ר"ע תיתד תונויצל ינויערה גוחה ,םולשו זוע
In memory of the pure soul of
Joel Joseph Fine
Who was taken in the midst of his life
On the 26th of Tammuz 5758.
One of the surprising laws that appear in Parshat Ma'asei relates to the punishment of an unintentional murderer, who is sentenced to dwelling in a city of refuge "until the death of the high priest." The Torah does not specify a specific time period for the punishment, but connects the punishment to the death of the high priest. Interpreters of the Bible, from the time of Hazal, dealt with the difficulty of linking the punishment to the death of the high priest and interpreted the connection between the length of the punishment to an event that seemingly is not dependent upon the actions of the murderer, in different ways.
Rashi brings two explanations taken from the Rabbinic Literature:
"Until the death of the high priest:
1. He serves to cause the Shechinah to dwell in Israel and thereby prolongs their days. The murderer serves to make the Shechinah depart from Israel and thereby shortens the days of living. He is therefore not worthy that he should stand before a high priest.
2. Another explanation: Because the high priest should have prayed that this misfortune might never happen in Israel in these days. " (Rashi Bamidbar 35:25).
The first reason relates to the low spiritual level of the unintentional murderer. He should be distanced from the high priest, similar to the prohibition (isur) to wave a sword on the alter (mizbeach) because "One should not wave the short (sword) on the long (alter)." The high priest, whose role is to cause the Shechinah to dwell in Israel and to prolong life, cannot bear the closeness of a man who shortened life of another man (in G-d's image) and by doing so caused the Shechinah to depart from the world.
The second reason attributes to the high priest indirect responsibility for the actions of Israel. If the spiritual level of the high priest was higher, his influence on the people of his generation would prevent conditions in which people would be killed by negligence. Therefore, the Torah connects between the punishment of an unintentional murderer and the death of the high priest.
Rebbi Ovadiah from Solfrino, who wrote the commentary "Sforno," does not attach it to the spiritual level of the priest or of the murderer, but sees in this law the possibility of leaving to Hakadosh Baruch Hu the setting of the length of the punishment. This is his language:
"Until the death of the high priest: It was already explained that the galut (captivity) is upon the shogeg (the person who does an unintentional act) and there are many not equivalent kinds of shogeg because there are those that are close to compelled actions (ones) and there are those that are close to intentional actions (mezid). A not equivalent time is given to the different shogegim because there are those who his sh'gagah is a little before the death of the high priest and there are those who the murderer will die in galut before the high priest dies. This is the judgment of G-d who knows that the unintentional murderer will be punished according to the level of his sh'gagah, as it is written, 'And G-d let him fall into his hand.'" (Sforno Bamidbar 35:25).
The commentator of "Daat Zekanim Meballeh Hatosafot" sees here protection of the high priest from pressured pubic opinions and this is his language:
"For he shall abide in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest:
The p'shat (simple explanation) is in order that the world will not slander the high priest when they see the murderer leave his city of refuge and say that they see the man that killed someone and the high priest does not take revenge upon him. The following verse fits this case: 'And you came to the high priest in those days.' But when the high priest dies, one should not worry about the priest that comes after him because how will they slander him after nothing was done in his days." (Daat Zekanim Meballeh Hatosafot Bamidbar 35:28).
The midrash (Shir Hashirim Raba page 4) sees in the death of the high priest kaparah (forgiveness). (Maybe a sign for kaparah?). "The unintentional killer does not have kaparah and the Torah set for him kaparah through the death of the high priest as is written: 'And he shall abide in it until the death of the high priest.'" It is interesting to note that the Torah itself perhaps hints to something with regard to the meaning that should be given to the death of the high priest. The Torah recalls briefly (Bamidbar 33:37-38) the death of Aaron, the first high priest, and this is the Torah's language in our parashah: "And they journeyed from Kadesh and encamped in mount Hor, in the extremity of the land of Edom. And Aaron, the priest, went up into mount Hor at the commandment of Hashem and died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel left Egypt on the first day of the fifth month." (that is the first day of the month of Av.)
This short recollection hints that it took place after the people of Israel traveled from Kadesh. In Parshat Hukat, where the death of Aaron is described in a dramatic way, it is written: "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me (l'hakdisheni) in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation to the land which I have given them." (Bamidbar 20:12).
Several verses later it is written: "They traveled from Kadesh and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation , came to mount Hor. And the Eternal spoke to Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the boundary of the land of Edom, saying, 'Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not come into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Merivah.'" (Bamidbar 20:22-24).
There is perhaps a connection between the claim from Aaron and Moses to sanctify me (l'hakdisheni) and the trip from Kadesh, the place where the episode of the waters of Merivah took place. The role of the spiritual leadership is to sanctify (l'kadesh) in the name of G-d. Therefore, when the people stand before entrance into the land of Israel, the leadership, that did not do so enough, must move aside. Aaron is therefore the first high priest who had to die because "he did not pray for his generation." Therefore his death causes kaparah for wrong doings of his generation.
Hazal describe the death of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam as an easy death ("mitat nishikah"), that is the death of the righteous (tzadikim), and they explain the juxtaposition (s'michoot parshiot) of the parashah (portion) of the red heifer (parah adoomah) to the parashah of the death of Miriam and the juxtaposition of the death of Aaron to the parashah of the priestly clothes because of the purifying and forgiving nature of the death of the righteous. This is how it is written:
"Rabbi Ami says: Why does Miriam's death appear next to the parashah of the red heifer? To tell you just as the red heifer causes forgiveness (m'haperet), so the death of the righteous causes forgiveness. Rabbi Eleazar says: Why does the death of Aaron appear next to the parashah of the priestly clothes? Just as the priestly clothes causes forgiveness, so the death of the righteous causes forgiveness." (Talmud Bavli Moed Katan 28 Amud Alef).
The motif of kaparah of the red heifer, that is "upon the commandment of Hashem", reminds in a certain way the motif of kaparah of the death of the righteous, "upon the commandment of Hashem": The righteous die because that is Hashem's will. Similarly, the red heifer, "upon which never came yoke", purifies us from the impurity of death and has not sinned and causes kaparah for the sin of the golden calf because such is G-d's will. The meaning we can give to this purifying is related to the responsibility that "the big" take over "the little." As in the language of the Midrash: "His mother will come and clean his excrement."
It is not easy sometimes to understand the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Death of innocent people, before there time, in wars, in disasters, or from illnesses places before us complex questions of faith. Perhaps, what was written about the mitzvah of the red heifer, "I legislated a law and I decreed a decree." teaches us that it is not in our ability to understand the intentions and the wills of G-d in these cases. These things happen against our will and we have no control when they take place. But it is our responsibility "to explain and require reward." In other words, to give the difficult events in our life meaning that allows us to purify ourselves, to be uplifted, and to take responsibility for the meaning we want to give to our lives. We do not control part of the occurrences in our lives, we cannot always understand them, but we can choose the meaning we wish to give them.
Pinchas Laiser, the editor of "Shabbat Shalom", is a psychologist.
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