Numbers 19:1 And יהוה spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, 2 זֹאת This is the ordinance from the Torah which יהוה has commanded: Tell the Children of Israel to bring you a Red Heifer without spot and blemish and has never been worked: 3 You will give אֹתָהּ it (her) to Eleazar the priest, so that he may bring אֹתָהּ it (her) outside the camp and someone will kill אֹתָהּ it (her) before him. C-MATS
Question: What is the meaning of the law of the Red Cow? The law of the Red Cow is described as the perfect decree of the Torah, meaning that it is beyond human understanding. The world questions its purpose, but the Torah states that it is a decree of the One Who gave the Torah, and it is not for anyone to question it. Since all laws of the Torah are the products of יהוה‘s intelligence, any human inability to comprehend them indicates the limitation of the student, not the Teacher. There is nothing meaningless or purposeless in the Torah, and if it seems so, it is only a product of our own deficiency. Chumash
Question: How many red heifers have been prepared? Nine red heifers were prepared from the time that the Hebrew people were given this commandment until the Second Temple was destroyed. Moses prepared the first heifer; the second by Ezra, and another seven were prepared from Ezra until the Temple’s destruction. The tenth Heifer will be prepared by the Messiah. Chumash
Question: What are the qualifications for the Red Cow? The cow must be so completely red that even two hairs of another color disqualify it. It must have no defects and never been worked. Chumash
Question: What lesson does this have for us today? The fact that the ashes of the red heifer “purify the contaminated and contaminate the pure” carries an important lesson to us in our daily lives: If your brother in the faith has been infected by impurity and corruption, do not hesitate to get involved and do everything within your power to help him turn from his sins. If you are concerned that you may become tainted by your contact with him, remember that the Torah commands the Kohen to purify his brother in the faith, even though his own level of purity will be diminished in the process.
Question: Why did יהוה choose a red heifer to cleanse sins? The heifer is red alluding to [the verse], “if they [your sins] prove to be as red as crimson dye” (Isaiah. 1:18), for sin is described as [being] ‘red.’ The red heifer was chosen to offset the sin of the golden calf in the desert. Chumash