Red heifer declared impure after white hairs found on tail

JERUSALEM, Jan. 21 (JTA) — A red cow named Melody, once thought to have fulfilled a biblical requirement, was declared impure last week. The declaration came after a rabbi detected white hairs on her tail. According to Jewish scripture, the ashes of a red heifer are required to purify Jews before they can enter the Temple in Jerusalem. Melody’s birth last year was seen by some fervently Orthodox Jews as a sign that the time had come to build the Third Temple, which some consider to be one of the preconditions for the arrival of the Messiah. There’s still some hope. The rabbi who revised his earlier hopes that Melody was a red heifer, said Melody is pregnant with the seed of a reddish bull. “We’ll check in six months and who knows, maybe we’ll have a red heifer then,” he said.