In this week’s parsha we have a reference to the arei miklat [cities of refuge], to which a person who kills someone unintentionally flees. Rather than receiving some other punishment for taking innocent life, such a person remains in the ir miklat until the death of the Kohen Gadol.
The arei miklat were actually referenced in Parshas Mattos-Massei and even before that in Parshas Mishpotim. The pasuk in Mishpotim says: ואשר לא צדה והא לקים אנה לידו ושמתי לך מקום אשר ינוס שמה - “And regarding the one who did not aim, but Elokim brought him (i.e., the victim) into his hand, and I will set aside for you a place where he can flee there.” (Shemos 21:13).
The four words,אנה לידו ושמתי לך - “brought him into his hand and I will set aside for you”, begin respectively with the letters Aleph, Lamed, Vov, Lamed, which spells out the word Elul. So according to those who seek out hidden messages in the Torah, there is some kind of connection between the month of Elul and the parsha of arei miklat.
What is the connection between arei miklat, which involves a person who kills unintentionally, and Chodesh Elul? Many commentaries raise the issue – why does a person who killed b’shogeg [unintentionally] need to be punished with exile to a city of refuge? He did not mean to do it. It was unintentional. Yet he needs to confine himself to exile, which is no picnic. If the Kohen Gadol is a young healthy individual, the unintentional murderer may need to remain in the ir miklat for the rest of his life! Why is that? Why can’t he be given a pass for his one-time mistake?
The answer is that the Torah deems that if a person was particularly careful about human life, this would not have happened to him. For example: A person who is extremely careful about Hilchos Shabbos will not transgress the halachos of doing melacha on Shabbos, even b’shogeg. Shabbos is so serious to him that he takes all necessary steps to ensure that he will not be mechalel Shabbos. Today, a person can buy plastic or metal covers to place over all the light switches in his home. It is not uncommon for a person to walk into the bathroom on Friday night and (forgetting it is Shabbos) flip on the switch. (That is actually probably not even shogeg. It is likely the less culpable category of mis’asek). We can readily imagine the situation of a person who is half asleep and not fully conscious of what he is doing as he turns on the light.
This will not happen to someone who is very careful with Hilchos Shabbos. Such a person will make certain that there is some kind of protection over that light switch on Shabbos because full Shabbos observance is so important to him. The same is true with unintentional murder. If a person is extremely judicious and careful when it comes to human life, it will not happen that chas v’shalom he would kill someone b’shogeg.
This is not an accusation that a person who does kill b’shogeg has committed an intentional crime. But when there is a certain lack of full respect for the sanctity of life, “accidents b’shogeg” are more likely to occur. You may wonder – are there really people out there that do not fully respect the sanctity of life? The answer is: Yes. There are millions of such people. People engage in dangerous activities all the time. Why? It is because they don’t fully respect (lack of chashivus for) the sanctity of life.
The Gemara in Avodah Zarah (18a) relates how before the Romans took Rav Chananya ben Taradion to be burnt at the stake because he was teaching Torah publicly, the executioner asked him, “If I speed up your death by increasing the fire so you will not suffer as much, will you promise me a portion in the Olam HaBoh [the World to Come]?” Rav Chananya replied in the affirmative. The executioner immediately increased the fire and removed the wet wool material that had been placed on Rav Chananya’s heart to increase his suffering. Rav Chananya’s soul then speedily left him, at which point the executioner himself jumped into the fire. There are three Gemaras that are similar to this (Avodah Zarah 10a, 17a, and 18a). At the end of each one, the Gemara makes the same statement: “Concerning this incident, Rebbi (Rabbeinu haKadosh) cried and said, ‘There is one who acquires his portion (in the World-to-Come) in one moment and there is one who needs many years to acquire his portion.'”
Why did Rebbi cry? Was he saying, “Gee.’ I spent my whole life being an honest Jew, and I see that this person received Olam HaBah in one minute. What a waste of my time!”? Chas v’Shalom! Rather, Rebbi saw how much a person could accomplish with one minute of his life. That is why he was crying. In just one minute, this person could change his entire spiritual destiny. That was why Rebbi cried.
We don’t appreciate what we can do with one hour or even one minute of our lives. The Kelemer Maggid gave the following mashal in a shmooze he delivered once by Ne’ilah:
A malach came into a cemetery and gave all the dead bodies one hour to return to life. What did the people do when they arose from the grave? One person went to his parents and devotedly served their needs. He felt he was lacking in kibbud av v’em during his lifetime. Another person ran into the beis hamedrash, took out a Gemara and learned for an hour. A third person gave tzedokah. A fourth person engaged in gemillas chassadim. When the hour was up, they all had to go back into their graves.
The Kelemer Maggid then asked, “And what if someone has more than an hour? And who knows if we even have another hour left in this world?”
The point of this story is that life is precious. Time is precious. This person who killed b’shogeg, who apparently had a lack of chashivus for life, is sent to the ir miklat. Who lives in the ir miklat? The arei miklat are all cities assigned to Shevet Levi – the Leviim live in the arei miklat. What do the Leviim do with their lives? Their lives are devoted to Avodas Beis HaMikdash. The Jew who has killed b’shogeg needs a re-education in the importance of life. The best place to get that is in the arei miklat, which are populated by Leviim, who are the primary Torah teachers of Klal Yisroel (Devorim 33:10). If you want to know what life is all about, go to the Leviim because they appreciate the chashivus of life.
How does this relate to Chodesh Elul? An ir miklat is a physical location. It is geographic in nature. Chodesh Elul is an ir miklat of time. It is the time of the year for a person to reflect on life, the importance of life, and the importance of even individual minutes of life. That should be a person’s focus during Chodesh Elul. We are yet early in the month. Chodesh Elul has just begun. But that is the primary function of this month – to reorient ourselves and to remind us of how precious life is, how fleeting life can unfortunately be, and what we can do with our lives.
That is why Elul – אנה ל ידו ושמתי לך – is the ir miklat of time. Elul is a time for people to think about the importance of time and to ask themselves “What am I doing with the time that Hashem has allotted me?
The Chayei Adam (138:1) begins his discussion of the laws of Elul by writing that the month of Elul offers a unique opportunity to return to Hashem, for it was at this time that Moshe ascended to Shomayim to receive the second set of Luchos after the chet haegel [sin of the golden calf], and he remained there until the atonement was completed on Yom Kippur. This phenomenon recurs every year, and although Hashem is open to teshuvah throughout the year, in Elul it is easier to find favor in His eyes and have our teshuvah mercifully accepted.
The Gemara (Berachos 7a) teaches that Bilaam’s fame was rooted in his ability to determine the moment when Hashem was angry and to utter curses at that time, which would then take effect. He hoped to use that skill to direct Hashem’s wrath toward the Jewish people, but Hashem thwarted Bilaam’s plan by not getting upset during that span. Rav Chatzkel Levenstein suggests that if it is possible to utilize Hashem’s anger to create negative outcomes, all the more so does it behoove us to take advantage of the period of Divine closeness in Elul to do teshuvah and return to Him.
