"Miracle follows miracle": A rare red heifer was born in the Jordan Valley
On a farm in Moshav Shadmot Mechola, staff were surprised to discover the rare birth of a reddish-brown heifer. A delegation from the Temple Institute and rabbis examined the heifer and found it kosher for the time being. A red heifer is considered a complex commandment, dependent on finding a rare cow without any blemish. A few months ago, an Iranian missile fell on the farm and did not explode, and in the moshav, they see these events as a sequence of divine providence.
A rare and unusual event recently stirred the large dairy farm in the cooperative moshav of Shadmot Mechola in the north. A red heifer was born on the farm, which usually supplies milk to the Tnuva company and raises Holstein cows in classic black-and-white colors.
In the moshav, they do not remember a birth of this kind. The excitement began when one of the workers burst into the dining room in the middle of breakfast and announced with astonishment the birth of a heifer that was entirely reddish-brown. The farm manager noted that while in the Golan, brown shades are more common in meat breeds, in a dairy farm, the birth of a red cow without any blemish is a true miracle.
The newborn heifer has already sparked great halachic interest. The settlement's rabbi contacted the Temple Institute, and a delegation of about 20 rabbis and professionals arrived at the site, examined the heifer, and found it kosher for the time being. According to the sources, a red heifer is considered a complex commandment whose central purpose is the purification of those ritually impure from contact with the dead through its ashes. The halachic criteria are very strict and require that the cow be completely red, without two hairs of a different color, without any blemish, and one that has never been used for work. In the settlement, they see this birth as a link in the historical chain, since according to tradition, only nine red heifers have been sacrificed since the days of Moses our teacher.
The excitement on the farm is especially great in light of the immediate connection the residents made to another miracle that occurred on the farm not long ago, when an Iranian missile fell in the heart of the property. The missile landed among the cows but did not explode, remained stuck in the ground, and did not cause loss of life or property. Now, with the birth of the red heifer, they feel in the moshav that it is a direct continuation of protection from heaven.
In order to maintain the sanctity and fitness of the heifer, it was decided to raise it in a separate pen and under strict supervision. The farm manager instructed the workers that it is forbidden to lean on it or use it for any purpose, and they even refrain from marking it with a regular ear tag or giving vaccinations that could create a blemish that would disqualify it in the future, out of a desire to preserve the rare phenomenon.
