you're not allowed to sin. So questions were asked of different things or individuals, what should be the advice if a person does an aveirah? So I think the first one, I don't remember exactly, but I think the first one was, midat hadin was asked: What should happen to a person? נפש החטאת, מה תהא עליה? What should happen to a person who sins? You know the answer? I think maybe it was, I don't remember exactly, answered: נפש החטאת תמות. Go die. Well, you did an aveirah, too bad. Finally, it says they asked the תורה, נפש שחטאה, whatever, what should he do? So the Torah answered, יביא אשם ויתכפר לו. Let him bring a korban, and that'll be a kaparah. Then they asked שאלו להקדוש ברוך הוא, they asked Hashem, what should be happen to a person does an aveirah? So Hashem answered, יעשה תשובה ויתכפר לו, let him do teshuvah. The difference is Torah gave an עצה only for a shogeg. When Torah said bring a korban, it's only for a shogeg. In other words, even the Torah, as far as the Torah גופא is concerned, didn't have an עצה for a person that did במזיד. Because if you do an עבירה במזיד, intentionally, it's too bad. And only Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself, who is higher than the Torah, He was the one that answered, it's the koach of Hashem, do teshuvah. So teshuvah connects itself so high, higher than where korbanot come from. And that's why teshuvah is in these two sides. On one hand, it's in the outside to show that it is able to penetrate and affect and clean even the worst when you're outside from all the מחנות. And at the same time, you connect to the פנים, because that's the koach you have. And this is the פשט that פרה אדומה, which represents teshuvah, is the טהרה of כל ישראל, of all the Yidden, because every single Yid has to come on to do teshuvah for something wrong that was within him. Every person. There's no such thing. The biggest tzadik. Besides the fact that we know that there is a higher level of teshuvah called, like it says in in Likkutei Torah, that it's called והרוח תשוב אל האלקים אשר נתנה. It says that a person, even a tzadik has to do teshuvah, because his neshamah should be able to be as great as it was before it came down, because when it comes down it's not so great. So you have to do things to make the neshamah return to its original level. That's why it's called teshuvah, להשיב, to come back. But that's not the type of teshuvah we're talking about. We're talking about teshuvah from getting rid of evil, of some kind of evil. Everyone has to do that. Number one, it says אל תאמן בעצמך, don't believe in yourself, you never know. Besides there is a pasuk that says אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא. There is no tzaddik in the world that only does good ולא יחטא and doesn't sin. So everybody has some kind. There is a level it says a person who doesn't have a sin, but still the pasuk says אין צדיק בארץ, there's nobody, so Chassidus says ולא יחטא, the word יחטא, besides meaning sin, also means missing. There is no person in the world that is not missing in his avodah. He could do even better. Whatever he does, he could do even better. So that's everybody. But even there, there are, says in the Gemara, that there are four people, ד' שמתו בעטיו של נחש. There are four people who died without any type of sin whatsoever, nothing missing, and they only died because of the נחש. נחש, the snake that caused Chava eating from the tree, he just because of him there is death in the world. There are four tzaddikim that died only because of that, had no sin. Who are the four? It was Binyamin the son of Yaakov, then there was Amram the father of Moshe. Moshe is not counted because Moshe had the maaseh with מי מריבה. Amram, Yishai the father of David, and Kilav the son of David. These four people. So they died because of the נחש. Similarly, the Arizal had said on the Ramk, when the Ramk passed away, the Ramk, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, who was the famous מקובל, who was the teacher in Kabbalah of the Arizal, you can imagine how great he was, he passed away, the Arizal said a hesped, eulogized him, and it's written, we have the hesped that he said. It happened to be Parshas Ki Seitzei, and in Parshas Ki Seitzei it says והיה כי יהיה באיש חטא משפט מות if you will see a person that will have a sin of משפט מות that he will be judged to die, ותלית אותו על עץ you shall hang him on the tree. Then the pasuk continues, in the evening you should take him off. So he used that pasuk and he said, when you find a person that dies, but you don't know why, because there is no reason he should have died, because there is nothing wrong that he did, so the pasuk says, ותלית אותו על עץ, hang it onto the tree of the עץ הדעת. It's only because of the עץ הדעת that he died. So the Arizal said on the Ramak that he is like those four, that died for no other reason, so the Ramak was one of those that