In the beginning of Parashat Chukat, the Torah starts by saying that Hashem spoke to Moshe and he said to him, זאת חקת התורה, this is the law of the Torah, and it continues, ויקחו אליך פרה אדומה, etc., that they should take to you a פרה אדומה. And the Torah continues with all the דינים of פרה אדומה. And we all know the פרה אדומה was used to be מטהר from a טמא מת. If a person became unclean, became טמא, by touching a dead body, so then the only way he could become טהור again is by being sprinkled with the ashes of this פרה אדומה mixed with water, together with going to the mikveh. By other טומאות, if a person becomes טמא from other things, like from a שרץ or from נבילה, etc., etc., then to become טהור, you just have to go to the mikveh. But to become טהור from טומאת מת, from touching a dead body, it's not enough just to go to the mikveh, but you also have to be sprinkled with the ashes of the פרה אדומה mixed with water. Now concerning this pasuk where the Torah says, ויקחו אליך פרה אדומה, that Hashem said that they should take to you a פרה אדומה, meaning to Moshe Rabbeinu, so the Chazal say in Tanchuma, in פרשת חקת ח׳, also Bamidbar Rabbah פרשה י״ט ו׳, and you can also understand it from Rashi in Yoma דף ד׳ עמוד א׳, that כל הפרות בטלות, ושלך קיימת. Hashem said to Moshe, the all the פרות will be בטל, will stop existing. The פרה that you will make, the first פרה אדומה that Moshe Rabbeinu made, that will exist forever. And this is not only important to the פרה of Moshe itself, to say that that פרה, the ashes of that פרה will remain forever, but it's important to all the rest of the פרה אדומות for the later generations. Because the din is that it says in the Mishnah in פרה פרק ג׳ משנה ה׳, and Rambam poskes in הלכות פרה אדומה פרק ב׳ הלכה ו׳, that the כהנים who would get involved in making the פרה אדומה in later generations would have to be mitkadesh with the ashes of the פרה אדומה of Moshe Rabbeinu. Umemeila, all the פרה אדומות of all generations are also called by the name of Moshe Rabbeinu, as it says in the Shlah in חלק תורה שבכתב in Parshat Chukat, and also in the Siftei Chachamim on Rashi in this week's פרשה. Now, what is the connection between the פרה אדומה and Moshe Rabbeinu? Why is it that concerning פרה אדומה specifically we mentioned that it has a special connection to Moshe Rabbeinu, that Hashem said your פרה will exist, and also that all the later פרות will have to have some connection to the פרה of Moshe? Why is Moshe Rabbeinu so important specifically concerning the mitzvah of פרה אדומה? And the truth is, from another angle we see the special connection between Moshe Rabbeinu and the mitzvah of פרה אדומה, because it says in the Midrash, in Tanchuma and in Bamidbar Rabbah, that Moshe Rabbeinu was the only one that understood the reason of פרה אדומה. Shlomo Hamelech said, על כל אלה עמדתי, which means all the חוקים of the Torah I was able to understand their reasons, but on the mitzvah of פרה אדומה he said, והיא רחוקה ממני, it is far from me, as it says in Kohelet פרק ז׳ פסוק כ״ג. Nevertheless, Moshe Rabbeinu was the only one that understood the פרה אדומה, as the Midrash says there that why does it say, ויקחו אליך פרה, that they will take to you, because Hashem said to him, לך אני מגלה טעם פרה, to you, Moshe, I will reveal the reason for the פרה אדומה. So here again we see that there is a special connection between Moshe Rabbeinu and the פרה אדומה. And the question is, why is this mitzvah different than all the other mitzvot that here we stress the connection of this mitzvah to Moshe Rabbeinu, and in both things? First of all, in the way to be mekayem the mitzvah, that later on in order to fulfill the mitzvah of making the פרה אדומה, they had to use some of the ashes of Moshe Rabbeinu's פרה אדומה, and also concerning the reason of פרה אדומה, the way to learn and understand, that Moshe was the only one that was able to understand the reason. Why is the mitzvah of פרה אדומה specifically connected to Moshe Rabbeinu?

