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Parah ( he, פָּרָה) is the name of a treatise in the
Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...
and the
Tosefta The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...
, included in the order
Tohorot ''Tohorot'' (Hebrew: טָהֳרוֹת, literally "Purities") is the sixth and last order of the Mishnah (also of the Tosefta and Talmud). This order deals with the clean/unclean distinction and family purity. This is the longest of the orders in t ...
. The Pentateuchal law (
Num. The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and com ...
) decrees that a red heifer, "wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke," shall be burned and her ashes mixed with spring water, that the compound so obtained may be used to sprinkle and cleanse every one who becomes unclean. The burning of the heifer and the preparation of the ashes, as well as the fetching of the water and its mixture for sprinkling, were attended by strict ceremonies. The treatise Parah contains a detailed description of these ceremonies, as well as various regulations concerning the purity of the water for sprinkling and its different effects. In most editions the treatise is the fourth in the mishnaic order Tohorot, and is divided into twelve chapters, containing ninety-six paragraphs in all.


Contents

*Chapter 1: Contents. Age of the red heifer and of the young heifer (comp.
Deut. Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
); explanation of the word "''shelashit''" as three-year-old, and of "''reba'i''" as four-year-old (§ 1); age of the different
sacrificial Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly ex ...
animals, and the different names which some of them bear according to their ages (§§ 2–4). *Chapter 2: Whether the red heifer may be purchased from a non-Jew (§ 1); cases in which her horns and hoofs are black (§ 2); the defects, and the burdens carried which make the red heifer unavailable (§§ 3–4); cases in which she becomes unsuitable on account of some white or black hairs (§ 5). *Chapter 3: Preparation of the
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
who is to burn the red heifer (§ 1); prevention of any possible defilement, by rearing in houses built over hollow rock; the children who fetch the water from
Siloam Silwan or Siloam ( ar, سلوان, translit=Silwan; gr, Σιλωὰμ, translit=Siloam; he, כְּפַר הַשִּׁילוֹחַ, translit=''Kfar ha-Shiloaḥ'') is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, on the outski ...
(§§ 2–4); seven red heifers said to have been prepared in all: one by
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, one by
Ezra Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest (''kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρα ...
, and five in the time after Ezra (§ 5); a special passage was constructed for the priest and the red heifer from the
Temple mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
to the
Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
, where she was burned (§ 6); the elders of the people went ahead to the Mount of Olives, where a miḳweh was erected. There the priest was made ritually unclean, and was then obliged to immerse himself immediately, thus directly rebuking the
Sadducees The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio- religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. T ...
, who insisted that the priest who performed the ceremony should be absolutely pure, a state which he could attain only after sundown of the day on which he had taken the ritual bath (§ 7); further details regarding the functions of the elders and the slaughtering and burning of the heifer (§§ 8–10); the ashes were divided into three parts: one part was kept in the "''ḥel''," the space between the wall of the
Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
and the hall, and the second on the Mount of Olives, while the third was divided among the orders of priests (§ 11). *Chapter 4: Circumstances which render the heifer unavailable (§§ 1–3); cases in which all who take part in the ceremony become ritually unclean; all preparations concerning the heifer must be made in the daytime (§ 4). *Chapter 5: Vessels which are suitable for receiving the ashes and the water; persons entitled to throw the ashes into the water; regarding the gutter in the rock. *Chapter 6: Things which render the ashes and the water unavailable. *Chapter 7: Acts which, if performed between or during the drawing of the water and its admixture with the ashes, render these parts of the ceremony invalid. *Chapter 8: Preservation of the water for sprinkling (§ 1); instances in which an unclean thing can not cause defilement to a human being, but a thing which has been made unclean by such an object can cause ritual impurity (§§ 2–7); different kinds of water, and which of them are suitable for the water for sprinkling. (§§ 8–11). *Chapter 9: Causes which render the water for sprinkling unavailable (§§ 1–4); concerning water for sprinkling which has become unavailable (§ 5); the mixture of the ashes of the red heifer with ordinary ashes (§ 7); effects still exercised by water for sprinkling which has become unavailable (§§ 8–9). *Chapter 10: How one who is pure in regard to the water for sprinkling may become defiled; how the water becomes unclean. *Chapter 11: Further details regarding defilement of the water for sprinkling (§§ 1–3); difference in its effect upon those who require a ritual bath according to the Pentateuchal law, and those on whom it is obligatory according to a scribal regulation (§§ 4–5); the proper species of
hyssop ''Hyssopus officinalis'' or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expecto ...
(comp. ), how many stalks of it must be taken, and how many stems there must be on each stalk (§§ 7–9). *Chapter 12: Further details regarding the hyssop, the persons who may perform the act of sprinkling, and the cases in which the sprinkling is ineffective.


Tosefta

The Tosefta to this treatise contains much to supplement and explain the Mishnah.


References

{{Wikisource, 1=Translation:Mishnah/Seder Tohorot/Tractate Parah