Adonai instructed the Israelites to find a pure, undefiled parah adumah, red heifer, and bring it to Eleazar the priest. Unlike other sacrifices where a male animal was offered, the slaughter for the purification water was female. A heifer is a young cow that has never birthed a calf. The animal’s hair was to be entirely of one color: red. However, the word adumah and adamah (earth) have the same root so the color is more brownish red like the earth than bright red like a rose. Its hair was to be straight to ensure that the heifer had never worn a yoke.
Tag: hyssop
Parashah 28: M’tzora (Person afflicted with tzara’at)
Rashi suggests something different. The Hebrew states, “I will give” an affliction to the house suggesting there is a blessing for the house. The Canaanites who lived in the land hid their treasures in the walls of their homes as they prepared for war with the Israelites who intended to take over their land. Adonai, wanting to give the Israelites a gift, taught them the laws of house-afflictions and the need to tear down the walls. When the Israelite owner tore down the walls of his house, he would discover the hidden treasures.