So this could be explained based on what the Chazal say there in Tanchuma and in Bamidbar Rabbah, etc., etc., that the reason why a פרה אדומה was a nekevah, was a female, not like all other קרבנות ציבור, all other sacrifices of the community were all zecharim, males, because Hashem said, אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא, תבוא פרה ותכפר על מעשה העגל. Let the פרה, the cow, come and let it forgive for what the Yidden made the עגל. And therefore it was a female, because then it's like a mother to the עגל, the calf. The Yidden made the calf, so let the mother, which is the female, the פרה, come and bring about the kaparah for the חטא העגל. And as Rashi in Chumash actually brings from Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan all the details of the mitzvah of פרה אדומה, how they fit to the inyan that the פרה אדומה forgives for the חטא העגל. And the mefarshim explain the connection between the פרה אדומה and the forgiveness of the חטא העגל, as it says in the Kli Yakar, and the Alshich, and the Shach al HaTorah, and Etz HaDaas Tov, which was written by Rabbi Chaim Vital, and other mefarshim, they explain it based on what the Chazal say in Shemos Rabbah פרשה ל״ב ב׳, and also in Zohar, the first חלק, דף ל״ז עמוד ב׳, and דף קל״א עמוד ב׳, that if not for the חטא העגל, then there would be no concept of mitah by Bnei Yisrael. The Yidden would never die, because then they would be חירות ממלאך המות. They would be free from the מלאך המות. Because when Hashem gave them the luchos, it says that the luchos were charut, and the peshat is charut from cheirut, the word of cheirut which means free, they would have been free from the מלאך המות. And the reason is also understood, because if not for the חטא עץ הדעת, the sin that Adam Harishon and Chava did, definitely there wouldn't have been any death in the world. It's only after they did the aveirah. So it says, after the עץ הדעת, ירדה זוהמא לעולם, a certain tumah came into the world, and that brought about mitah, death. And the Gemara says in Shabbos דף קמ״ו עמוד א׳, that when the Yidden stood by מתן תורה, פסקה זוהמתן. The זוהמא, the tumah that came about into them through the חטא עץ הדעת went away by Matan Torah. And if the tumah went away, obviously the result of the tumah also went away. Since the result of the tumah that came by the חטא עץ הדעת was death, so by Matan Torah when the tumah went away, so death went away. So מצד מתן תורה there wouldn't have been death in the world. But by the חטא העגל, the Gemara says, חזרה זוהמתן, the tumah came back again. M'meila, the חטא העגל brought about מיתה in the world. So it comes out that the חטא העגל is the source of death in the world. Now m'meila, this is also the source to טומאת מת. When a person touches a dead body, becomes tamei, it's all because that body is dead. If there would be no death in the world, there would be no concept of טומאת מת, there wouldn't be such a thing as a person becoming tamei through a dead body. So this is the connection between these two things: the kaparah for the חטא העגל, the forgiveness of the חטא העגל, and the taharah of the טומאת מת, and the becoming clean from טומאת מת, which we said they're both in the פרה אדומה. The פרה אדומה, the simple thing of פרה אדומה was that through the פרה אדומה you bring about a taharah, a cleanliness from טומאת מת. We also say that the פרה אדומה was brought to show the forgiveness for the חטא העגל, so the connection is, as we said before, that these two things go together. If you forgive for the חטא העגל, then automatically there is no more מת in the world, and m'meila there's no more טומאת מת. So it comes out taking away טומאת מת is connected to getting rid of the חטא העגל.

