By: Yisrael Yitzchak Rosenfeld
In this week’s Torah portion, Rashi comments on the mitzvah of the Parah Adumah (the Red Heifer) and notes that it is a chok—a supra-rational decree:
“It is a decree from Me; you have no permission to question it.”
Yet immediately afterward, Rashi offers an explanation:
“I have adopted an aggadic interpretation from the teachings of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan.”
How are we to understand this?
Rav Chanoch Henoch of Alexander zt”l taught that through the Parah Adumah one acquires the ability to understand the entire Torah.
Precisely because we cannot grasp the depths of this chok, it is through this act of humble submission that true understanding is granted to us.
As the Shelah HaKadosh zt”l famously expressed it:
“The highest level of knowledge is to know that we truly know nothing.”
This also sheds light on Rashi’s words:
There exists a lofty spiritual level at which we genuinely do not understand—not out of passivity, but from a state of pure and simple faith.
And when we accept the mitzvah in this manner—with emunah (faith)—understanding can then emerge.
Therefore, Rashi first says:
“You may not question it,”
and only afterward offers an interpretation,
thereby fulfilling the verse:
“Be wholehearted (tamim) with Hashem, your God.”
The Mei HaShiloach teaches, in connection with Parashat Balak, that life begins long before events themselves actually unfold.
Before actions come desires.
Before opportunities come longings.
Before external circumstances appear, a hidden movement has already taken place within the heart.
Bilaam wanted to believe that Balak’s invitation had simply arrived by chance.
Yet the Izhbitzer Rebbe zt”l reveals that the story had begun much earlier.
It began with the desires that Bilaam had nurtured within himself for many years.
This teaching challenges us to take an honest look at our own lives.
Not only at what we do.
Not only at what happens to us.
But also at what we quietly and secretly long for.
For today’s longing often becomes tomorrow’s reality.
And the more we direct our desires toward holiness, the more space we create for blessing, growth, and a deeper connection with Hashem.
