Subject: Red Heifer Update: August 2020/Av 5780 Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:03 am
Red Heifer Update: August 2020/Av 5780
The Temple Institute
Rabbi Azaria Ariel, who is leading the Temple Institute's efforts to raise a red heifer for the performance of the commandment of producing the purifying ashes of the red heifer, recently inspected the current red heifer candidates and shared their status. Of the two more mature candidates, one is still very viable, as Rabbi Azaria explains, despite currently having a few hairs which aren't sufficiently red, as required by halacha (Jewish law). Two new candidates were born in the early months of 2020, and they are currently viable. The ordinance of the red heifer is described in Numbers, chapter 19. The purifying power of the ashes of the red heifer posses the ability to overcome the spiritual impurity contracted via physical contact with a corpse or cadaver, known in Hebrew as טמא מת - tamei met. The renewal of the ashes of the red heifer would enable kohanim (Temple priests) today to achieve the highest level of spiritual purity, enabling them to resume their work in the Holy Temple, thereby eliminating one more stumbling block on the way to rebuilding the Holy Temple and renewing the Divine service. Rabbi Azaria also mentions just a few of the many other commandments whose performance will be enabled by or enhanced by the resumption of the ashes of the red heifer. Following are Rabbi Azaria's words translated into English. The video is subtitles in English, which can by activated via the CC icon which appears on the bottom right side beneath the video: "We are hoping, with G-d's help, to raise a kosher red heifer, with the intention of fulfilling the commandment of creating the ashes of the red heifer, and thus enabling all of Israel to be purified from the impurity of tame met, and thereby be able to perform many commandments that required spiritual purity, such as trumot and ma'aserot (tithes), and many commandments whose proper performance are reliant on the purifying power of the ashes of the red heifer. In the meantime we are standing next to a red heifer candidate whose status is somewhat uncertain. She bears a patch of hair that is not currently sufficiently red, but there is a very real possibility that these hairs will redden before too long. And then we will return and check her again, with the hope that she will at that time be kosher for the performance of the commandment of the red heifer."
Subject: Red Heifer Update: August 2020/Av 5780 
Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:03 am
