Theos-Talk Archives (May 1997 Message tl00344)

Here is an interesting news report. Please see the last para at the end
of the report.
============================================



                     Red cow at center of Israeli
                     holy row

                     Is Melody a sign of the
                     Messiah or a threat to
                     peace?

                     May 23, 1997
                     Web posted at: 11:34 p.m. EDT (0334
                     GMT)

  KFAR HASIDIM, Israel
  (CNN) -- Grazing peacefully
  under the sun munching her
  cud, Melody seems oblivious to all the stir she is causing.

  She may look like an ordinary -- albeit strangely-hued -- cow. But
  some people in Israel see her birth a year ago on a small farm as a
  momentous sign from God. Others fear this humble heifer might
  plunge the Middle East into another round of violence and war.

  All because Melody's coat is red.


  Melody, a one-year-old heifer, is causing both
  excitement and resentment in Israel

  Under Jewish tradition from the era when the Holy Temple stood
  atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the ashes of a red heifer,
  butchered in her third year, are mixed with water and used to
  purify Jews before they can approach the temple.

  The last temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., and
  Melody is believed by many to be the first red heifer born in Israel
  since that time. So some devout Jews see her birth as a sign that
  the temple can now be rebuilt -- and that the coming of a promised
  Messiah is nigh.

  That worries other Jews and Muslims in Israel, who fear that
  extremists may try to use the symbolism surrounding Melody to
  destroy Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, which could trigger a war.

  The Wailing Wall, the last remnant of the
  destroyed temple, shares the Temple
  Mount with the Dome of the Rock and
  Al-Aqsa mosques, one of Islam's holiest
  sites. There are some in Israel who
  advocate destroying those mosques to
  make way for a rebuilt temple.

  Because of that, a number of influential
  Israeli journalists and leftist politicians
  have suggested that the potential harm that Melody represents is
  perhaps even more serious than the risk of terrorist bombs. They
  propose that the heifer be destroyed.

  However, destruction might not be necessary, because any blemish
  inflicted on the cow might be enough to render Melody an
  unsuitable sacrifice.

  So intense is the debate over Melody that she has an armed guard.
  There is also talk of trying to breed her in an attempt to create a
  herd of red cows that will insure the future of the purification
ritual.

  The local rabbi, Shmaria Shore, had to quash the idea that Melody
  might be the Messiah, pointing out that the Messiah could not be a
  cow