What Guilt Does the High Priest Bear For Accidental Murders

Parshat Masei

by Rabbi Billet

In ancient times, if a person killed someone else accidentally, a trial could sentence the perpetrator to exile in a city of refuge, a sentence that would be carried out until the death of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest).

Why?

The Sifrei explains: The Kohen Gadol’s role was really to do his utmost to bring God’s presence to the people, and thus to lengthen people’s lives. The murderer, obviously, shortens peoples’ lives and causes God’s presence to hide itself. This is why the murderer may not be in the presence of the Kohen Gadol, and must be in exile.

While it understandable for the Kohen gadol to need to be in one domain while the murderer is elsewhere, why should the murderer’s freedom be tied to the death of the Kohen Gado? The sages taught that the death of the righteous, particularly the Kohen Gadol, brings atonement.

Rosh Chodesh Av, (this year falling out on Friday July 13) is one of the few yarzeits noted in the Torah. It is the yahrzeit of the first Kohen Gadol, Aharon HaKohen. And every year at this time, as his yahrzeit ushers in the Nine Days, we are reminded of how desperately we are in need of a Kohen Gadol and the atonement he might help us achieve were he functioning in the Mikdash today.

Who cares if his death brings atonement? Does he deserve to die for the sake of a murderer, albeit an accidental one… to set the murderer free?

In the context of talking about this strange ruling of the Torah, the Talmud in Makkot suggests that the Kohen Gadol’s death is connected to their freedom because he shares some of the blame for the accidental murder having taken place. Had he been in tune to the needs of his people and properly prayed on Yom Kippur that there be peace in the Land, no senseless deaths would have happened.

The Chizkuni attaches blame to the Kohen Gadol for the accidental murder, based on the verse in Parshat Shoftim, “And the man who acts intentionally, not obeying the kohen who stands there to serve the Lord, your God, or to the judge that man shall die, and you shall abolish evil from Israel.” (Devarim 17:12) suggesting the Kohen should have taken the law into his own hands by Torah right, putting murderers to death. Rav Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz, in his Panim Yafot, focuses on how Pinchas – in last week’s portion – set the stage for how the Kohen Gadol could take such a drastic step in order to turn back God’s anger and prevent there being an environment where life is cheap and people aren’t careful, the basic ingredients for an accidental-murdering culture.

The Talmudic passage noted above tells us that the Kohen Gadol’s mother would bring treats and sweets to those exiled so they would not pray for her son’s death. Another view in the Gemara explains that the mother’s intent was that her gifts would encourage them to pray that he not die.

What purpose did his mother serve? The two views in the gemara are very different, but they leave us with the same question. If the Kohen Gadol’s mother would inspire them to pray that her son not die, her investment would be worth the while. If they would not pray for her son’s death, there might not be an added push from God for the Kohen Gadol’s life to end. But in either case, why would they listen to her? If they want to go home, and they could be stuck there for some time, they might still pray for his life to end!

And on the other hand, if his mother is around to make cookies for everyone, we can assume he is not so close to the grave. So what is she really worried about? And besides, are these murderers’ prayers really going to have an impact in the Heavenly realm?!

This passage in the Torah can teach us very valuable lessons, about prayer, and about concern for the other.

In one line of thinking, the Kohen Gadol’s insufficient prayer causes all of this to happen. His inability to inspire the people to greater goodness creates a spiritual void that opens the door for accidental murder. Is he deserving of death for this? No. But he is responsible for not being a stronger spiritual presence in the lives of the masses.

His mother is concerned about the prayers – even of murderers. While it is true that a person who has taken a life accidentally needs exile, but the need for exile may have also come for some other reason, which does not render the individual’s prayer obsolete.

As to why she might have even asked people to pray that her son not die, and that they might have listened, perhaps her visiting and seeing the desperation of those itching to get out made her think “My son deserves to die! But I don’t want to lose him!” And maybe their seeing this sad and pathetic woman made them have a change of heart.

Or maybe she wanted them to not pray for her son to die, and maybe, as a favor to her kindness they complied. But maybe they continued to pray, but not as wholeheartedly, so their prayer would not work.

Or maybe when she came to the city and saw vengeful relatives waiting outside the city, biding their time until the murderer drops his guard and steps out of his refuge, making himself a target for them, perhaps this also gave her a weird feeling. Until her son’s death, they had a free pass to kill the accidental murderers. In other words warranted, justified and unpunishable killing could continue as long as her son was alive.

What a burden to bear!

I don’t envy the Kohen Gadol’s mother who was faced with wanting her son to live while burdened with the misery that will only end with his death.

But we are left to wonder if we are missing, perhaps, an even deeper lesson here. That maybe there is no causality in terms of the Kohen’s death, and that the prayers of the exiled and the concerns of his mother are unfounded.

The Seforno’s idea that God sends people to exile when they need to go based on how long they need to be in exile and when the Kohen Gadol is going to die anyway says only that God is running the show. Prayer has its place in the world, and even when it doesn’t impact the here and now, it is stored for a time and place when it will.

If the death of the righteous or the death of the Kohen Gadol brings atonement, perhaps it is because the way we unite in mourning causes grievances – even over the accidental death of our loved one – to be pushed aside in favor of unity.

The murderers don’t cause the death of the Kohen. Each individual will have served the time he was meant to because that was God’s Master Plan. And the people become united when they appreciate the magnitude of their loss.

With the Nine Days upon us, we must once again unite in prayer, and unite in feeling the magnitude of what has been missing for two millennia – Judaism practiced in its most raw and most Torah-based form.

God’s Master Plan is not for us to figure out. But hopefully soon we’ll play the cards right and merit to see this time period turned into a time of joy, with a Kohen Gadol playing a role of uniter in spiritually bringing all of us under God’s divine wings.