#21

"V'AL CHUKECHO SHE-HOHDATONU" - GIVING US RULES TO FOLLOW

"v’al chukecho she-hohdatonu" - (and for your statutes (laws) which you made known to us)

Why does it say "for the Torah which you TAUGHT us" and the "statutes which you MADE KNOWN to us"? What is the difference? The answer is that "Torah" is speaking about laws which are logical, meaning we can understand the reasoning. So, Hashem taught us them. "Statutes" are laws that man cannot understand, because it is Hashem’s wisdom. So, these laws Hashem only "made known" to us. He did not teach us, but told us the rules. (Iyun T’filo) One of the most famous examples of a "chohk" - (statute), is the "mitzvah" of "poro adumo" - (the red heifer). A red calf is brought as a "korbon" - (sacrifice), and its ashes are then used to purify someone who is "tomay" (spiritually impure). What makes it so strange is that, the person who gets sprinkled with these ashes becomes pure, while the person who does the sprinkling becomes "tomay". Hashem wants us to learn the laws of this "korbon" and do this "mitzvah", even though we do not know its reason.

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