P arshas Chukas
“This is the statute of the Torah that the Lord commanded saying…” (Bamidbar 19:2)
Shlomo Hamelech says in Koheles (7:23): “All this I tested with wisdom; I said ‘I will become wise’ but it was far from me.” Chazal say that Shlomo Hamelech was referring here to the mitzvah of Parah Adumah.
Why did Shlomo specifically pick the mitzvah of Parah Adumah to admit that he cannot understand it? There are other chukim in the Torah we cannot understand.
The chok of Parah Adumah has a distinguishing factor from other chukim. Shlomo Hamelech couldn’t understand how the Parah Adumah purifies those who are impure yet at the same time makes impure those who are pure. These two aspects seemingly contradict each other.
