Red Heifer

396. Positive Oral Law – Num. 19:2 the people bring to you a red cow
It was required that they burn a completely red cow (heifer (Hebrew:פרה אדומה; parah adumah) and use its ashes as part of the process of purifying those individuals who became ritually impure through contact with the dead.
The red heifer had to be at least three years old and completely red. Even two hairs of another color disqualified the red heifer. Also if the cow had put on a yoke or performed any labor, it was invalid. There are various other requirements, such as natural birth (Caesarian section renders a Heifer candidate invalid).
The cows ashes were divided into several parts:
to be preserved for future generations,
another part to be used for the purification of the priest,
and another part for the purification of Israel.
Cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet are added to the fire, and the remaining ash is placed in a vessel containing pure water. A pure priest slaughtered the heifer, and sprinkled of its blood in the direction of the Temple seven times. The red heifer was then burnt on a pyre, together with crimson dyed wool, hysop, and cedar wood.
The ashes were mixed with fresh spring water and then sprinkled on the person on the third and seventh days.
The priests who have performed the ritual then become impure themselves.
The water must be "living" or spring water. This is a stronger requirement than for a mikvah. Rainwater accumulated in a cistern is permitted for a mikvah, but cannot be used in the Red Heifer ceremony. The Mishnah reports that in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, water for the ritual came from the Spring of Shiloah.
The ceremony involved was complex and detailed. To ensure complete ritual purity of those involved, enormous care was taken to ensure that no-one involved in the Red Heifer ceremony could have had any contact with the dead, and implements were made of materials, such as stone, which in Jewish Law do not act as carriers for ritual impurities.
The Mishnah recounts that children were used to draw and carry the water for the ceremony, children born and reared in isolation for the specific purpose of ensuring that they never came into contact with a corpse:
On the seventh day he immersed himself in a mikvah to complete the purification process.
Tradition says that in all of history there have only been nine red heifers actually slaughtered in the period extending from Moses to the destruction of the Second Temple. Mishnah Parah recounts eight, stating that Moses prepared the first, Ezra the second, Simon the Just and Yochanan the High Priest prepared two each, and Eliechonnai ben Hakkot and Hanameel the Egyptian prepared one each.
The location of the burning of the red heifer was across the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives opposite the Golden Gate.
In recounting this historical record in his commentary to the Mishneh, the great Maimonides ends with the enigmatic statement: "... and the tenth red heifer will be accomplished by the king, the Messiah; may he be revealed speedily, Amen, May it be G-d's will." Maimonides recounts an ancient tradition - that the tenth red heifer is associated with the Messianic era. Does this perhaps mean that the appearance of a red heifer in these waning end times is an indication, a forerunner of the appearance of the Messiah himself, who will officiate at its preparation? If there has been no red heifer for the past 2,000 years, perhaps it is because the time was not right; Israel was far from being ready. But now... what could it mean for the times we live in, to have the means for purification so close at hand? With the words of Maimonides in mind, we cannot help but wonder and pray: If there are now red heifers... is ours the era that will need them?