Before Seder: Red Heifer vs Trauma
by Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Our wise forebears realized that intimate experience of death might so deeply traumatize people that they would need a ritual reentry to communal activities.
That might be especially true before the Pesach Seder, a celebration of freedom and justice. Our joy is overshadowed this year by hundreds of people killed in Israel and many many thousands in the Gaza sector of Palestine.
So we have midrashically drawn on the ritual of the Red Heifer (Numbers Chapter 19) to precede the Seder.
Bring five items to your Seder table:
A printed out red copy of the photo of the red cow included here;
a copy of these instructions for this old/new ritual; a vessel that will not burn or melt (perhaps an empty, open tin can) in which you will place the photo of the red cow; an additional candle beyond the ones to honor Pesach; and a large bowl of water.
Then if possible go outdoors to take joy in the reunion of red Earth and red Humanity through the calming agent of the red heifer. [“Parah adumah”; “adom” = red, adamah = Earth, evidently red clay; “adam” = reddish-skinned humanity birthed from the red clay.”]
Why outdoors?
For life-protecting safety as we bless and light the candle and then a tiny fire to carry us beyond our trauma. (If it’s raining or otherwise inclement and you stay indoors, take great care to keep the candle and the small fire safe.)
All present recite:
Blessed are You, Yahhhh, the sacred InterBreath of life, Who calls us together to begin freeing ourselves from the trauma of massive killing and death, through the presence of the Red Heifer.
Brucha aht [Baruch attah] Yahhhh elohenu ruach ha’olam, asher kidshatnu b’mitzvot — vitzivatnu l’hadlik nershel Parah Adumah.
Then light the candle and use it to set fire to the picture of the red heifer. When the picture is consumed to ashes, pour the ashes into the bowl of water. Then each Seder participant sprinkles a little of the water over the hands of another participant, saying,
“I sprinkle this water of life mixed with ashes of death to help free you from the trauma of mass killing into a community rebirthed into striving for life, justice, and love. That trauma has damaged your connection to the InterBreath of life and to each other, of all peoples. May this sprinkling strengthen your hands to work with all who seek to grow freedom and justice.
The person who is sprinkled responds:
“I strive to move myself from trauma to compassion.
I strive to move myself from violence to Love.
‘For Love is as strong as Death’” [Song of Songs 8: 6]
The two change places with each other and repeat the sprinkling and the statements of transformation.
Return to where the Seder will proceed; then light the candles to honor Pesach (blessing first, unlike Shabbat), and proceed into the Seder.
Find a downloadable PDF of the Red Heifer under the Passover section in the Resources page of our website: https://theshalomcenter.org/resources.