[Parah] perek 1

The first chapter is all about how old a cow has to be for it (well, her) to be a candidate for a red heifer (note that the Hebrew uses the word "parah" which is closer to cow, I think. Feel free to correct me, though :-). It's definitely over a year old (otherwise she'd still be a calf), actually thirteen months and a day, but there are a variety of opinions of maximum allowable age (big surprise). And even in the first mishnah, we start wandering off into other topics, based on similarly-worded phrases that R' Yehoshua remembers. Which is why, I suppose, the second mishnah seems a recap of the first. Also touched on are minimum ages for other sacrificial animals, depending on what kind of sacrifice they are (to fulfill a vow, as the first-born male of an animal, as a holiday offering, etc.).

As usual, it's not where I'd start with the topic, were I compiling the mishnah. I wonder why this is their start place.


[ETA: This is all based on Numbers, chapter 19.]

Signs of spring

• almost-blooming daffodils
  
• walking coatless outside
  
• daylight after leaving the gym
  
• ants starting their seasonal invasion