Parah

("Cow"). Fourth tractate of Order Tohorot in the Mishnah. Its 12 chapters deal with the laws of the selection, slaughter, and burning of the Red Heifer (cf. Num. 19:1-22). The animal's ashes mixed with pure spring water were used to purify those who came in contact with the dead. The Mishnah discusses the age of the Red Heifer, its invalidation because of hair that is not red, the manner of slaughter and burning, the procedure for mixing the ashes with the water, and the purification of those who were unclean by the sprinkling of the mixture. The mystery of the Red Heifer (which has not existed since the destruction of the Temple) was that it purified those who were defiled, yet defiled those involved in its preparation. Even the wisest of men, King Solomon, could not understand this commandment. Therefore it is reckoned as one of the ḥukkim---those commandments which are beyond comprehension by human reason. The subject matter is amplified in the Tosefta.

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("heifer")

A Benjamite village located between Jerusalem and Jericho (Josh 18:23). Jeremiah 13:4-7 may have been referring to this location as the place where he was commanded by God to symbolically bury his loincloth. The site is near the spring Ain Farah which supplied water to Jerusalem.

Concordance
Josh 18:23

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parah