Flowing with over 7,000 married and undergraduate students, the Jewish community of Lakewood, New Jersey has become the largest Torah absorbed city in the United States. Aside for being home to its illustrious Lakewood Yeshiva (or BMG), and its accommodation to so many talmidei hachamim, Lakewood may now be host to another very important somebody… A Para Aduma, or Red Heifer.
Upon learning of this discovery, we, at Sephardic Community Magazine, set out for an exclusive interview with the owner, curious to find out whatever we could about this peculiar phenomenon. We were happy to have left deeply inspired, gaining far more than we came for.
Meet Mr. Herb Celler
On the heels of World War II, two survivors of the nightmarish Auschwitz Concentration Camp made their way for the United States, where they settled and began raising a family on a remote farm in Roosevelt, New Jersey. It was a new world for these survivors, and farming was all they had in common with the western world. In 1961, the family relocated to Lakewood where they continued their work in farming.
Years after leaving his hometown to live in the holy land of Israel, and later, under the tropical temperatures of Florida, their son Herbert (or ‘Herb’ for short) moved back to his native New Jersey in 2003. He purchased his own piece of rural property in Howell, New Jersey, on the outer edge of Lakewood. Aside being an established and respected businessman outside of the farming profession, Herb’s vast property is still home to various animals, as he was accustomed to throughout his childhood. Since moving back, Mr. Celler has given back to his native community by continually supporting several of its local charities such as Chai Lifeline, SCHI, Bikur Cholim and others.
A Peculiar Discovery
Among the animals that graze about Mr. Celler’s yard are several species of cow, one of which he discovered to be pregnant. Unsure of when the cow was due to give birth, Herb kept a close eye, and immediately called the veterinarian once it seemed labor was underway.
As Bonnie, already a mother of two, endured what had become a not-so-smooth labor, Mr. Celler noticed that the front hooves that had begun protruding were red, soon followed by a completely red head. Mr. Celler was a former student of Bezalel Hebrew Day School, and no stranger to the subject of the Red Heifer; and, as he explains, “I had a feeling.” He immediately instructed the veterinarian to let her give birth naturally.
“What if there’s a problem?!” the vet asked.
“We’ll deal with that then.”
After delivery, the exhausted mother bit off the umbilical cord, and her new calf stood up for the very first time. She was completely red.
Although the proud owner felt the young calf may indeed be a genuine Para Aduma, he chose to keep his newest addition a secret.
Unlike the other animals on his farm, the red calf was never worked, in accordance with the laws of the Para Aduma. She was left simply to graze, eat, and sleep. Since birth, she has never been touched by man as to ensure she never sustain even the slightest blemish.
The Word is Out!
When the cow reached fifteen-months-old, Mr. Celler began sharing the news with members of the Lakewood community. Understandably skeptic, people simply didn’t believe him. After all, a Para Aduma? Just minutes from their own homes?! The news merely developed into a rumor for children to cheerfully yap about.
As time passed, the news spread, and many began to entertain the possibility of perhaps indeed having a real red heifer in their midst. One week before her birthday, Mr. Celler placed a call to four rabbis, again warning that he may be host to “the real thing’’. The discovery of a Para Aduma may indeed be an indication to the imminent coming of the Mashiah, when it will be used for the unique purification process. And so, with bubbling anticipation, in mid-January of this year, several distinguished rabbis made their way to the farm to conduct a broad inspection.
With magnifying glasses in hand, the rabbanim crawled along the ground beside the 500 pound animal to meticulously inspect every inch of the odd cow. Upon nearing completion, they were astounded to have verified all of the simanim required by the Torah. The heifer had a red nose, red hooves, red within its sclera (the white part of the eyes), and even its horns were red. Any white hairs, or just two black hairs within a one inch proximity would deem the cow pasul, or non-authentic; though no such disqualifying factors was found. The cow was without question entirely red; never worked nor touched; never pricked nor punctured. It had become a celebrity nearly overnight.
A Local Phenomenon
Since its inspection, Mr. Celler was paid visit by over forty prominent rabbis, including HaRav Dovid Feinstein, who told the owner “Maybe you’ll be Zoche to use this cow when Mashiah will come”.
Throughout Hol HaMoed Pesah, over 30,000 visitors traveled from near and far to see what may just be the first red heifer in approximately two-thousand years. Regarding the constant herds people who have flocked to witness this historic spectacle, Mr. Celler says, “It’s just been non-stop!”
