The parsha opens זאת תורת העולה but it talks about the terumas hadeshen not the avodah of the olah itself?
The Or HaChayim says על דרך רמז this parsha alludes to the survival of Klal Yisrael through the golus. כל הלילה עד הבקר refers to the dark days of the golus. זאת תורת העולה, what is the way to rise above the challenges, what is the way to keep on going up? The terumas hadeshen. The terumas hadeshen is the culminating avodah of the day. Rav Hirsch explains the terumas hadeshen represents the culmination of a previous day's work, a completed era, gives birth to a new day of avodah ,a fresh start. ושמו אצל המזבח, that fresh start doesn't ignore the past but builds off the past. It looks to the past to inspire a better future.
Why do we read Parah only before Pesach if every holiday has an obligation of korbanot that one should be tahor to offer? The parsha of Parah is not just a message of purifying one's self from tumah that disqualifies one from offering the korban, it is a message to purify and cleanse from sins. That is why the haftorah contains the message of purity from sins, וזרקתי עליכם מעם טהורים. The burning of the parah represents burning the past, leaving behind the old ways and receiving the purifying waters to start afresh. That is why it is specifically before Pesach, the spring time, time of renewal when things come out of their hibernation that this message of parah is given.
The Rambam Parah (3:4) says וְכֵן הָיוּ מַצְנִיעִין מֵאֵפֶר כָּל פָּרָה וּפָרָה שֶׁשּׂוֹרְפִין בַּחֵיל. וְתֵשַׁע פָּרוֹת אֲדֻמּוֹת נַעֲשׂוּ מִשֶּׁנִּצְטַוּוּ בְּמִצְוָה זוֹ עַד שֶׁחָרַב הַבַּיִת בַּשְּׁנִיָּה. רִאשׁוֹנָה עָשָׂה משֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ. שְׁנִיָּה עָשָׂה עֶזְרָא. וְשֶׁבַע מֵעֶזְרָא עַד חֻרְבַּן הַבַּיִת. וְהָעֲשִׂירִית יַעֲשֶׂה הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ מְהֵרָה יִגָּלֶה אָמֵן כֵּן יְהִי רָצוֹן. With every parah there is a new beginning but it builds upon the past. When one goes through the taharah of the parah, the ashes are not thrown away but are kept as building blocks for the future.
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