A calf was born in a dairy barn in the Jordan Valley last
week, and on Rosh Chodesh Elul, a delegation of rabbis stood over her, running
their hands through her coat. She was the third heifer of her kind to be born
in Israel this season, joining two others already under watch in the Galilee
and the Golan Heights. Together, the three calves represent the most concrete
progress yet toward a goal Jewish tradition has pursued since the destruction
of the Second Temple: raising a red heifer whose ashes can restore ritual
purity to the Jewish people.
The examinations were carried out by the Beit Midrash, the
rabbinic study hall, of the National Institute for Red Heifer Research, a body
that unites religious Zionist, Litvish, and Hasidic rabbis around a single
national mission. Members of the Institute traveled to all three farms in a
single sweep, checking the calves from tail to head for the disqualifying flaws
that have derailed nearly every red heifer candidate in living memory.
The requirements come directly from the Hebrew Bible. “This
is the ritual law that Hashem has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring
you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke
has been laid” (Numbers 19:2). Since the Second Temple’s destruction nearly two
thousand years ago, the ashes of such a cow have been unavailable, leaving
every Jew in a state of ritual impurity from contact with the dead, a status
the Bible calls tumat met. Without those ashes, the purification described in
the Torah cannot take place, and full Temple service cannot resume. That is why
a light hair on a newborn calf is not a minor veterinary detail. It is the
difference between a heifer that can eventually serve the nation and one that
cannot. (Read More)
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Brad Myers - Senior Researcher Comments: In the future, after
2,000 years, the ashes of a red heifer without blemish will be used for
temple sacrifices in a rebuilt Third Temple in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this
proposed Third Temple will not be the one described in detail in Ezekiel 40–48,
as its location, size, and measurements do not align with the plans drafted by
the Temple Institute—which has created detailed blueprints and 3D digital
renderings. The Bible foretells in Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that
this Third Temple will restore animal sacrifices but will ultimately be
desecrated by the 'man of lawlessness,' known as the Antichrist.
