Cities of Refuge

We were introduced last week to the idea of the ערי מקלט, or, cities of refuge. These were cities designated throughout Israel for accidental murder.

It may seem strange to call it accidental murder and not call it something else like manslaughter or inadvertently causing death.

The reason why the Torah refers to this individual as a רוצח, murderer, is because he was partially to blame. The example given in the Torah about an ax that accidentally flew off it’s handle, is referring to a case where the ax was loose.

The wood chopper should have examined the ax before using it. Had he been more careful, the accident might never have happened. If he could prove that the ax was examined and it met all safety standards, he would have gone free.

Those who entered the ערי מקלט were sent there because of partial negligence. If there was gross negligence, the murderer would not go to the city of refuge. He would be on the run from the גואל הדם, the redeemer of blood.

Obviously, if it was premeditated murder, there would also not be an עיר מקלט. It is interesting to note that Moshe Rabbeinu set up the first three cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan, after he conquered the territories of Sichon and Og.

A final point of interest is that initially, all cases of death caused by one individual to another, forced the killer to run to the עיר מקלט for protection. He would be escorted to the court to have his case tried. If the decision was accidental death caused with some negligence, he would go to the city of refuge. All other decisions, would have their respective punishment. Only in the case of a complete accident, would he be exempt of all punishment.