What is the Red Heifer Today? â Daily Chizzuk by Rabbi Eliezer Berland Shlitâa
IN A HISTORIC SHIUR, RABBI ELIYAHU MERAV ZTâL SITS NEXT TO MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLITâA, AS A PRIME DISCIPLE WHO, FROM THE MOMENT HE GAINED UNDERSTANDING, WOULD DRAW FROM HIS RABBIâS TORAH AND WATER OTHERS IN THIS DAILY CHIZZUK, THE TOPIC ADDRESSED IS ONE THAT STANDS AT THE HEIGHTS OF THE WORLD â âEXALTED THINGS THAT ARE DEGRADED AMONG MENâ (TEHILLIM 12:9) â THESE ARE MATTERS THAT STAND AT THE HEIGHTS OF THE WORLD, AND PEOPLE DISREGARD THEM THURSDAY, 28 TAMMUZ 5785 These are his holy words: You need to write about the Red Heifer in Parashat Naso. You see? It appears in Chukat [Rav Berland shlitâa is speaking to Rav Eliyahu Merav ztâl]. The Zohar says that Aharon could not prepare [the Red Heifer] because he would become impure. The one who sprinkles the [waters of the Red Heifer] becomes impure â and Aharon was forbidden from becoming impure even for a second. Aharon is the Holy of Holies â he is called holy. A person who is pure is allowed to become impure, but someone who is holy is not allowed. Aharon is in [the category of] holy of holies: âAnd Aharon and his sons offered sacrificesâŚfor all the labor of the Holy of Holiesâ (Divrei HaYamim I 6:34). Rav Berland shlit"a then turned again to Rav Merav zt"l: âSo we are saying that the first thing you must do is correct your mistake â you can no longer write about the Red Heifer in Parashat Chukat. The Red Heifer has nothing to do with Parashat Chukat. You can write it in Naso, in Beshalach.â SO REALLY, WHY IS IT WRITTEN IN CHUKAT? BECAUSE THE TZADDIK IS THE RED HEIFER! Is there Likutey Moharan here? [Rav Berland shlit"a points to the bookshelf in his holy home.] Rabbeinu writes (Likutey Moharan, Lesson 55) that today the Red Heifer is prayer with kavanah (focused intention). In a little while, we will pray Minchah. All of Lesson 55 revolves around the Red Heifer â that the Red Heifer is ashes. If a person prays every word with kavanah, he becomes dust and ashes. He must disconnect himself during prayer from all thoughts â he must forget his wife, his children â because right now, he is praying to Hashem. The Rebbe explains here that one [needs to] nullify the prayers of the "cedars" [âwhose height was like the height of cedar treesâ], the prayers of the heretics â to create for them a new heart. WHY IS THAT PERSON A HERETIC? Because he has no heart â because he is an adulterer! He is an adulterer, so he has no heart! His âwisdomâ leads him to heresy! https://vimeo.com/1103974192?fl=pl&fe=sh