Shabbat Parah 1995

Shabbat Parah is the third of four special Shabbatot before Passover, observed on the Shabbat before Shabbat HaChodesh. The special maftir reading from Numbers 19:1-22 describes the Red Heifer (Parah Adumah), whose ashes were used in the purification ritual for those who had become ritually impure through contact with the dead.

In Temple times, everyone needed to be ritually pure to bring the Paschal sacrifice on Passover. The reading of the Red Heifer passage served as a reminder to those who were impure to undergo the purification process in time. Some authorities consider hearing this Torah reading a biblical obligation, similar to Shabbat Zachor.