This Shabbat, known as Shabbat Parah, we read in the Torah the strange and mysterious details of the parah adumah — the red heifer. The Torah describes how the ashes of the red heifer were gathered and used to purify someone who had come into contact with death.
Yet there is a paradox at the heart of the ritual: the very priests who prepare the ashes that bring purification themselves become impure in the process.
The ashes of the red heifer both purify and contaminate at the same time — reminding us that life does not always resolve into simple categories. Sometimes two opposing truths exist at once.
Holding complexity is not the same as saying there are “very fine people on both sides.” Some things are simply wrong.
But even knowing this, the choices before us are rarely simple.
And that is precisely the tension we are living through right now.
Many of us carry strong feelings about political leaders — here at home, in Israel, in Iran, and elsewhere. We also carry strong feelings about the war with Iran.
At the same time, the safety and security of the United States and Israel matter deeply to us.
As the red heifer teaches us, it is entirely possible — and entirely legitimate — to hold complicated views.
We can criticize political leaders and still acknowledge when an action may strengthen security or confront a dangerous regime.
We can hope for a different future for the people of Iran while also feeling deep concern about the human cost of war, the possibility of a dangerous power vacuum, and the reality that violence is already spreading across the region.
We can question the process that led us here while still hoping that the Iranian people seize this opportunity to liberate themselves from decades of oppression.
Judaism does not demand that we flatten reality into slogans or choose a single tidy narrative. Our tradition recognizes that moral life often requires the courage to hold complexity.
The red heifer reminds us that the world is not always simple — and that actions meant to address danger can carry consequences of their own.
As we enter this Shabbat at a time when the world is in crisis, we must demand that our leaders act with wisdom and restraint, weigh the dangers and the consequences of their decisions, and pursue a future in which the people of the Middle East — including the people of Israel and Iran — can live safely with dignity and peace.
And as we wrestle with our own feelings and engage others in conversation, we would do well to remember the red heifer — a reminder that the world can hold more than one truth at the same time.
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