ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 5:12

Gather yourselves together Gather and assemble together as in (Exod. 5:12) “To Gather a gathering.”

I have noted that Maimonides writes in chapter 5,12-14 of his Hilchot Rotzeach that the altar serves as a refuge for unintentional killers as far as protection against an avenger who is a member of the victim's family is concerned. It does not act as an alternative to such a killer having to go into exile. Clearly, Maimonides had not seen the Baraitha which we quoted above according to which the word למות excludes exile, etc. The Baraitha's whole point is that if someone tries to save himself in the Holy Temple by holding on to the altar he can be dragged out only in order to be executed and not in order to be confined in a city of refuge. While it is true that one could offer a forced explanation that the words in the Baraitha ולא לגלות mean that that if someone is guilty of confinement in the city of refuge the family's avenger has no right to kill such a person, this is extremely forced seeing it contains no new element. We know this already. Besides, the words in the Baraitha which appear immediately before this comment about לא לגלות contradict such an explanation. The Baraitha had said: "not to have corporal punishment administered to him nor to be brought to trial." I have an even greater difficulty with the words of the author of Mishneh Lamelech who wonders why Maimonides makes a distinction between intentional and unintentional killers seeking refuge at the altar, whereas he makes no such difference at all. The latter statement is incomprehensible even if we did not have a Baraitha at all. We have no authority to rule that the altar fails to act as refuge except in a situation specifically excluded by the Torah.

The positive impact of blessings is not restricted to great rabbinical leaders. Parents’ blessings of their children can, as implied by Shemot 5:12, lengthen the lives of their children. Kohanim’s blessings permeate Jewish life, especially in Eretz Yisrael and Sephardic congregations worldwide, where Birkat HaKohanim is practiced daily. Hashem encourages blessing each other about meaningful matters. The Gemara (Berachot 7a) states that even the blessing of an ordinary person should not be taken lightly.