Murder!
The Cities of Refuge afforded the person who had displayed callous disregard for another human life — when his or her negligence caused the untimely death of another — to reflect on his or her crime and to be rehabilitated.
Cities of Refuge: Threefold Purpose
Murder is one of the most heinous crimes that anyone can commit. So degrading and reprehensible is this crime, that even when it is done unintentionally, but with some degree of negligence, the Torah assigns a most unique form of punishment.
The one who committed the unintentional murder must flee to the specially designated Cities of Refuge. These Cities of Refuge served a three-fold function:
First, to protect him from the wrath of the victim’s relatives.
Second, the Cities of Refuge were intended as a punishment. According to the Chinuch, for a person to be banished to one city and lose his or her freedom, was the punishment closest to death.
And third, the City of Refuge afforded the person who had displayed callous disregard for another human life — when his or her negligence caused the untimely death of another — to reflect on his or her crime and to be rehabilitated.
Stays Until the Death of the High Priest
How long does the murderer have to stay in these Cities of Refuge? In this week’s Torah portion Masei, the Torah provides us with a rather unusual answer. The murderer must stay in these Cities of Refuge “until the death of the High-Priest.”
Our sages raise the obvious question. Why does the length of the murderer’s sentence depend on the High Priest?
One of the answers provided by our sages cited by Rashi is: The function of the High Priest is to introduce the divine presence into the Jewish community that brings about the lengthening of one’s days. It would be incongruous to have the murderer who shortened life co-exist with the High Priest whose function it is to prolong life.
What is it about the High Priest that made his presence incompatible with the presence of this person who committed unintentional murder? And secondly, wouldn’t it be more of an analogy to state that the High Priest who performed the most important rituals in the Temple was incongruous with one who: a) disregarded his obligations towards G-d and failed to perform the ritual commandments, b) intentionally?
The Deeper Significance of the Holy Temple
To better appreciate the relationship of the High Priest and an individual’s unintentional commission of murder, it is crucial that we understand the function of the Temple in Jerusalem, whose destruction we mourn during these three week’s culminating with Tisha B’Av.
The Temple was not a shrine in the sense that other religions have shrines. We believe that G-d is all over and can be accessed all over. The Temple was the place that G-d chose, so that His presence should be felt by us wherever we are. The need for such a Temple was to overcome the natural barriers that G-d created in the world that eclipse His presence. The Temple in Jerusalem removed this barrier. When a person is so saturated with an awareness of G-d they become so sensitized to His will that they will not matter-offactly violate G-d’s will.
Once that barrier to G-d’s presence was removed, G-d’s presence would then be “channeled” to the rest of the city of Jerusalem and then to the rest of Israel and then to the rest of the world. One felt a connection to G-d as a result of the Temple’s existence. Once connected to G-d it becomes untenable for a person to go against his will.
How Could People Sin when the Temple Stood?
At this point one can raise an obvious question. If the Temple’s presence was enough to create an atmosphere of holiness, how do we account for the many transgressions that Jews committed even when the Temple stood?
The answer is that because G-d does not take away our free choice, even when there is incredible positive G-dly energy, one can rebel against G-d. Where does the G-dly spirit of the Temple manifest itself most? In it is most pronounced in the area of inadvertent transgressions.
When people are so saturated with an awareness of G-d they become so sensitized to His will that they will not matter-offactly violate G-d’s will. While the Temple’s presence did not prevent willful violation of G-d’s will, it did provide a far stronger protection against actions that derive from a lack of sensitivity.
This then is why the Torah contrasts the High Priest’s role with that of the unintentional murderer. The High priest was responsible for maintaining the spiritual state of the Temple. It is unfathomable then that the person who was himself a paragon of spiritual sensitivity should be together with one whose callous insensitivity brought about the most tragic loss - a loss of life wherein the G-dly soul that once graced this world, was forced to return to its heavenly abode.
When we pray for the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash we are asking for more than just a magnificent and imposing structure. We are demanding a return of the innocence and sensitivity that existed in the Beis Hamikdash of old. Only this time it will be forever.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Matos-Masei by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
