This is the decree of the Torah[1]
For good reason, the mitzvah of parah adumah has become identified as the ultimate chok. After all, it is a complete enigma to us, bringing tum’ah to those who were tahor, while purifying those who were tamei. This is a paradox: how could the same parah adumah work in completely opposite ways?
It was more than a match even for Shlomo, the wisest of men. After attempting to understand the mystery of parah adumah, he admitted defeat: “All this I tested with wisdom. I thought I could become wise, but it is beyond me.”[2]
Does this indicate that we should cease to endeavor to understand all mitzvos? Not in the slightest. That is not an option for us. On the contrary, we are instructed by the Torah to seek out the reasoning behind each mitzvah, as best as we can.
How do we differentiate between the search for taamei hamitzvos that is positive and commanded, and that which is problematic? It hinges on the motivation to find them. When a person tries to understand a mitzvah because he wants to pass judgment on it – whether he will find it suitable to support and observe – then his search is illegitimate. Moreover, his analysis will be flawed. Because he places his subjective understanding ahead of Hashem’s instruction, he will stumble. He will entertain all sorts of irrelevant and inaccurate thinking. (Think of Acher, one of the four who entered pardes,[3] the realm of theosophy. His excursions there left him damaged, because his intentions to begin with were impure. Not so R. Akiva, who entertained no doubts, and entered the realm only to achieve more insight and understanding.)
The negative kind of inquiry is more accurately called “testing,” like taking a car for a drive before purchasing it. It is the furthest thing from the mind of the person who strives to understand mitzvos because that understanding itself is a part of Torah, and he wishes to make it his own. There is no place in his mind for “testing” the mitzvos to determine their worth. He has already decided that they are priceless.
This is how we should understand Shlomo’s statement, “All this I tested with wisdom… but it is beyond me.” Shlomo failed not because the explanations were lacking. He failed because at that time he was testing, not probing for the deeper meanings. Because he was testing, his wisdom did not lead him to conclusions that were accurate – or satisfying.
As Rashi cites the Tanchuma, parah adumah is called a chok, because the rest of the world mockingly demands an explanation for it. Our response is that we accept it as pure decree from Hashem, for which we “do not have permission to question.” We mean that we certainly do try to understand its meaning, because we know that it is not arbitrary, and there is deep wisdom within it. We are obligated to try to understand. But to those who wish to determine if it is acceptable to their thinking, we have no answer at all. We do not have permission to test the mitzvah.