Now the truth is that now till Mashiach will come, we don't get rid of the טומאת מת completely, because the truth is that we are not forgiven for the חטא העגל completely. Because the pasuk says, וביום פקדי ופקדתי, as it says in פרשת כי תשא, קפיטל ל״ב, פסוק ל״ד, which means that every time that Hashem punishes us, he punishes us together also for the חטא העגל. And this will not be taken away until משיח comes. So mimela the real kaparah for the חטא העגל does not come till משיח, and therefore we still have a met. But in concept, the ענין of פרה אדומה which is supposed to bring about the kaparah for the חטא העגל is connected to taking away the טומאת מת, which will come to be 100% when משיח will come. Which by the way, this could be the reason, בדרך הדרוש, for why the Rambam in Hilchot Parah Adumah, the end of the third פרק, writes that תשע פרות אדומות נעשו משנצטוו במצוה זו, nine פרות אדומות were made from when they were commanded to do this מצוה, עד שחרב הבית בשניה, till the second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed. And he says, ראשונה עשה משה, the first פרה אדומה was made by Moshe Rabbeinu, then later on was made by Ezra, and then there were a few in the second בית המקדש, והעשירית יעשה המלך המשיח, the tenth will be done through משיח. Lichorah, why does the Rambam have to write that the last one will be done through מלך המשיח? The Rambam, even though he brings halachot that pertain also to the time of coming of משיח, but nevertheless he doesn't bring all the things that משיח will do. There are other things that we find in Yechezkel, in קפיטל מ״ה, פסוק י״ז and on, where it speaks about the נשיא, which means משיח, and the things he will do, and the Rambam doesn't bring it. The only thing the Rambam brings is here, that משיח will make the tenth פרה. Which, by the way, the mefarshim are looking for a source: where does the Rambam take it from, because we don't superficially find where do the Chazal say this, that משיח is going to make the tenth פרה. But whatever it is, we see that the Rambam brings that Mashiach is going to make the tenth פרה אדומה. Why does the Rambam have to write that? But based on what we said before, we could say that the remez in the Rambam is that since the idea of פרה אדומה is to get rid of טומאת מת, which really means to get rid of the concept of מיתה, the concept of death, which comes as a result of the חטא העגל, this will be done completely only when Mashiach will come. As the pasuk says in Yeshayah, קפיטל כ״ה, פסוק ח׳, brought down in the Mishnah at the end of Moed Katan and many other places, that בלע המות לנצח. That then the death will be taken away completely. And that's what the Rambam is trying to hint to us, that there were some פרה אדומות made, but the last פרה אדומה, which means the end of the whole thing will be when Mashiach will come, because what the פרה אדומה is supposed to bring about will come to be 100% at the time of Mashiach. And this is also why the Rambam mentions that it's going to be the 10th, because we know that number 10 shows for שלימות המספר, מספר שלם, a complete number, as it says in the Ibn Ezra in Shemot קפיטל ג' פסוק ט\"ו, and in the Pardes שער ב', so therefore he says that the שלימות, the completion of what the פרה אדומה is supposed to bring about, which is included in number 10, will happen when Mashiach will come.

Now this will explain why concerning the פרה אדומה we find a special connection between Moshe Rabbeinu. Since we said that the יסוד, the foundation of the taharah that the פרה אדומה brings about is not only the idea that it gets rid of the tumah, the idea is that it gets rid of the מיתה, which is the source of the tumah. It's supposed to get rid of death, which came about through the חטא העגל, and memeila there will not be any tumah. Now, since we want to get rid of the concept of death, therefore we need to this the koach of Moshe Rabbeinu, the special koach of Moshe. Because one of the special qualities of Moshe Rabbeinu we find is the concept of נצחיות, of eternity. Death means something that stops, and Moshe Rabbeinu's inyan is eternity. As we find in the Chazal, the Gemara says in Sotah דף ט' עמוד א', also in Tana D'vei Eliyahu Rabbah פרשה י\"ח, that מעשי ידי משה are נצחיים. Whatever Moshe Rabbeinu made is a נצחי, which means it'll last forever. Like it says there concerning the Mishkan that Moshe Rabbeinu made, that it did not get destroyed, it was just hidden, but it stands לעד ולעולמי עולמים, it'll be forever. And the reason for that is, because we know that the middah of Moshe Rabbeinu is מידת האמת, is the middah of truth. Because it says in Tanchuma in פרשת שמות כ\"ח, and also Shemot Rabbah פרשה ה' י', that אמת זה משה, that emet is Moshe. We also find in the Gemara in Bava Batra ע\"ד עמוד א' and in Sanhedrin דף ק\"י עמוד א', Tanchuma Korach, that משה אמת ותורתו אמת, that Moshe is emet. Now, what is the inyan of emet? Emet means not only that you say the truth and you don't lie. The true meaning of emet is something that does not change, it stays forever. As the pasuk says in משלי קפיטל י\"ב פסוק י\"ט, שפת אמת תכון לעד, that emet lasts forever. And as we have a ראיה to this from the Mishnah in פרה פרק ח' משנה ט', that מעינות