The July 1 burning of a red heifer in Samaria triggered a flood of speculation. Still, both the Temple Institute and the Sanhedrin have now clarified the central issue: the animal burned was not a qualified red heifer according to biblical standards. Their statements were issued to correct incorrect claims spreading across social media and to reset expectations about where Israel truly stands in the prophetic timeline.
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The Temple Institute reminded the public that the requirements for a legitimate red heifer are stringent and that only a few scholars fully understand the details. They have been studying and preparing for years, but the July 1 animal did not meet the biblical criteria. The Sanhedrin echoed the same point in its own statement, emphasizing that no purification for Temple service was achieved through this ceremony.
Even so, the event is not meaningless. The heifer burned was one of the calves brought from Texas in 2022, raised at Shiloh, and prepared by a Kohen at a hidden location in Samaria. While not qualified, the ceremony reflects the broader national effort to train, prepare and restore the knowledge needed when a true biblically valid heifer finally emerges.
The clarification is the real headline. Israel is moving deliberately toward conditions described in Scripture, but this was not the moment of prophetic fulfillment. It was preparation, not completion.
That distinction matters. And it is precisely why the statements from the Temple Institute and the Sanhedrin deserve careful attention.
Here is the full statement released by the Temple Institute:
In light of incorrect information that has been published regarding the red heifer, the Temple Institute would like to announce:
1. For about ten years, the Temple Institute has been engaged in preparations for producing the ashes of the red heifer, both from an educational and practical perspective. The observance of these commandments, the raising of a red heifer according to Torah law and the production of kosher ashes for the purification of the ritually impure, is very complex and includes thousands (!) of details, which require great knowledge and skill in execution. Therefore, the process also includes a number of practical experiments and exercises.
2. About three months ago, a practice was held in the Samarian mountains, in which a simulation of the making of the ashes of the red heifer was conducted.
3. Of course, ashes of the red heifer that are not made on the Mount of Olives while facing the site of the Holy Temple are completely invalid (Mishnah, Para 4:2; Rambam, Para Aduma 4:5). Therefore, we clarify that the simulation was only an exercise, part of a series of exercises that were and, with G-d’s help, will continue to be conducted, before we are properly prepared to fulfill the mitzvah according to Torah requirements. The act was not kosher for additional reasons, including: a heifer was chosen for the exercise whose overall color was red, but was, nevertheless, the most invalid and unkosher of the heifers in our possession. (Its tail was damaged and it had a defect). Likewise, the priestly garments worn by the kohen conducting the practice exercise were not consecrated. The purpose of the exercise was to improve our readiness for producing the ashes, and indeed, the exercise improved our understanding of the process, as well as the kohen’s skill, and also revealed various weak points that we must deal with, such as the proper way to lead the heifer to its destination.
4. For this reason, the ashes were mostly left by us in place without any care on our part. We did collect samples of the ashes by people who are tamei met, (impure due to contact with a corpse), and are therefore rendered ineligible for performing this mitzvah, only for the purpose of checking whether the equipment we have is suitable for the task, and important lessons were learned in this regard as well. In any case, all of the ashes are completely ineligible.
5. Anyone who claims otherwise, that the heifer was kosher and the ashes produced from it are kosher for the purpose of purification, is mistaken and misleading, either intentionally or unintentionally.
6. There are currently four red heifers at the Shiloh site, some of which are owned by Rabbi Ariel, head of the Temple Institute. Their halachic status has not yet been definitively determined, and we are monitoring them.
7. The real red heifer will be made, G-d willing, when we have a kosher red heifer (according to the opinion of the rabbis of the Temple Institute and the rabbis they consult with), and when we are ready in all other aspects of the matter. This is a long process that requires patience and perseverance.
Here is the statement released by the Sanhedrin as reported by Israel365 News:
We sat together as one court.
Questions have reached the Sanhedrin regarding red heifer ashes, and particularly regarding the recent exercises that was conducted. We hereby announce that we completely rely on the attached announcement from the Temple Institute.
And we address all Gentiles throughout the world with the following call:
We, the Sanhedrin, whose ancestors and families stood at Mount Sinai and witnessed the revelation of the Holy One, Blessed be He, to the entire world – generation after generation, we have studied the Torah that the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave us. And we know that the Holy One, Blessed be He, asks those who come into the world to accept upon themselves the Seven Noahide Commandments.
The moment a person accepts upon themselves the Seven Noahide Commandments, they receive directly from the Holy One, Blessed be He, three amazing gifts:
- They receive a portion of the soul.
- They receive a portion in the World to Come.
- They are called “Righteous Among the Nations.”
Anyone who invents something other than the Seven Noahide Commandments causes those who listen to him to sin, and this includes anyone who invents that the ashes from a red heifer exercise purify Gentiles, or heals Gentiles, or anything else – such a person is among the fraudsters and swindlers, and one must distance oneself from him and distance him.
So what does this clarification mean prophetically?
It means we are still in the preparatory phase. The infrastructure, training, and priestly readiness are being constructed piece by piece. A fully qualified red heifer has not yet been burned. That reminder should heighten our discernment, not dampen it. It shows that Israel is steadily moving toward the conditions described by the prophets — but the final steps have not yet been taken.
Jesus urged His followers to watch the signs without jumping to premature conclusions. The Temple Institute’s correction helps us avoid that very mistake. The July 1 event was not the fulfillment. But it was another deliberate movement in that direction.
The world may shrug. The media may misinterpret. But Israel’s own institutions are telling us something vital: the prophetic timeline is progressing, but the biblical requirements have yet to be met.
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And for believers who understand prophecy, that tension — “not yet, but drawing closer” — is precisely where Scripture said the world would be as the last days approach.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