died for no other reason, but because of the עץ הדעת. So here we do have people who don't have any sin. Nevertheless, it says in Likutei Torah that the fact that the עץ הדעת affected them, that they should die, shows that there is something in them which is still not perfect. Which what's not perfect? Something that is almost impossible to get rid of. The fact the עץ הדעת brought sin into the world, but the real meaning of sin is it all comes From ישות, from your own ego, that's all sins come, you do something against Hashem. The fact that they are human beings, that's it's already called a sin, that's ego. And ego doesn't mean ego of of gaavah. Ego means the fact that you are a מציאות, you are something. Actually, it says in today's Chitat, today's Tanya it says, that the greatest tzadik who loves Hashem with the greatest love, with pleasure, יש מי שאוהב, there is he who loves. There is a he, there is a מציאות. And that already something that you have to do teshuvah for. So every person, whoever he is, כל ישראל have to have the טעם of the פרה אדומה have to have teshuvah. Especially if a person will add and start thinking, and the Gemara says that any generation that the בית המקדש was not built in his time is as if it was destroyed in his time. That means if the בית המקדש is not built in our time, not only it just didn't happen, that means that it's as if we destroy the בית המקדש, because if we would be people who would not deserve the destruction, the בית המקדש would be rebuilt. So if a person thinks about it, the biggest tzadik thinks, after all, Mashiach didn't come yet and the בית המקדש is not rebuilt. So obviously, there is still something that I am doing that is causing the בית המקדש not to be rebuilt, which is causing the destruction of the בית המקדש. Then we know what it says that in the Gemara, the Rambam פסקנט, that one deed could change the balance of the whole world, and obviously I didn't do it. It's an interesting thing that the Alter Rebbe says in a maamar, in a sefer called Boneh Yerushalayim he wrote. A interesting thing, he says if there would be one tzadik that would be 100% perfect in a generation, Mashiach would come. So obviously every tzadik, even a tzadik in himself, feels that he's still not what, why Mashiach didn't come? So every tzadik has to have this level of teshuvah, and not just teshuvah to see to reach the level the way the neshamah was before, teshuvah of getting rid of something that's within him, something that is not perfect within him. Now the truth is what I'm saying now is not his fault. The reason that imperfection that's in the person, which is ישות, a מציאות, something which is other than Hashem, it's not his fault, but that's still there. And that is something that you have to do teshuvah for. Teshuvah means you feel bad about it, as the Rambam explains, you cry about it, that's what teshuvah is. What's teshuvah? In a simple sense. Teshuvah in a simple sense means you realize I did an aveirah, there is something wrong, there is something bad, and I feel, and I regret, I feel bad, and I cry, and I want to get rid of it. A tzadik also has to have that feeling, has to have this, everybody has to feel it. Which is, by the way, the peshat in what it says in the Kitvei HaAri, the Ari writes לגבי עשרת ימי תשובה, he says any person, any person who does not cry Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, it shows that his neshamah is not complete. And the Rebbe asked a kashya: Any person? Mila a person who has aveirot and he doesn't cry Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, that shows something wrong with the guy. He did aveirot, and Aseret Yemei Teshuvah is a time when Hashem is close to you, it says דרשו השם בהמצאו, קראוהו בהיותו קרוב, השם is close. Hashem is close to you and you still don't care about your aveirot? Something wrong with you. But a tzadik, why should a tzadik cry? He doesn't have any aveirot. And the Ari says כל מי שאינו בוכה, anybody, that's including a tzadik. Now the truth is the Alter Rebbe says that sometimes the crying could come out of simchah, that a tzadik should also cry because he should be happy, like it says about Rabbi Akiva, when he heard special great new thoughts in תורה, זלגו עיניו דמעות, he cried out of joy that he heard a new peshat in Shir HaShirim. So maybe that's what it is, but the Rebbe says it's a good peshat, but then that's funny. There's one statement that says everybody has to cry עשרת ימי תשובה, and for some people it's out of teshuvah and for some people out of joy? Doesn't seem that way. It seems that it's all one category. Now why would we put all category that a tzadik also, if he doesn't cry sometimes during עשרת ימי תשובה, that shows that there is something wrong with him? Why? So the Rebbe says yes, even the tzadik has to cry for the same reasons: also out of teshuvah, but not the same type of teshuvah, not for sins, but