המכזבות, that those wells which cheat, which lie, you are not allowed to use that water for the פרה אדומה. Now, what do we mean that they are wells that lie? So it says, it means that if they dry up after seven years. It could be that now it's the best water, but since eventually it's going to dry up and stop, it's called a מעין that lied, it's not true. So the true meaning of truth is something that lasts forever. Through and through from beginning to the end, through the middle, it's always there, it never changes. As it says in Yerushalmi that the word emet is made up of three letters: אל\"ף, מ\"ם, תי\"ו. אל\"ף is the first letter of the אלף-בית, מ\"ם is the middle letter of the אלף-בית, תי\"ו is the last letter of the אלף-בית, to show that אמת is only if it goes from the beginning through the end, it never changes. And since אמת זה משה, that אמת refers to Moshe, his מידה was אמת, so therefore we understand that מעשי משה נצחיים, that whatever Moshe Rabbeinu did always lasts forever, it will not change. And not only concerning Moshe Rabbeinu's actions, but certainly concerning Moshe himself. The Gemara says that even though on Moshe Rabbeinu it says in ברכה קפיטל ל\"ד פסוק ה' that וימת שם משה, that Moshe died, nevertheless the Gemara says in Sotah דף י\"ג עמוד ב', and it's brought on the Zohar חלק א' דף ל\"ז עמוד ב', that לא מת משה, Moshe Rabbeinu didn't die. מה להלן עומד ומשמש אף כאן, just like before he served, so too now does he serve. But the expression in the Gemara is לא מת משה, he didn't die. Which means that this is more than the Gemara just says concerning all tzaddikim that צדיקים במיתתם קרויים חיים, that tzaddikim when even when they die, they're called alive, as the Gemara says in Berakhot דף י\"ח עמוד א'. But if that's true, then we wouldn't say specifically by Moshe that לא מת משה. We only find concerning a few people: Moshe, and Yaakov it says, יעקב אבינו לא מת, etc. That means that there is a concept of not death, the opposite of death by Moshe Rabbeinu more than just by other tzaddikim. Why? Because Moshe Rabbeinu's ענין is נצחיות, is eternity, because his מידה is the מידת האמת. And therefore, when it comes to the פרה אדומה, which the idea of פרה אדומה is to get rid of טומאת מת, and as we said before, not only to get rid of the טומאה, but the real idea of פרה אדומה is that this brings about to get rid of the חטא העגל, which means to get rid of the מיתה itself, for that we need the koach of Moshe, because Moshe's מידה is the the opposite of death, the opposite of things stopping, which is the idea of death, but his מידה is the מידה of אמת, which is נצחיות, and therefore he himself לא מת משה, he didn't die.

And the truth is, to go a step further, even though as we said before, that the real פעולה, the real influence of the פרה אדומה to take away death is only going to happen after Mashiach will come, when it says בלע המות לנצח, but till then it didn't happen. But in truth, in one aspect it was accomplished already then through Moshe Rabbeinu, because we find something that Matan Torah accomplished, and Matan Torah is connected to Moshe Rabbeinu, because משה קיבל תורה מסיני, he was the one that received the Torah for us and gave it to us, brought it to us. So Moshe is connected to Matan Torah, we find one thing by Matan Torah which brought about the opposite of death. And this is what the Gemara says in Horayot דף ו' עמוד א', and in Temurah דף ט\"ו עמוד ב' and דף ט\"ז עמוד א', also brought down in the Rambam הלכות פסולי המוקדשין פרק ד' הלכה א', that אין הציבור מתים, that the whole tzibbur, the whole community could never die, which means that before Matan Torah there was no such thing as a tzibbur. There were individual people and there was a gathering of a lot of individuals. After Matan Torah the Yidden turned into one tzibbur, one unit called a tzibbur, a community. And the Gemara says that ציבור לא מת, the tzibbur does not die, which means the community that we have now is exact same community as we had then. So this shows that Torah already had accomplished the concept of לא מת, the opposite of death, already then through Moshe Rabbeinu. But in detail, concerning every individual to get rid of the inyan of mitah, this was not accomplished then yet, this will be accomplished when Mashiach will come and he will bring the tenth פרה אדומה. And this could also explain why the Rambam mentions concerning the פרה אדומות only the name of Moshe, and later he mentions Ezra, and the end he mentions Mashiach. Even though in the Mishnah in פרה the names of the other people who made the other פרות אדומות are also mentioned, because as we said before, the koach of what the פרה אדומה is supposed to accomplish comes through Moshe Rabbeinu, and at the end will be finished by Mashiach, and therefore he mentions the name of Moshe and the name of Mashiach, and he also mentions the name of Ezra, because Ezra it says in Sanhedrin דף כ\"א עמוד ב' is שקול כמשה, he is like Moshe Rabbeinu, and he was also a person who gave over the Torah to Klal Yisrael like Moshe Rabbeinu, so since we find by Moshe the inyan of נצחיות, it's connected to Ezra also. And therefore, the Rambam mentions Moshe's name and Ezra's name and Mashiach.