In this week’s parsha we are told of the Parah Adumah, the Red Heifer, an animal which was slaughtered and burned outside the Tabernacle, then its ashes were mixed with water and, perplexingly, when this mixture was sprinkled upon someone who was impure they became pure.

What is “tumah,” this impurity which the Torah often discusses?   The main function of ritual impurity is that in order to enter the Tabernacle one must be in a state of purity.  What makes one impure?  Most, if not all of the sources of ritual impurity in Judaism are linked to death.

Impurity from death is not a bad thing, in fact the group of people who bathe and prepare a body for burial is called the Chevra Kaddisha- the holy group- and such preparation is a great mitzvah.   So what is impurity really about?   Obviously on their most fundamental level impurity and purity are a chok, a mitzvah which seemingly has no reason.   Nevertheless we can gain some insight into these Biblical laws.

The word for impurity in Hebrew is tumah.  The root of this word means blocked or covered.    The impure person is blocked from the holy place, the Tabernacle.   But why keep the Divine service and impurity from death so separate?

Death is on one hand part of life, unavoidable, and indeed, ever present.  Death is the constant background anxiety and tenuousness to all that we do.    In any moment, completely out of our control, we could cease to be on any physical level.    This notion, though something we know intellectually, is actually quite bizarre.    We are self aware and conscious human beings, aware of our infinite uniqueness and our inner life.  We are at the center of every experience we have.   We really are all we know, we can never truly know another person or for that matter anything outside of ourselves, everything we know is our own sensations.   Thus, we live our lives as if we are here forever, and perhaps we must, but we all know the truth, that no matter how wealthy and powerful and strong we are, any moment could be our last.   If we were to truly assimilate this notion on the one hand no doubt everything we do would be ultimately meaningful- we would only choose the things that were truly worth doing-on the other hand perhaps it is the case that we would also be frozen in a state of anxiety.

I think tumah and tahara, purity and impurity laws, reflect this very basic human reality. Judaism infinitely values life, we keep death far from us and from our service of God.   Serving God must be about life.  At the same time our anxiety and undoing crouch at the door, so the Torah must create boundaries to keep life and death separate.  The human who dies moves from a physical body reflecting God, made in the image of God, to one that is lifeless.   Perhaps this lack of Godliness has no place in contact with the Tabernacle, the place of God’s presence.

This past week the country experienced another public shooting-showing again how lightly life is taken and how much death has seeped into our culture.   Perhaps the laws of purity and impurity are vital if we are to both honor the human and engage with them even in their death, but also ensure that our society is one that is fully life affirming and infinitely respectful of the human being who is made in the image of God.