The Eternal Concept of the Jewish “Cities of Refuge”
From the Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Zt”l
This week's Torah portion, Shoftim, speaks about the cities of refuge a person would flee to if he accidentally killed someone. There, the unintentional killer would dwell, protected from the wrath of the victim's relatives, until the High Priest who served in the Holy Temple passed away.
But not only unintentional killers sought refuge in these cities; even someone who committed murder intentionally was expected to flee there as well. The court would then convene and issue its ruling on the death. The cities of refuge offered protection, if only temporarily in some cases, to anyone who had caused a loss of life.
After the destruction of the Holy Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish people, the cities of refuge ceased to exist in the physical sense. Yet the Torah is eternal, and its lessons apply in every generation. In our times, therefore, the concept of "cities of refuge" finds expression in the spiritual dimension.
Our Sages taught that "the words of Torah absorb." In other words, the Torah itself is the refuge in which all may seek asylum. In the spiritual sense, "killing" symbolizes the act of committing a sin, causing a spiritual death to the G-dly soul, for the Torah's 613 mitzvot are the "ropes" that bind the soul to G-d. Transgressing the Torah's commandments damages those ties and threatens to cut the soul off from its G-dly source.
We learn from this week's Torah portion that it is never too late to repent, no matter how grave a transgression has been committed. Even the person who deliberately sinned can do teshuva (repentance) and seek protection in the refuge of Torah.
In one sense, nowadays we have a distinct advantage over our ancestors who lived during the times of the Holy Temple. In those days, repentance alone was not enough to atone for a sin. The unintentional killer had to remain exiled in the city of refuge until the death of the High Priest, and the intentional murderer (as defined by the Torah) received capital punishment. Yet after the destruction of the Temple, teshuva alone can atone for even the gravest sin.
Years ago, when Jewish courts had ultimate authority, a judge could only rule on what he himself had seen. G-d, however, can look into the heart of man and judge whether or not his repentance is sincere.
In the same way, the month of Elul, during which we take account of our actions of the previous year, is a "city of refuge" in time, offering us the same opportunity to clear the slate and merit a good and sweet year to come.
Reprinted from the Parshat Shoftim 5762/2002 edition of L’Chaim, a publication of the Lubavitch Youth Organization in Brooklyn, NY. Adapted from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
By the testimony of two (shenayim) witnesses, or three witnesses (17:6) Here the word shenayim is used, whereas further on it is written shenei (19:15): "By the testimony of two (shenei) witnesses, or by the testimony of three witnesses."
The Maharil Diskin explains that the first verse is discussing capital punishment, and in such a case, if one witness viewed the scene from one window and the second witness saw it from a different window, their testimonies cannot be joined into one testimony (Makkos 6b).
However, the second verse is talking about monetary law, in which case, even if each witness viewed the matter from a separate window, their testimonies can indeed be joined into one testimony. As a result, in the instance of the murderer, it is written shenayim, because both of them together are obligated to view the murder from the same place.
Whereas, later on it is written shenei, for in monetary cases, it is in fact permissible for the witnesses to see the incident from two separate places. (Kaftor Voferach- Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Stein)
Reprinted from the Parshat Shoftim 4785 email of R’ Yedidye Hirtenfeld’s whY I Matter parsha sheet for the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn.
