The Book of Numbers tells us that the priest who splashes
on a corpse-contaminated person ashes
of a red heifer, will himself thereby become impure,
most paradoxically a victim of what should be the cure
of the impurity of one on whom the ashes have been poured.
The paradox by which he is afflicted cannot be ignored,
reflecting the effectiveness of all the lies
that antisemites tell about the Jews. Although extremely wise,
King Solomon allegedly found no explanation that was rational
for this paradox, but might have done for when it’s national,
affecting all the Jews, who for millennia have been sadly cursed
by the impurity of lies — that by the truth are often not reversed.
Num. 19:7-8 states:
כִבֶּ֨ס בְּגָדָ֜יו הַכֹּהֵ֗ן וְרָחַ֤ץ בְּשָׂרוֹ֙ בַּמַּ֔יִם וְאַחַ֖ר יָבֹ֣א אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה וְטָמֵ֥א הַכֹּהֵ֖ן עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃
The priest shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; after that the priest may reenter the camp, but he shall be impure until evening.
וְהַשֹּׂרֵ֣ף אֹתָ֔הּ יְכַבֵּ֤ס בְּגָדָיו֙ בַּמַּ֔יִם וְרָחַ֥ץ בְּשָׂר֖וֹ בַּמָּ֑יִם וְטָמֵ֖א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃
The one who performed the burning shall also wash those garments in water, bathe in water, and be impure until evening.
According to a midrash, King Solomon famously stated, “I had said I would become wise—but it is far from me.” A midrash in Tahuma claims that the king said: “With all other [laws of the Torah] I held my footing, but when it comes to the teaching of the heifer, I analyzed, I asked and I researched [without understanding].”
Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored “Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel.” He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.
