Red heifer

The red heifer (Hebrew: פָּרָה אֲדֻמָּה, romanized: parah adumah) was a reddish brown cow sacrificed by Temple priests as a purification ritual in biblical times.

Cedarwood, an herb called ezov, and wool dyed scarlet are added to the fire, and the remaining ashes are placed in a vessel containing pure spring water.

To purify a person, water from the vessel is sprinkled on them using a bunch of ezov, on the third and seventh day of the purification process.

According to Mishnah's tractate Parah, the presence of two black hairs invalidates a red heifer, in addition to the usual requirements of an unblemished animal for sacrifice.

To ensure the complete ritual purity of those involved, care was taken to ensure that no one involved in the red heifer ceremony could have had any contact with the dead or any form of tumah, and implements were made of materials such as stone, which in halakha do not act as carriers for ritual impurities.

And oxen were brought, and on their backs were laid doors on top of which sat the children with cups of stone in their hands.

To explain this discrepancy, Yosef Qafih in his Hebrew translation and commentary on Saadia's work, argues that this is the normal color of a heifer.

The heifer must be examined carefully to ascertain that the hair is entirely brownish red and absolutely straight to ensure that the cow had not previously been yoked.

He replied, “God says, ‘It should have been used neither to till the soil nor water the fields; wholesome and without blemish.’” They said, “Now you have come with the truth.” Yet they still slaughtered and burnt it to ashes hesitantly!

[17][18] In September 2022, five red heifers were imported from the United States and transferred to a breeding farm in Israel for the sacrifice and burning.

[19] A red heifer plays an important role in the plot of Michael Chabon's novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union, a detective story set in an alternative-history Jewish state in Alaska.