Musar sobre Números 35:33

When Israel sinned and as a result the Temple was destroyed, the שכינה went into exile with the Jewish people, seeing that it was a pledge G–d had entrusted to them. This is the mystical dimension of the verse: אלה פקודי המשכן, משכן העדות, "These are the "pledges" of the Tabernacle, the "pledges" of the "Testimony" (Exodus 38,21). This is the basis for the Rabbinic statement in Megillah 29 that Israel is beloved (by G–d) since wherever the people of Israel are exiled, the שכינה is exiled with them. When they were exiled to Egypt the שכינה was with them, as we know from Genesis 46,4, where G–d told Jacob: "I shall go down to Egypt with you." When the Jewish people went into exile in Babylonia the שכינה accompanied them, as we know from Isaiah 43,14: "For your sake I sent to Babylon." When Israel was exiled in Elam the שכינה accompanied them, as we know from Jeremiah 49,38: "I will set My throne in Elam." When the Jewish people went into the Roman exile the שכינה also went with them, as we know from Isaiah 63,1: "Who is this coming from Edom,…..it is I who contend victoriously, powerful to give triumph." When the people of Israel return to their land from exile the שכינה will also accompany them as we know from Deut. 23,35: ושב ה' אלוקיכם את שבותך ורחמך, "G–d will come back with your imprisoned ones and have mercy on you." We would have expected the Torah to say: והשיב, "He will bring back," instead of "He will come back." We also have a verse in Song of Songs 4,8: "With Me from Lebanon O bride, come with Me!" Rabbi Meir explains this as a parable: It is like a king saying to his servant "if you need to seek me out, I shall be with my son." This is the meaning of "who dwells with them in their defilement," which we have quoted earlier. All this although G–d had warned Israel not to defile their encampments or the land they would live on, for it is the land G–d Himself has His abode in.

The legislation of the עגלה ערופה, the apparently senseless killing of an innocent heifer which has not had a chance to perform a useful function in life (21,1-9), is also an act of true kindness, חסד. It is both an act of kindness towards the victim of the murder as well as towards the inhabitants of the town near which the foul deed was perpetrated. By performing the rite of breaking the neck of the heifer in question the chances of finding the murderer are enhanced, which in turn would lead to justice for the murdered person when his murderer is punished. Rabbi Menachem Habavli comments on this paragraph as follows: "The reason for this legislation is that the publicity surrounding the breaking of the neck of the heifer in a valley of virgin soil will lead to the unmasking of the murderer. The procedure bestows honour both on the deceased and on the living. The murderer attacked from behind, i.e. the neck of the victim. This is why the neck of the heifer is broken. The murderer committed his act secretly. Therefore the act of atonement is also performed in a spot which is not used by the public. During periods when the general public observed the laws of the Torah and murder was almost unknown, the worms which infested the carcass of the heifer would gradually travel in the direction of the home of the murderer and lead to his discovery. Although it would, of course, be impossible to make such a murderer stand trial on the basis of such "evidence" seeing there had not been reliable witnesses to his act, the murderer would be ashamed once he realised that the people all were certain in their hearts that he was the guilty person." Thus far the commentary of Rabbi Menachem. The "honour" this procedure provided for the living was that the implied suspicion is removed that someone from the nearest town to where the victim had been found might have committed the murder is removed. The Zohar (Rosenberg Montreal edidtion page 133 on Parshat Shoftim) quoting Rabbi Shimon, explains that when someone is murdered the victim's soul is not perceived as having been snatched by the angel of death but by the murderer instead. This means that the murdered person was not allowed to live out the span allocated to him on earth. This single act of murder set back the time of the coming of the Messiah by denying the angel of death his task of helping to rehabilitate mankind from the pollutant of the serpent (and therefore mortality brought about by Adam's sin) and thereby bringing closer the time of the ultimate redemption (which frees mankind from mortality). This crime is especially serious when it happens in ארץ ישראל, where the earth itself needs atonement for having accepted the blood of the victim. G–d took pity on us and legislated the procedure of עגלה ערופה so that we may compensate for any setback in the time-table of redemption due to the murder that has been committed on holy soil by a person or persons unknown. Thus far the Zohar.