MATTOT-MASEI

Benjamin McCall, July 6, 2002

My portion this morning is Mattot-Masei, the section I'm going to focus on is from Masei, and it is about the Arei Miklat, or Cities of Refuge.

What are the Cities of Refuge? Well, if you had committed an involuntary manslaughter, you would have to go to an Ir Miklat because otherwise, the relatives of the victim would likely hunt you down and kill you. But, in the Ir Miklat, you would be safe. The only way you could leave the Ir Miklat would be if the High Priest of the time would pass away.

For many centuries, Jews have wondered about the Arei Miklat. They asked why the Cities of Refuge were necessary and they asked about the connection between the Cities of Refuge and the death of the High Priest.

Rabbi Yitzak Magriso, author of Me'am Lo'ez, addresses the issue of the connection between the unintentional murderer's stay in the Arei Miklat and the death of the High Priest. He says that you could never know when the High Priest would die. His death could come earlier or later which would impact on the length of time until the unintentional murderer would be allowed to be freed. Although some people found this to be unfair, Rabbi Magriso said that it is not unfair because it is not anybody's choice when the High Priest dies but God's will.

Don Isaac Abravanel also addresses the issue of the death of the High Priest. He says that the death of the High Priest would be so frightening an event for the whole society, that the avenger would reconsider his anger, calm himself, and no longer seek to kill or to injure the involuntary killer. That is why the unintentional murderer could leave the ir miklat at that time.

Rabbi Jacob Ben Isaac Ashkenazi, author of Tzena Ur'ena, thinks that because every human being is made in the image of God, therefore God's presence is sent farther away every time someone is murdered unintentionally or intentionally.

The Cohen Gadol works everyday to help bring God's presence closer. We can't have the killer, even the unintentional killer, out in the open society making the Cohen Gadol's job harder. That's why the unintentional murderer has to go to an ir miklat. But when the Cohen Gadol dies he can't bring God's presence any closer so the unintentional killers can go free.

In my opinion, Rabbi Ashkenazi makes a very good point about the Arei Miklat. I believe that taking a person's life pushes God's presence farther away. But so many lives were lost during the tragedies of the Holocaust, Sept 11, and the recent events in Israel. Since there is no more Cohen Gadol to bring God closer, perhaps god has been pushed so far away that God is now not close enough to help us in any misery.

We can't know whether God's presence is far or near. All the violence does push God farther away. However, there have been times when I have prayed to God and felt that he or she had answered.