The path back

One of the most puzzling mitzvahs in the Torah is the Red Heifer. It’s a commandment that has no clear explanation. Even King Solomon, the wisest of all men, admitted he couldn’t understand it.

Here’s the basic idea: In the time of the Temple, when someone came into contact with a dead body, they became ritually impure and could not visit the Temple. To become pure again, a special process was required. It involved mixing ashes from a completely red cow with water, and sprinkling that mixture on the person.

It’s strange, even a little mysterious.

When G-d explained all the different types of ritual impurity to Moses, he accepted them calmly. But when G-d spoke about impurity caused by death, Moses seemed confused. He asked, “How can someone ever become pure from this?” In response, G-d introduced the mitzvah of the Red Heifer.

Death was difficult for Moses to grasp because it seemed to question the entire meaning of life. If a person’s life can just end, what was the point? Was it all temporary? Did it really matter?

The Torah teaches us that true life isn’t just about breathing. Real life comes from connection to something beyond ourselves—a connection to G-d. Everything in the world exists because G-d gives it life, but only when we cling to G-d do we become truly alive.

Death, on the other hand, represents separation from that source. It feels like a break in the connection.

But even in the face of death and separation, G-d provides a path to reconnect. That’s where the deeper meaning of the Red Heifer comes in: it serves to repair the spiritual damage caused by the sin of the Golden Calf. At Mount Sinai, the Jewish people had reached a level where death no longer had power over them. But when they made the Golden Calf, that purity was lost and death returned to the world.

The Red Heifer, in a sense, is the “mother” that cleans up after her “child”—the Golden Calf. It represents a path toward healing the mistake that brought spiritual impurity back into the world.

The details of the mitzvah reflect this theme. The cow has to be red, symbolizing the raw, physical side of life. It is burned outside the camp, far from the center of holiness, showing that the process begins even from a place of distance. Yet it must be completely unblemished, representing spiritual wholeness; and the blood is sprinkled toward the holiest part of the Temple, symbolizing a journey from separation back to closeness.

And most importantly, the ritual must be overseen by Moses. Just as he brought the Torah to the people at Sinai, he is the one who reconnects the people with G-d in this process as well.

It’s a powerful message. Even when we feel far from G-d, even when we feel “spiritually dead,” there is a path back. There’s no such thing as too far gone. G-d provides a way to reconnect.

Today, we don’t have the Temple or the Red Heifer. But we still have moments when we feel disconnected or distant. This mitzvah reminds us that G-d never gives up on us. He gives us Torah and mitzvahs to help us come back to life—not just physically, but spiritually. Even a small step, the simplest mitzvah, can be the start of reconnecting.

Because when we’re connected to G-d, we’re not just surviving. We’re truly alive.