The Red Heifer Statute and the Ox That Knew Its Maker

Pesikta Rabbati 14:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"This is the statute of the Torah which the LORD commanded, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect, upon which no yoke has come" (Numbers 19:2). Let our master teach us: when the red heifer was prepared, was it permitted for Israel to take it from a gentile? Our rabbis taught — the sages say one may take it. There was a case: Israel needed a red heifer and could not find one, and afterward found it with a certain gentile. They went and said, "Sell us the heifer you have, for we need it." The gentile, sensing how much they needed it, kept raising the price, until they agreed to a thousand gold coins. Then the wicked man said to his fellow: "Come and see how I mock these Jews. They want it only because no yoke has ever come upon it. I will place a yoke on it tonight and take their money." He set the yoke upon it through the night. Now the sign of a heifer that has borne no yoke is this: two hairs stand upright in its neck at the place of the yoke; once a yoke is placed, the two hairs bend. When they came to take it and showed him the gold, he removed the yoke and brought it out. They examined it and saw the two hairs had bent. They said, "Take your heifer; we do not need it; you have mocked your mother!" When the wicked man saw his heifer returned and himself left empty of all that gold, the mouth that had said "I will mock them" began to say, "Blessed is He who chose this nation!" He went into his house, hung a rope, and strangled himself. Thus you learn that the heifer may be taken from anywhere, whether from Israel or from a gentile. There was another case: an Israelite had a plowing cow, became poor, and sold it to a gentile. The gentile plowed with it the six weekdays. On the Sabbath he brought it out to plow, and it lay down beneath the yoke. He struck it, but it would not budge. He went and told the Israelite who had sold it. The Israelite understood it was because of the Sabbath, that the cow was accustomed to rest. He came and whispered in its ear: "Cow, cow, when you were mine you plowed the weekdays and rested on the Sabbath; now that my sins have placed you under a gentile, please, stand and plow." At once it stood and plowed. The gentile said, "I will not let you go until you tell me what you did." The Israelite explained. The gentile grew afraid and said, "If a cow, which has no speech or understanding, recognized its Maker, shall I, whom my Maker formed in His image and gave understanding, not go and recognize my Maker?" He came and converted, studied, and merited Torah, and they called him Yochanan ben Torta. By means of a cow a man was drawn beneath the wings of the Divine Presence — and by means of the heifer comes the purification of all Israel.

Themes

CommandmentsPurityConversion

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