The Torah teaches us how the living are to remove from themselves any impurities associated with death. Evidently when a Jew dies his body emits a severe impurity throughout the structure he is found in or it can be transferred  through contact with others. Apparently human death is associated with the evacuation of parts of the soul from the body - allowing negative spiritual forces to occupy the newly formed vacated space. These negative spiritual forces can transfer their impurities onto others.

The Torah advises us how to purge ourselves of this transfer via the Misva of פרה אדמה - A mixture is prepared to be sprinkled onto one infected with death impurity on the third and seventh day. The Torah also details how those who are involved in the preparation of the ashes of the cleansing mixture attract their own unique minor impurity. This led to R. Yohanan Ben Zaccai to teach (PDRK 4:6) his students that the rules associated with פרה אדמה are nothing more than a heavenly decree. What did he mean by this? We will attempt to explain this as well as the secret behind this Misva of פרה אדומהaccording to R. HaAri. 

Death - The Father of Fathers' Impurities

Our Rabbi's teach that a dead Jewish body is considered the father of fathers of all impurities. As the upper aspects of the soul exit the body - the latter becomes inhabited by the negative force ס״מ and his associates. It is crucial to appreciate that death is mystically associated with גבורות or spiritual judgement and severities.

When someone is exclusively attached to this pathway - he subjects and exposes himself to extreme negative forces. Severities are associated with selfishness and harshness - If not tempered they ultimately attract even negative forces associated with the מלאך המות - Armed with this reality - we can begin to understand the process of Tikun associated with the פרה אדמה - It will take a total of seven days for this type of impurity to be cleansed from one with טמא מת - Inherent  in the death impurity are the harsh severities that need to be rectified. 

Third and Seventh Day

The Torah teaches that it is pertinent for the waters to be sprinkled on the one who had been rendered impure by contact with death - on the third and seventh days. These represent spiritual stages that are opportune for the infected to be cleansed - We can compare this to the Torah itself which was and will be revealed as a purifying agent for this impure world.

Our Sages teach that the Torah was initially introduced into the world at the start of the Third Millenium. It will be completely revealed at the start of the Seventh Millenium. This of course is related to the third and seventh days in the purging from death impurity. In addition these stages of day 3 and day 7 - also parallel the reduction of the power of death - As the Talmud (MK 27) and halakhic code (YD 380) teach concerning the days of mourning Shiva - that the first three are related to crying while the seven are strictly for lamenting. These represent the loosening of the force associated with death. 

Para Adumah - A Deep Perspective

Death results from the spiritual severities that are extant entering into their intended target - not being attached to the spiritual mercies. This rule is part of the fabric of creation - and remains as a constant in the death of people.

The rectification of death impurity via the mixture included with the burned פרה אדומה - is to reenact the extension of the severities and to purify them from the negative forces that had attached to them in their decent. R. HaAri teaches (SM; LT) that there are 5 severities that are revealed via the five סופיות or final letters מנצפך of the Hebrew Aleph Bet.

These are numerically 280 indicating their spiritual association with the פר or cow - also numerically 280 - with the five letters being equivalent with פרה - These severities have their roots in the lofty level of בינה hence the numerical value of אדמה - red - is 50 related to the 50 gates within בינה - Since at this point these severities are within the sphere of holiness - the Torah refers to them as תמימה without a מום - physical and spiritual blemish associated with the negative forces called אלהים אחרים - hence the numerical value of מום is 86 parallel to these אלהים - Severities have a property not to allow the male and spiritual spiritual channels to unify - that is why we may not place upon the פרה a yoke or על spelled defectively without a ו׳ - According to R. HaAri the absence of having placed an על or yoke upon the פרה - relates to the severities not having the benefit of the spiritual force called יסוד - Since this aspect - or channel of unity is not operative when severities come out first leading to death.

These severities in the secret of the פרה אדמה- are taken outside of the camp - indicating that the severities have exited the realm of holiness to a place associated with spiritual death. - The removal from the holiness allows the attachment of the negative forces of death to these severities. Now begins the Tikun of the severities - First the פרה is slaughtered to release the blood associated with the severities - then sprinkled seven times in direction of the Holy.

It is burned with fire to remove from the severities any impurities and to unify the five severities into one - from פרה to אפר - Ashes - An איש טהור gathers the severities to elevate back to their holy source inבינה - They ascend and begin to unify via the spiritual nose in the secret of the smelling of the myrtle or הדסים on Friday night - In the process - the gatherer - the איש טהור who represents the spiritual level beneath בינה is exposed to a negative husk - that causes him to attract a low level (day) of impurity. The severities finally ascend back to the spiritual nose of בינה - in the secret of מי אסף רוח בחפניו - (Mishle 30:4) - and become a vehicle to purify the living from the impurities of death. 

A Divine Decree

A non-jew inquired of R. Yohanan Ben Zaccai regarding the efficacy of the ashes of the פרה אדמה - The Rabbi told him that one who is defiled by a corpse is possessed by a spirit of impurity - The sprinkling of the ashes mixed with the water - removes it. His students approached him and asked - Now that you have pushed aside the non - Jew - what answer can you give us?

He responded - The purifying power of the red cow is a decree of the holy one - a גזרת המקום - as it says חקה חקקתי גזרה גזרתי - I have issued an ordinance and enacted a decree. To this the Shelah writes that according to ספר יצירה - the totality of commandments reveals that they are divided into four categories. The upper two are referred to as חק and גזרה respectively.

To comprehend legislation in these categories - one must be of a very exalted nature. The real reason only exists in dimensions or regions beyond standard perception. On an exalted level - all laws are the same as Moshe taught (Dev 4:5) - I have taught you statutes and social laws. Namely - that all Torah and rabbinic laws reflect the spiritual rules or pathways in the regions above.

We can now understand R. Yohanan Ben Zaccai response to his students - that in truth all laws are גזרת המקום- The word גזרה should not be read as decree - but rather as "sections or pieces of the divine" - The word גזר is used this way in Ber 15:17 as "A covenant between the pieces" and similarly in Tehillim 136:13. Namely that the Divine rules pass through or exist between the pieces or the divine - human soul.

The message to his students and ourselves is that the ordinances are all a reflection of the necessary Tikun of the soul of man - which is nothing more or less than a גזרה המקום - a section or piece of the Divine. 

Victor Bibi