THE JEWS OF ETHIOPIA AND THE ASHES OF THE
RED HEIFER
November 12, 2015
THE JEWS OF ETHIOPIA AND THE ASHES OF THE
RED HEIFER
Since the destruction of
the Holy Temple 2000 years ago Israel has been
unable to attain tahara (purity) from tamei met
(impurity contracted by contact with death), due to
the loss of the ashes of the red heifer and the
inability to properly prepare new ashes.
Among the Jews of Ethiopia, who
left the land of Israel and became separated from the rest of the nation of
Israel during the time of the first Temple built by
King Solomon, a different tradition has prevailed.
When a member of the community died, four people were
appointed to prepare the body for burial. They would
rinse the body with water and wrap it in a white
shroud. Family, friends and loved ones would accompany
the deceased on his last journey and burial, being
careful not to touch the body lest they contract tumat
met (impurity).
The four community members
that prepared the body, however, were tamei met and
had to separate from the community for seven days.
Anything they made contact with during this time was
likewise rendered impure. On the third day of
their impurity the four men would visit the grave
of the deceased and then would continue on their way
to the nearest river where they would immerse
themselves. On the morning of the seventh day of their
impurity, after they had burned all their clothing and
any other objects they had made contact with, they
would again immerse themselves in a river or spring.
Following their immersion they were still forbidden
from making any contact with the rest of the
community, until after nightfall and the appearance of
stars in the sky, after which they were purified
with water containing the ashes of the red heifer!
According to tradition
the ashes of the red heifer used in the purification
ceremony originated in the first Temple and were
zealously guarded by Jewish monks (itself a custom
unique to Ethiopian Jews of that era), who lived in
the Semien Mountains of Northern Ethiopia.
It is told that every
Kes, (the spiritual leaders of the Ethiopian Jews to
this day) receives at his ordination ceremony a
small vessel, within which are contained a small
amount of ashes from the same red heifer which was
prepared during the time of the first Holy Temple, and has lasted until this day.
Photograph of a Kes at
yesterday's Sigd holiday in Jerusalem. Sigd is a
holiday celebrated by Jews for centuries in Ethiopia
and continues to be celebrated today by Ethiopian Jews
in the land of Israel.
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P.S.
The Mystery
of the Red Heifer: Divine
Promise of Purity
https://www.templeinstitute.org/red_heifer/red_heifer_contents.htm
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Daniel 9,27 …And he shall confirm the covenant with
many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make
it desolate, even until the consummation, and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Daniel 12,11 …And from the time that the daily
sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination
that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand
two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he that
waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and
five and thirty days. 13 But go thou thy way till the
end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the
end of the days.
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P.S. P.S.
Redemption Through His Blood
Hebrews 9,11 But Christ being come an high priest of
good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of
this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the
ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to
the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God? http://biblehub.com/kjv/m/hebrews/9.htm
Behold, I shew you a mystery…
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A51-53&version=KJV
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (KJV)
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
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Maranatha