Ariel Abel

Parshat Chukat begins with the purification process using the ashes of a Red Heifer (Parah Adumah), water and hyssop grass. The process of purification before entering the sanctuary and later the precincts of the Temple are hard to relate to as 21st century Jews. We still use ritual baths, but we don’t sprinkle water at people for holy purposes. So, what is the meaning of this ritual for us, in our times?

Oil – the second most sought after liquid on the planet, appears at the start of this week’s parasha, Teztaveh. “They shall take for you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to make the continuous flame rise.” Nowadays, we seek oil mostly to power mobility. Roads would be empty without the ‘black gold’ that enriches sheikhs and barons wherever they find it. The Torah’s oil is pressed from the olive – at first clear, then yellow-gold.

Go, find yourself! This phrase sticks in my mind since I reflected recently on a video presentation on theology and British Jewry by Miri Freud-Kandel and it is the meaning of this week’s parsha, Lech Lecha. The journey to find God is incomplete for Abram until he completes a journey to find himself. I use ‘Abram’ because until God renames him, that is what he is. Even his name is not complete. Or perhaps, his name is incomplete because he is.