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D'var Torah by Andrew Cravitz - July 9, 2010
Parsha Numbers 30:2 to 36:13

Shabbat Shalom my fellow congregants.

This weeks portion is multifaceted. Numbers 30:2 to 36:13 is fairly long and covers many aspects of the climax of Israel's long journey to the promised land, or maybe that's an anti-climax. We read that vows are an important part of the life of Jews. And that war and vengeance (on a societal level) was the Lord's. And one must abide by the will of Adonai, or at least pay attention to him! It talks of the boudaries of the new land that was given by His oath to Israel, and a step by step description of the journey itself. And finally the establishment of the Cities of Refuge for those who unintentionally take a life. These themes of law center on how our society should be run. And, in the case of Cities of Refuge, something of which can be seen in our modern laws and Penal processes, can we see how Israel was run from the beginning. Which is what I'd like to concentrate on tonight for a few minutes.

When a member of our society commits a crime, what is done? They are tried, sentenced, and sent away, generally to a place of confinement, usually, far away from where the crime took place, San Diego, for instance.

In the biblical sense of our readings for tonight, these crimes were heinous enough to incur this punishment. To begin with, it is written in the JPS Torah Commentaries that "it is a basic theological postulate that the divine Presence cannot abide in a land polluted by murder; the offense leads to the pollution of earth and the abandonment of G-d of His sanctuary and people." Blood vengeance was, and, in many ways, still is, prevalent in the Mid East. The concept of an eye for an eye, etc. comes to mind. And we see this all the time between Israel and her neighbors. But more of that later, on your nightly news.

These laws are quite specific:

1. Only the guilty is involved (in the punishment)
2. Guilt is determined by the slayer's intent
3. No ransom is acceptable in place of the death of the murderer
4. The verdict of deliberate or involuntary homicide is made by the state (of Israel) and not by the bereaved kinsman, and to this end asylum cities for the homicide are established
5. His trial is by a national tribunal and not by the kinsmen of either party
6. The deliberate homicide is executed by the go'el, and the involuntary homicide is banished to the asylum until the death of the High Priest.


As is said further in the commentaries, "The right of asylum is limited solely to the UNPREMEDITATED manslayer."

In passing, in #6, the term "go'el" means redeemer, but can also mean avenger; hence he or she gets to execute the perp!

So, what and, particularly, where are these cities of refuge. And how does this particular system work. There are six in all. 3 beyond the Jordan (river), namely Golan, Ramoth, Bosor. And 3 westward, in Canaan itself, namely Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron. However, as in other places in the world, such as it was back in the day, these asylum rights were curtailed in later times as the refuge cities became hotbeds of crime. Think of our jails here and now. Some people say the same thing! It's practically a school for criminals!

The idea of "Congregation" truly comes into play in dealing with the "manslayer." For it is the congregation that will "deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood," and restore him to the city of refuge. One who unwittingly or even innocently slays another has no malice in his heart.

And G-d knew this, and He passed on to us through our ancestors.

It is written in Joshua 20:3,4,5,6- (not that I want to go off on a tangent, but...)-3 "The L-rd spoke to Joshua saying: "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses; that the manslayer that killeth any person through error and unawares may flee thither; and they shall be unto you for a refuge from the avenger of blood:"4 "And he shall flee unto one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them." 5 "And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand, because he smote his neighbor unawares, and hated him not before time." 6 "And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days; then may the manslayer return, and come into his own city, unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled."