Parashat Masei - Sixth Aliyah

Sometimes the great story of a people is revealed precisely through a small detail in the law.

In the sixth aliyah of Parashat Masei we continue to deal with the cities of refuge, but now the view widens. The Torah commands the establishment of six cities of refuge: three east of the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan itself. Their purpose is one, to allow refuge for one who kills unintentionally, until he stands trial.

But this is not merely a legal system of shelters. In the same breath the Torah describes here all the laws concerning the intentional murderer, whose sentence is death, and also the distinction between cases of prior hatred and an unintended mishap. In addition, the Torah warns: “velo tachanifu et ha’aretz” (you shall not defile the land, Numbers 35:33). Blood that is spilled, even without intent, defiles the land, requires a public response, demands repair.

This distinction between error and malice, between crime and failure, is a very deep principle of justice. The Torah is not satisfied with good intentions, but neither does it punish at any cost. There is a human, moral, legal sensitivity here.

What is striking is that the refuge is not free. The unintentional killer does not go free; he is sent to dwell in a city of refuge until the death of the High Priest. This connects a person’s individual judgment with the general spiritual state of the nation. When the High Priest dies, a new period opens, and the person may return to his inheritance.

The message is sharp: the Torah offers an anchor of precise and courageous distinction, and at the same time a human one. There are failures that cannot be resolved at once, and there is repair that comes only with time.