He shall dwell in it until the death of the kohen gadol. (35:28)
The Talmud (Makkos 11a) teaches that since the fate of the rotzeach b’shogeg, unintentional murderer, was dependent upon the kohen gadol’s longevity, there was fear that the rotzeach would pray for the early demise of the kohen gadol. Once the kohen gadol died, the murderer would be free to leave the ir miklat, city of refuge.
The mothers of the kohanim gedolim would furnish the unintentional murderers with food and clothing to keep them happy and satisfied so that they would not pray for the death of their sons. Why did the kohen gadol not personally pray for longevity? His prayer for life would certainly be as effective as the murderer’s prayer for his death. Perhaps this is why he had been elected as kohen gadol. He was a holy person to whom life was certainly quite important. He realized, however, that by praying for life, he was essentially praying for the many unintentional murderers to be doomed to a life of exile away from family and friends. Apparently, the kohen gadol was the kind of person for whom “living at the expense of another Jew’s pain” was not something that he felt warranted his prayer. If Hashem allowed him to live, if his personal merit outweighed the prayers tendered by the murderers, good. If not, well, that was his lot. It came with the territory. In any event, he could not allow his personal prayer to have a detrimental effect on another Jew.
From here, we can see the incredible power of prayer. The kohen gadol is a holy man. The murderer is an exiled Jew who is in his position for a reason. True, the murder had been unintentional, but it was no mere accident. One is not sent to the ir miklat for an accident. He is sent for unintentional murder, which covers a gamut of ambiguous circumstances. This man is certainly not on a spiritual par with the kohen gadol, yet the kohen gadol fears his prayers (or, at least, the kohen gadol’s mother fears for her son’s life). Karov Hashem l’chol kor’av l’chol asher yikre’uhu b’emes. “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him – to all who call upon Him sincerely” (Tehillim 145:18). Hashem listens, and when the prayer is sincere, it achieves efficacy. The exiled murderer is sincere (perhaps for the wrong reasons, and self-serving, but sincere). And, thus, the prayers he might pray would give the kohen gadol’s mother reason to be anxious for her son’s life. This is the awesome power of prayer.
It works because of our relationship with Hashem. He is our Father in Heaven. A father always listens. He never closes his door to his children, regardless of the offense or the duration of time that has elapsed since they have last spoken. If this is true of human emotion, how much more so of Hashem, Who is our Creator.