the same idea. What's a sin? A sin means that you've got something wrong with you, there is some negative part in you, there's some klipah, evil within you. A tzadik also has this. What does he have? He has the ישות, he has the fact that he's a person, the fact that he's a human being, and he's a מציאות. The fact that he is I. That's something that that that he can't help, that's a fact. But still it's something that's not Hashem, and the fact it's not Hashem, there is something that you have to cry about. But then the Rebbe asks, but then why should he cry if he can't help it anyway? Mila about teshuvah of somebody who cries because crying through teshuvah it'll wipe it out, this he can't help. And the Rebbe says it's not true. If the tzadik will cry and do teshuvah, this crying itself will take away his ישות, that he take will not be a מציאות. He'll be a physical being, and he will not feel anything, which I believe is like it says by the Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said אנא אנא סימנא בעלמא, I am only a siman, I'm only a hint to Hashem, that's all I am. My מציאות is an expression of Hashem's will, that's all it is. And he felt it. In other words, there was no he. Not like he loves Hashem. The moment you say he loves Hashem, that there is a he, which is already somebody, something, and that's not Hashem. אין עוד מלבדו, there is nothing but Hashem. How could there be a he? Hashem created it, but still the fact is, it's not his fault, Hashem made it, but it's a he. Or when a guy would say, \"I,\" the moment you say \"I\", who am I? What do you mean \"I\"? There's no such thing as \"I\". There's this still famous story that somebody came from the Maggid, and he passed by one of the chaverim, and he knocked on the door in the middle of the night, and his chaver, who was another talmid in the Maggid, was learning, and he hears someone knock on the door, he says, \"Who is it?\" He says, \"I.\" He wouldn't open the door for him. A long time, wouldn't open the door. So finally, he opened the door, and he said to him, \"Where are you coming from?\" \"I'm coming from the Maggid.\" He said, \"You better go back. You didn't learn anything. If you still could say 'I', it shows that you didn't really learn.\" Because there's no such thing as \"I\". But there is. There is \"I\" to mitzvot. Even that, \"I\" learn Torah. There is somebody. But as long as that \"I\" is felt, there's something wrong. And that's what even a tzadik has to do teshuvah for. Teshuvah means not doing teshuvah for aveirot, but doing feeling bad and regretting and that wipes out even that \"I\" and he becomes completely. And that's the pshat the Yerushalmi that פרה אדומה, which represents teshuvah, to get rid of the שלש קליפות or the קליפה that's there, the evil that's there, טהרתם של כל ישראל, that's for all the Yidden. And that's why it comes before Parshat Hachodesh. Parshat Hachodesh, which deals with the korban Pesach, that has to do with tzadikim. Korban Pesach, it says, was the time Yidden went out of Mitzrayim. When they went out of Mitzrayim, they were like newborn people. So the past doesn't count. So they were like tzadikim. But even a tzadik first has to do teshuvah. That's why Parshat Parah comes before Parshat Hachodesh, because that's the taharah of all the Yidden, it's the purification of every single Yid, whether he's a rasha, chas veshalom, he has to have the taharah, if he is a benoni, he has to have it, even if he is a tzadik gamur, completely has to have a taharah to some degree of the fact that there is a מציאות in the world. And then you're forced to come to Parshat Hachodesh. That's what the Yerushalmi means that Parshat Parah comes before.

But then there is another point, a different inyan just for a few minutes in why פרשת פרה אדומה is so important. In other words, why the פרה אדומה is so important, to bring the פרה אדומה physically, but also the learning about it, and the reading of the Torah, which is the time when we discuss פרה אדומה and we understand it. Why is that so important and that comes in before Parshat Hachodesh, and why it's important for klal Yisrael, for everybody? Because the question we ask is that פרה אדומה is only for the people who are tamei, but people who are not tamei, what do they need the פרה אדומה for? But there is something in the פרה אדומה, and it's even more in the learning and understanding of it than in the actual doing it, that is נוגע to everybody. And I'll just, in short, explain it. I said before, פרה אדומה is a chukah. It's one of the chukim, one of those mitzvot that have no reason. Not only that, it is the chukah. It is the one chukah which is more than everyone every other chukah. All other chukim, there are not many, but all other chukim have somewhat of a reason somebody could understand. פרה אדומה is a complete chukah, completely. Whatever the reason why it how we explain the