daf bit: Chullin 88

[cellio]

Raba taught: as a reward for our father Avraham having said "I am but dust and ashes" his descendants were worthy to receive two commandments: the ashes of the red heifer (which remove ritual impurity), and the dust used in the ritual of a woman accused of adultery (sotah). On account of his saying "I will not take even a thread or a sandal-strap" (as spoils of war) his descendants were worthy to receive two more commandments: the thread of blue in the tzitzit (fringes), and the strap of the t'fillin (phylacteries). And R. Meir further expounds: why was blue chosen for the thread in the tzitzit? Because blue resembles the color of the sea, the sea resembles the sky, the sky resembles a sapphire, and a sapphire resembles the throne of glory. (88b-89a)

I don't know if there's any significance to the fact that the rabbis here identify two of the rarest mitzvot (the red-heifer ritual was rare even when there was a temple) and two of the more common ones (tzitzit and t'fillin are daily commandments).

Comments

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

Tangentially, the wikipedia article on the Red Heifer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_heifer) mentions the Temple Institute, and:

During a March 2010 radio interview a Temple Institute representative claimed that there is now "definitely a kosher red heifer here in Israel."

Even more...interesting?

Some Christians believe that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ cannot occur until the Third Temple is constructed in Jerusalem, which requires the appearance of a red heifer born in Israel. Clyde Lott, a cattle breeder in O'Neill, Nebraska, United States, is attempting to systematically breed red heifers and export them to Israel to establish a breeding line of red heifers in Israel in the hope that this will bring about the construction of the Third Temple and ultimately the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

I was not familiar with the significance of the red heifer before this post. Thanks for inspiring me to learn more.

And to some I say: yea, verily, don't have a cow, man.

[cellio]

There are both Christians and Jews who think they should be working to bring about the end times (as they see it). There are people making implements per biblical specification for use in the third temple, and I'd heard that there were people breeding red heifers but hadn't realized somebody here in the US was doing so. (I'm not sure there'd be broad agreement on a kosher red heifer existing; as I understand it the rules are pretty finicky.)

And to some I say: yea, verily, don't have a cow, man.

You did that on purpose. :-)

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

You did that on purpose. :-)

*blinks innocently*