Se la giovenca non voleva andarsene, non potevano condurla con una [mucca] nera, per non dire [il pubblico], "hanno massacrato quella nera". Né [potevano condurlo] con uno rosso, per non dire "hanno massacrato due". Rabbi Yose dice: Non per questo motivo, ma piuttosto perché il verso dice (Numeri 19: 3), "E lui la porterà fuori", [sola] da sola. E gli anziani di Israele lo avrebbero preceduto a piedi sul monte dell'unzione, e lì c'era una casa per l'immersione rituale. E avrebbero reso il sacerdote che avrebbe bruciato la mucca ritualmente impuro a causa dei Saducei, quindi non avrebbero detto: "è stato fatto da uno per il quale il sole era tramontato". [Esistono varie forme di impurità rituale per cui diventare totalmente puri, bisogna immergersi nell'acqua e attendere il tramonto successivo. I Saducei credevano che il prete che bruciava la mucca rossa avesse bisogno di essere totalmente puro in modo tale che gli sarebbe stato permesso di farlo solo se avesse aspettato il tramonto. I saggi sostenevano che fosse in grado di bruciare la mucca, anche solo dopo essersi immerso nell'acqua, quindi lo rendevano impuro e lo fecero immergere in modo che tutti potessero vedere che non stavano seguendo l'opinione dei Saducei.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
ולא אדומה – they would not remove another red cow/heifer with her on the ramp/causeway.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
If the cow refused to go out, they may not take out with it a black one lest people say, "They slaughtered a black cow" nor another red [cow] lest people say, "They slaughtered two." Rabbi Yose says: it was not for this reason but because it is said "And he shall bring her out" by herself. Normally, if a cow refuses to go somewhere, its owners would find a more obedient cow to go with it. However, in the case of the red cow, this is not allowed lest the people seeing the second cow, be it black or red, think that they either slaughtered two red cows or that they are going to slaughter a black cow. Rabbi Yose says that the reason for this prohibition is that the Torah implies that they should bring out the red cow alone.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
שלא יאמרו שתים שחטו – for the All-Merciful said (Numbers 19:3): “[You shall give] it (i.e., one cow) [to Eleazar the priest. It shall be taken outside the camp [and slaughtered in his presence],” but not her and her fellow [cow].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
The elders of Israel used to go first by foot to the Mount of Olives, where there was a place of immersion. The elders would go to the Mount of Olives by foot. They would not ride on animals to show how enthusiastic they were to see the performance of this mitzvah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
ובית טבילה היה שם – and that same house for immersion also was hollow on top of arches because of the grave in the depth (i.e., a covered-up uncleanness discovered). But even the place of its pile of wood on the altar of the Temple and its pit that are taught further on (see Mishnayot 9 and 10 of this chapter), all of them were on top of arches.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Parah
The priest that was to burn the cow was ( made unclean on account of the Sadducees so that they should not be able to say, "It can be done only by those on whom the sun has set." This section introduces a big debate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Concerning a person who has had contact with a sheretz (a creepy crawly thing) Leviticus 22:7 states, "And the sun will set and he will be pure." This seems to imply that a person is not pure until he has immersed in the mikveh and then the sun has subsequently set. However, the Pharisees/rabbis believed that once a priest immersed in the mikveh he is pure enough to perform the red cow ceremony. To demonstrate that this is true, they would intentionally defile the priest (with a one-day form of impurity) and then have him immerse. He would now be in the category of "tvul yom" a person who has immersed but has not yet had the sun set for him. This was a demonstrative act against the Sadducees who abhorred such a practice. One interpretation of this debate that makes sense to me is that the Pharisees wanted to diminish the power of the sun in matters of ritual purity due to the fact that other Jews of the time used a solar calendar. By making purity depend upon the setting of the sun, it was as if they gave purifying power to the sun itself. In response, the Pharisees limited this notion, and created the category of the tvul yom.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
ומטמאים היו את הכהן – in that they would place their hands upon him, as it is taught in the Mishnah further on (see Mishnah 8 of this chapter), through this he would become defiled, for the clothes of those who consume Holy Things are unclean through treading/leaning against to the heifer of a sin-offering. But Maimonides explained that they would defile him with a creeping thing or with other defiling things that defile with ritual impurity until the evening.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Parah
במעורבי שמש היתה נעשית – that they (i.e., the Sadducees) would expound (Numbers 19:9): “A man who is pure shall gather up [the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place, to be kept for water of lustration for the Israelite community],” there isn’t someone pure other than someone whose sun has set, and similarly it states (Leviticus 22:7): “As soon as the sun sets, he shall be pure, [and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations , for they are his food].” But the Sages received the teaching that [the word] “pure” that is stated in the portion of the sin-offering (I.e., Numbers 19:9, see above) it is stated is pure for tithes, which is a טבול יום/one who immersed himself that day.
