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Inexplicable as it is, the red heifer does has the power to purify, or cleanse, all people who have become unclean throughout the year. This was important just before Passover, for the following reason:
Passover, during the days of the Holy Temple, required that all Jewish families make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On the day before the start of the Passover fesitval, each family would bring their Passover lamb up to the Temple where the priests would slaughter the lamb, so that the family could cook and eat the lamb for the Passover meal, as commanded in the Torah. Jews who were ritually unclean were not allowed to enter into the courtyards of the Holy Temple. Therefore, it was essential that they become ritually clean before they enter the Temple grounds.
The red heifer was the solution! Water specially prepared from the ashes of the red heifer were sprinkled by the priests on the family members. That was all it took! But how was the mixture prepared? |
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