This week, we celebrate another of the four special Shabbatot that come before Pesah, "Shabbat Parah." We will read a special maftir from the Torah which details the purpose, sacrifice and ceremonies of the red heifer (parah adumah, in Hebrew). This ceremony served to purify an individual from the impurity caused by coming into contact with or being in the same enclosed area as a human corpse. We read this portion from the Torah this week because in Temple times, before one brought a sacrifice to the Temple, he had to become ritually cleansed by going to the mikvah (ritual bath). This reading reminded pilgrims about to leave for Jerusalem to offer their Passover sacrifices that it was time to begin preparations for this journey and ritual.

In the modern world, the concept of ritual purity and impurity sounds archaic. It has been several generations since there has been the known existence of a parah adumah/red heifer. So, even if we had a Temple, these rituals would be impossible to complete. Furthermore, because so many of the customs related to purity and impurity have fallen into disuse, they are now mostly misunderstood and, in many cases, considered prejudiced against women as a result of the relationship between ritual impurity and blood or bleeding. Nevertheless, the concepts of tum'ah/ritual impurity and taharah/ritual purity can carry a tremendous amount of meaning for us, while the ritual of mikvah/immersing in the ritual bath can be very powerful and spiritual, for both men and women.