We are now less than a month from Passover. For many of us, the cleaning and preparations associated with the “Holiday of Freedom” have already begun. Our weekly Torah cycle is currently tethering us to the reality that this major pilgrimage is on the cusp, and we must begin to plan our Seders, ensuring we invite friends and those in need to join our tables.

This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Parah, distinguished by a special Maftir reading from Numbers 19. This esoteric section of the Torah is admittedly foreign to modern sensibilities. It details the requirement of an entirely red heifer—blemish-free and never having........

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