This week's section is called Chukat, meaning "rule." This name is derived from the first topic mentioned, the laws of the Red Heifer (para adumah). The topic itself is the ritual impurity generated by being in contact with a dead person or being in the same room as a dead person. This impurity prevented a person from entering the Temple and\/or participating in certain rituals (such as eating from the Passover sacrifice). Through the burning of a completely red heifer and the sprinkling of its ashes mixed with water (along with other details explained in the Torah), the person became ritually pure.<\/p>\n
The Torah calls this precept a Chukah, meaning an irrational rule. There are three types of commandments (Mitzvot) in the Torah: Mishpatim, Edot, and Chukim. In short, the difference between them is that Mishpatim are rational commandments that, even if God hadn't stated them in the Torah, we would still follow, such as not stealing and honoring one's father and mother. Edot are testimonial commandments, commemorating events, which, once God commanded them, also have a place in the intellect; that is, it makes sense, for example, to celebrate the Exodus from Egypt (Pesach) or to observe Shabbat in remembrance of Creation. On the other hand, Chukim are commandments that lack meaning. Even after God has commanded them, they remain irrational.<\/p>\n
For example, the very concept of purity and impurity is a Divine decree, meaning it has no rational explanation. It is a precept of the Chukim type. Even so, the Torah calls this precept "The rule (Chukah) of the Torah" (Numbers 19:2). This means that it is specifically this precept that represents the concept of rules (Chukim) throughout the entire Torah. A person fulfills the rules of the Torah simply because God commanded it, as they have no inherent rationale comprehensible to the human intellect.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the very essence of a mitzvah is the Divine Will: God wills such and such an action. Even precepts that have associated reasoning are merely a kind of garment upon which the Divine Will is clothed, but even after being clothed in comprehensible reasoning, the essence of the precept remains the Divine Will, which transcends human understanding.<\/p>\n
This leads us to believe that even the precepts of the Mishpatim and Edot types contain within them the essential component of every mitzvah: the supra-rational Divine Will. Therefore, the true reason for observing each of them (Mishpatim, Edot, and Chukim) is because God commanded it, not because we understand their usefulness.<\/p>\n
With this idea we will be able to explain a contradiction: on the one hand our sages tell us that all the precepts of the Torah have the same importance, and on the other hand, they tell us that there is a difference between serious precepts and minor precepts (in fact, the severity of each precept can be seen from the punishment it carries, and, since there are different types of punishments, we see that there are levels of severity).<\/p>\n
The idea is that from the perspective of the reason given for each Mitzvah, each one has a level of gravity and is different from the others, whereas, from the perspective of the essence of all Mitzvot, the Divine Will, they are all equal.<\/p>\n
Therefore, we are not the ones to decide which precepts we will fulfill and which we will not, since, from the essence of the precepts, all are equally important and fundamental for the realization of the objective of the existence of the universe, to make this world a dwelling place for God.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"La secci\u00f3n de esta semana se llama Jukat, regla. Este nombre se deriva del primer asunto mencionado, las leyes de la Vaca Roja (par\u00e1 adum\u00e1). El tema en s\u00ed es la impureza ritual generada por estar en contacto con un muerto o estar en el mismo cuarto que un muerto. Esta impureza imped\u00eda a la… Read More \u00bbThe essence of the Mitzvot<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,76],"tags":[950,962,945,993,1009,973,942],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editoriales","category-jukat","tag-di-s","tag-ley","tag-mitzva","tag-precepto","tag-sacrificio","tag-templo","tag-tora"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/N\u00facleo.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/avatar1400.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/rabino-tuvia-serber","embedCode":"La esencia de las Mitzvot<\/a><\/blockquote>