the chukah, but it's a chukah. That is the chukah. What is the reason why Hashem gave us one mitzvah which is a chukah? The chukah, a few chukim and the one which is a complete chukah. What is the reason? What would Hashem care if He would make us know the reason? He told Moshe Rabbeinu the reason. Tell everybody! Why didn't He not tell the reason of of of פרה אדומה? I'll tell you why. The truth is, the whole Torah, the whole Torah is beyond our understanding. It's impossible for us to understand. Why? Because the Torah is Hashem's wisdom. And Hashem's wisdom is infinite. It's impossible for a finite brain to grasp, to contain as an infinite as an infinite wisdom. It's impossible. But Hashem had some kind of pity on us, and He gave us some kind of understanding in different mitzvot that we should have some kind of Otherwise, it would be very hard to do it. But what Hashem wants is that we shouldn't for a moment forget and start thinking that the mitzvot that we have, the mitzvot that we learn about, are mitzvot that make sense in our level that we're able to understand it. If every single mitzvah would make sense 100%, you know what would be? We would forget for a moment this is the wisdom of God. We would think, yeah, this is like other types of sciences that they make sense. Some things are harder, some things are easier. There are such deep ענינים in science, too, and some people understand more, some people less. But generally, it's logic, it's שכל, which is limited, which is part of the creation. The truth is, it's not. The Torah, the Torah is beyond creation. It's beyond our understanding, beyond completely. So Hashem left at least one mitzvah, at least one, that should make no sense whatsoever, should be a chukah. And when we see that, that reminds us constantly, you should know that this is beyond our understanding, this is The wisdom of Hashem which we can't understand. And then we start realizing that the the parts that we do understand of Torah, this is also only, it's not a drop in the bucket, nothing to what it really is. But this is what reminds us. This is what really one of the main things of פרה אדומה. That's why it says when it starts off the parashah of פרה אדומה, there's an interesting expression. Those who hear, we'll read it Shabbos, it says: וידבר השם אל משה לאמר, Moshe said, זאת חקת התורה, this is the chukah of the Torah, and it goes on: Take a פרה, a red cow, etc., etc. What does it mean this is the chukah of the Torah? It should have said, זאת חקת הפרה, this is the law of the פרה. Like by the קרבן פסח. You look at the parashah of the קרבן פסח, it starts off with the words זאת חקת הפסח. Hashem says, this these are the laws of the Pesach, and it goes on this is what you should do and that, etc., etc. So here it should be the same: This is the laws of the פרה, do this and this. It says, זאת חקת התורה. What it really means is, this is the whole Torah. Chukah of the Torah, which is the essence of the whole Torah, is פרה אדומה. It is through פרה אדומה that we get the understanding that the Torah is truly the wisdom of Hashem, and it's completely infinite, completely beyond our understanding. And that's why the פרה אדומה is the first thing, it's an introduction before we get to the קרבן פסח. The קרבן פסח is the first mitzvah that the Yidden had. The Yidden had other mitzvot that were the seven mitzvot that the goyim also had. The Yidden had the mitzvah of milah which was given to Avraham Avinu. They had the the mitzvah of גיד הנשה if it was given then or not, okay, whatever. The first mitzvah the Yidden were given when they became a nation was the mitzvah of קרבן פסח. Now, that was the first mitzvah, and from that on, or the mitzvah of החודש הזה לכם, the mitzvah of קידוש החודש, a mitzvah of making the month, which was what Moshe Rabbeinu was told in Mitzrayim yet as a mitzvah. So before we start the mitzvot, which is beginning of learning about, it's Torah, Hashem had to give it an introduction. We need an introduction to tell you, remember, don't think this is wisdom and sechel like everything else, this is from Hashem. And that's why before פרשת החודש, which is the beginning, talks about the קרבן פסח, talks about החודש הזה לכם, the Shabbos before yet, you have to have the mitzvah of parah. Because then you understand parah is a chokah, that there is a chokah, and the chokah is something that shows us that it's not from sechel, it's purely from Hashem. Then when you have that introduction, then you can continue. Then you can go into this קידוש החודש. קידוש החודש is a very logical thing. It's a very complicated understanding because it's astronomy, but it's logic, it's sechel. קרבן פסח has a reason, we understand why we made a קרבן פסח. But before we start in logic, we have to have the introduction of the פרשת פרה. And that's also the pshat in the Yerushalmi when the Yerushalmi says that really פרה אדומה, פרשת פרה