Red heifer

Part of Judaic series of articles on
Ritual purity in Judaism
Tumah and taharah Mikveh
Purification methods Netilat yadayim Mikveh Red heifer Hefsek taharah Hagalah Tevilat Kelim
Hierarchy Av HaTumah Midras
Sources of Impurity Keri Niddah Tzaraath Zav Zavah Corpse uncleanness Tumath eretz Ha'Amim Prohibition of Kohen defilement by the dead
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The red heifer (Hebrew: פָּרָה אֲדֻמָּה, romanized: parah adumah), a heifer which is never pregnant, milked, or yoked, also known as the red cow, is a heifer sacrificed by the priests as a sacrifice to God in the Book of Numbers (Torah, Old Testament). Its ashes after being sacrificed and burned were used for the ritual purification of corpse uncleanness caused by an Israelite coming into contact with a human corpse, a human bone, or a human grave. ^[1]