Parashat Chukat
„Israel's aspiration for the building of the nation, for the return to the land, is an aspiration of the depth of the good that penetrates all existence at its root.”From Orot, Yisrael veTechiyato 10
Parashat Chukat opens with the most mysterious commandment in the Torah, the red heifer. It purifies from the impurity of the dead, but no one understands how. The Torah itself calls this a 'chukah,' that is, a supernal decree, without explanation. Rav Kook explains that the red heifer symbolizes a very deep repair: to heal a fundamental break in reality. The impurity of the dead stems from death itself, from the height of pain, from sin, from the existential break of the world that brought death. And the purification is hope, an aspiration to repair all of this from the root. In the same way, the return of the people of Israel to its land and the building of the nation are not merely a national or political process. This is not merely a 'return home' in the technical sense, but a deep repair of history, of existence. And like the red heifer, there is here a process of purification, not only for the individual but for the whole world.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.