Among the many visitors, emails, and phone calls Mr. Celler’s received, one particular fellow from New York took an extraordinary interest in the cow, offering a staggering $1,000,000 for ownership. When we asked why he’d turned down such an appealing offer, we were inspired to say the least:
“She’s not for sale,” he started. “This is a gift from Gd, and you don’t sell a gift from Gd. When he asked what I’m going to do with her, I told him I’m going to be the first in line when Mashiah comes!”
Photos of the cow have been sent to rabbis and professionals in Eretz Yisrael to likewise determine the status of the cow.
The Future of the Cow
For now, the cow spends its days grazing along Mr. Celler’s farmland, gated by an electrical fence. Security cameras and motion sensors surround the vicinity, and members of Mr. Celler’s home are on constant high alert. These precautions, however, will not be for much longer.
Mr. Celler has made the decision to give the cow “as a gift to the people of the world”, and is donating the cow to the rabbis and authorities of Israel, where it will be closely guarded in wait of the final redemption where it will be used for the purification process. Should she pass her last inspection (to be performed by an undisclosed rabbi from Israel), she will be placed on a boat for Israel.
Practical Use for the Third Bet HaMikdash
In the days of the Bet HaMikdash, the Kohen who was to burn a new Para Aduma was sprinkled with ashes that had been made of a previous heifer. This was done as one of the extra measures of purity associated with the ceremony of the Para Aduma. Some opinions maintain that the newer ashes were always mixed together with a combination of previous ashes. The question that begs to be asked is: If this prospect is indeed a Para Aduma, just where are the ashes of the previous heifers needed to perform the purification?!
In recent years, certain individuals and groups have embarked upon numerous expeditions, most of them centered on a particular location in Israel, where it is believed that the ashes of the red heifer may have been hidden. Most of the evidence for this belief comes from a particular interpretation of passages in the Copper Scroll, one of the well-known and most cryptic Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in one of the Qumran caves in 1952.
Currently, another expedition to retrieve earlier ashes is soon to commence, as a team will be setting out to Jordan where they believe the ashes to be. Mr. Celler tells us that the Jordanian Government has granted them permission to obtain their target.
An Indication of Redemption?
Up until the destruction of the Second Temple, ashes had been prepared from a total of only nine red heifers. The very first was processed by Moshe himself, while the second was done by the prophet Ezra in the days of the First Bet HaMikdash. During the entire era of the Second Temple, only seven more heifers were used for ashes. The names of the Kohanim who prepared them are recorded in the Mishnah.(1) Thus, from the time that Moshe received the commandment of the Para Aduma, until the destruction of the Second Temple, purifying ashes had been produced from a total of nine red heifers.
In recounting this historical record in his commentary on Mishnayot, the great Rambam zt”l ends with the enigmatic statement:
"...and the tenth red heifer will be accomplished by the King, the Mashiah; may he be revealed speedily, Amen, may it be Gd's will."
So, could this be it? Does this mean Mashiah is right around the corner?!
Hashem tells us “…I am the Lord, in its time I will hasten it.”(2) ("It" refers to the final redemption.) The word “Be’itah”, “in its time”, indicates a specific date, predetermined from the beginning of creation. However, the verse also states “I will hasten it”, indicating that it may occur earlier, before “Its time.” The pasuk must therefore be understood: “In its time - it will come. If, however, you are meritorious - I will hasten that time”.(3)
The implication is clear: the Mashiah can come any day, even before the predetermined date.(4) Though to speed things up; to hasten the redemption, that depends completely on us. Our Rabbis have taught that by repenting,(5) keeping Shabbat,(6) learning Torah,(7) giving charity,(8) and refining the unity of Am Yisrael,(9) we can hurry the arrival of our long anticipated redemption.
While the news of this promising prospect is certainly exciting, it is important we remember that it is up to us to hasten the coming of Mashiah. May he come speedily and in our days. Amen!
(1) Masechet Para
(2) Yeshayahu 60:22
(3) Sanhedrin 98a. Yerushalmi, Ta’anit 1:1
(4) Zohar Hadash, Tikunim 95b
(5) Devarim 30:2
(2) Yeshayahu 60:22
(3) Sanhedrin 98a. Yerushalmi, Ta’anit 1:1
(4) Zohar Hadash, Tikunim 95b
(5) Devarim 30:2
(6) Shemot Rabba 25:12; Yerushalmi, Ta’anit 1:10
(7) Zohar III:270
(8) Eliyahu Zutta, Ch. 1; Shabbat 139a; Rambam, Hilchot Matnot Aniyim 10:1
(9) Bereshit Rabba 98:23
(7) Zohar III:270
(8) Eliyahu Zutta, Ch. 1; Shabbat 139a; Rambam, Hilchot Matnot Aniyim 10:1
(9) Bereshit Rabba 98:23
