August 1: The Red Heifer

Numbers 19:2 describes the most profound ritual of purification within Hebraic law. It entails slaughtering and burning a purely-red heifer, age three; mixing the ashes with water, scarlet, cedar, and hyssop; and sprinkling it on the person in need of purification. Since such heifers are a genetic anomaly, no more than nine were sacrificed in the history of the Temple in Jerusalem.

A small number of Jews today - like the Temple Mount Faithful (see Sunday, 7/29), and members of the Temple Institute - believe a red-heifer purification is required for any Jew to access the full Temple Mount without incurring God's wrath. So in order to rebuild Solomon's Temple there, and reinstate daily sacrifices within it, there has first been a search on for a pure red heifer. (Of course, in addition to sacrificing this cow, the Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock will first need to be demolished.)

In 1990, an evangelical cattleman in Mississippi named Clyde Lott, hoping to do his part to help trigger Armageddon, began directed breeding experiments in an attempt to produce a red heifer. This was done in cooperation with the Temple Institute and its director Chaim Richman - but the two eventually had a falling-out, apparently over religious differences.

Unrelatedly, a cow named Missy was born in Israel in 1996 and appeared to fit the bill... but then unfortunately grew non-red hairs before reaching age three. In 2002, another cow briefly looked like it would qualify. But to date, the search for a red heifer continues.