Gann Academy is some 555 miles north north-east of Stink Hill in the Greater Boston area (Waltham). The school mascot is a Red Heifer, rallying support for teams ranging from basketball to ultimate frisbee. The school slogan is “Who Will You Become?” The grownups and founders tout the school as a “pluralistic model of Jewish high school.” In short, the school’s target market is various Jewish denominational groups and non-denominational students as well. A plus for me, the school “as a whole keeps vegetarian dairy kosher.” However, students “can bring their own meat into the building.” Not sure if someone stands at the entrance to the school asking, “Are you packing meat?”
I virtually arrived at the Home of the Red Heifers in my morning scan of the news. The current routine is the Washington Post crossword, a word game like scrabble with an AI opponent, and the Atlantic Magazine crossword before checking on the inane antics of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump and his co-defendants trying to wriggle out of their just desserts, and the ever-increasing National Enquirer-type stories in the news feed. Today it was the article: First red heifer in 2000 years fulfills Biblical prophecy and signals end of days.
The upshot is this: the end-of-times trifecta requires restoration of the nation of Israel, Jewish control of Jerusalem, and the reconstruction of the Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The rebuilding of the Temple seems to turn on a requirement of purification ashes from a qualified red heifer (no spots or blemishes, natural birth, and never yoked). The gist of the posted story is that there were a couple of contenders, but not bona fide.
Beyond the article, my meandering research revealed: there are Torah and Quran experts claiming that you actually need a yellow cow, a pro-build the temple now group (Temple Institute) claimed in 2022 that five rabbi-approved red cows imported from the U.S. are now in Israel, the ashes of the heifer must be added to pure spring water for purifying, and the Gann Academy School colors are maroon and white.
And now you know….
(2023, September 11). First red heifer in 2000 years fulfills Biblical prophecy and signals ‘end of days’. MSN.com. Retrieved September 12, 2023, from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/first-red-heifer-in-2000-years-fulfills-biblical-prophecy-and-signals-end-of-days/ar-AA1gzsvK
Red Heifer. (2023, August 23). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_heifer