The paradox presented by the parah adumah is so mind-boggling, that even Shlomo Hamelech couldn’t fathom how it can be that its service makes the impure, pure, yet at the very same time makes the pure, impure. It’s a chok—a mitzvah which is beyond our understanding. It’s a concept that bewilders the mind and defies our logic. From our perspective, it makes no sense.

But just because we don’t get it, doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason for it. In fact, the midrash says that Hashem revealed its reason to Moshe, which implies that there is a reason, but Hashem keeps it hidden from us.

The question is, if there’s a reason out there (or up there), then why keep it hidden from us?

R’ Yosef Salant (Be’er Yosef, Chukat) suggests that, perhaps, the Torah is coming to teach that by getting accustomed to do mitzvot even when we don’t understand the reason (such as the parah adumah), we then can become accustomed to accepting life’s challenges and difficult happenings, which we may not understand. In essence, by faithfully accepting to perform the mitzvah of parah adumah whose reason is hidden from us, we can develop within us the ability to accept with emunah life’s challenges and tragedies, chas v’shalom, whose reason also may seem hidden from us.

Based on this, R’ Salant explains the following midrash where in response to this quizzical paradox of the parah adumah, Hashem said, “chuka chakakti, g’zeira gazarti”—which, if we were to translate, might be translated as a repetitive statement—“a decree I decreed, a decree I decreed.” However, based on the above idea, R’ Salant explains that one can read the midrash as Hashem saying, “Why did I decree a chok?” The answer is, by accepting to perform this mitzvah without questioning Hashem, one can come to accept those “gzeirot,” hardships, that “I decreed” also with emunah—without questioning Hashem.

According to R’ Salant, it would appear that the central purpose for the mysterious paradox of the parah adumah is to aid us in faithfully accepting the calamities that may, chas v’shalom, occur.

Our parsha introduces the topic of parah adumah by saying “zot chukat hatorah”—this is the decree of the Torah. If we are referring to the parah adumah, wouldn’t it have made more sense to say “this is the decree of the parah adumah”? The wording of the pasuk therefore seems to imply that all of Torah is a chok, and thus, Rav Moshe Feinstein (“Kol Rom,” Chukas) explains that indeed, the wording of this pasuk comes to teach that all of Torah—even mitzvot that may have a reason—is to be embraced and fulfilled as if it’s a chok. Therefore, the approach towards doing any mitzvah isn’t because it may make sense due to its reasoning, but rather simply because Hashem said to perform it.

If we learn from the parah adumah that ultimately all mitzvot are to be performed as if they have no reason, then, using the idea of R’ Salant, we can perhaps suggest that despite any theological reasonings for the adversities and suffering that may occur in life, the way practically navigate them is to simply have emunah in Hashem.

Rav Avraham Pam was once talking to a distinguished talmid chacham who was undergoing a difficult situation in his life. While describing the challenges and crisis he was facing, he naturally offered an analysis and overview on the topic of bitachon. Rav Pam patiently waited until he finished and said, “This discussion is very good for a shiur on the topic, but on a practical level, for simple people like us, bitachon has a very simple definition: We are in the hands of Hashem, and whatever He ultimately does or does not do for us is for our best. We must strive for emunah peshuta that Hashem will help us.” (“Rav Pam on the Haftaros,” page 136).

There may be certain reasons to explain suffering, and in fact, we may have access to some level of justifications. Yet, the mystery of the parah adumah can perhaps teach us that on a practical level, the ultimate method to approach the mystery of adversity is with emunah peshuta.

Binyamin Benji is a graduate of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, and Wurzweiler School of Social Work. He currently learns in Eretz Yisroel, and is the author of the Sephardic Congregation of Paramus’ weekly Torah Talk. Binyamin can be reached at: benjibenji26@gmailcom>