should come after פרשת החודש, because החודש is ראש חודש ניסן, פרה אדומה was told to them the second day of Nisan. But nevertheless, we have to start with פרשת פרה before, because it's the taharah of all the Yidden. What it means is, this is the taharah, the purification, the cleansing of a Yid's's mind in order to be a vessel to receive the Torah, the mitzvot and the Torah, you have to have first the פרה אדומה, because that's the chokah. And when you have that chokah, you come with the proper approach to mitzvot and Torah. And then when you go on, all the mitzvot that started from the החודש הזה לכם, from the קרבן פסח, and you go on, as much as you understand it, you'll always remember it's all the wisdom of Hashem. And when you have that proper understanding, then we do the mitzvot in the right way. Not only do we do the chukim in a way of doing the will of Hashem, but even when we do the mishpatim which make sense, we don't do it because they make sense, we do it because Hashem said so, this is the will of Hashem, and this is the whole תכלית. Mashiach will come, then we will see the real reason of פרה אדומה, and then it won't matter that we see, because we'll have this feeling anyway that everything's from Hashem. So then Hashem could tell us the reason. Now if He would tell us the reason, we would lose that. We would think, oh, everything has a reason, everything makes sense, so it's not so great, not so special. Hashem left it now for us not to understand. I'll repeat this, I always say this in the same thing, that when I had once a discussion with somebody and he said, 'How could you do all these mitzvot, some of them don't make sense?' So my answer to him was, 'That's why I do it. If all the mitzvot would make sense, I probably wouldn't do it. If everything made sense to me, it would mean that it was given, written by somebody in my level, smarter than me, but the best proof is I can understand it, so maybe I could have thought of it myself. The fact that it doesn't make sense is not a question, but on the contrary, that's why I understand that it is God-given, that it's something that's not, beyond me. I have a question, how do I understand some parts? The fact that I don't understand is not a question.' But that's only now. When Mashiach will come, we'll understand everything, and still we will have the proper approach to mitzvot, and we will do everything because Hashem wants. And we hope we won't have to wait long for this, but very, very soon, we'll be able to do it in that way, bimheirah v'yameinu mamash. Amen. Yeah, any questions? I knew I had to go to class, yeah? Don't you have a question? Yes. Well, so I know that you spent the whole hour saying we don't know, this is one of them, but does anyone is there any speculation about why cows, red? How could you speculate? What does Rashi, Rashi says like this: that when Hashem gave us פרה אדומה, this chukah, He said, \"I know that you will be bothered by the שטן, and by the גוים, and by the יצר הרע: Why do you do this? It makes no sense. So I'm telling you, do it because I said so.\" And then Rashi uses this expression, that אין לך רשות להרהר אחריו, you have no permission to think about it. Not to say you have no permission not to do it, you have no permission to think about it. Then you could ask, then what was the whole class about, then why did we go into it? I don't know. Yes. We have a Gemara where טומאת מת is the worst thing, and every Jew is in need of teshuvah, even the צדיקים, why didn't, why wouldn't they all avail themselves of the פרה אדומה? Okay, physically it's only if you are physically טמא. It represents the spiritual טומאה, so physically only those people who actually became טמא. It doesn't, not always does it fit that everything that spiritual means to you, you have to do it physically too. Certain people do it physically because they are in the lower level of actually טמא, and the higher level don't have to do it physically, but spiritually they have to do it. Just like now, we don't have a פרה, a פרה אדומה for anybody, and still everybody has to do it spiritually. Do we have... but you said that it had to be continuous. Now we're missing it. And now we have none? I guess they're hidden someplace. I guess the ashes are hidden someplace. We'll find them. Must be. Huh? No. No. No, they had the ashes of the פרה אדומה after the חורבן also. It has nothing to do with the בית המקדש. You just can't make a פרה אדומה when there's no בית המקדש. But the ashes you could sprinkle it. If we had ashes of פרה אדומה now, we could become tahor, we could go in there. You know why the, why ash, ashes parsha falls four weeks like from month one? Well, because of Pesach. It's called in Yiddish, a zach, a zach, un es firt zich, and it just happened to be that way. And then Parah is before קרבן פסח, and קרבן פסח is Nisan, I mean that's, that's how, that's what it's about, yeah.