From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 3:53 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : Parshas Shoftim, 5766





                                       Making a Virtue of Necessity

                  By Rabbi Joshua (necessarily known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


  In this week's parsha, we are commanded to set aside three cities of refuge for inadvertent killers after we enter Eretz Yisroel to add to the three that Moshe already set aside on the other side of the Yarden (Devorim 19:2). We are then told, "When you observe this entire commandment to perform it - which I command you today - to love the Lord your God and to walk in His ways all the years - then you shall add three more cities to these three" (Devorim 19:9). The obvious question is, if we are performing God's mitzvos out of love, why would there be a need for cities of refuge ? How could a case of inadvertent murder take place in such an environment ?


  Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, in his Meshech Chochmah, says that according to the Talmud in Sanhedrin (97b-98b), there are two possible scenarios for the final redemption. If the nation is worthy, God will hasten the redemption and make it occur earlier than the final time. When that happens, the dictum of Shmuel, that there is no difference between this world and messianic times besides the fact that the Jewish nation will no longer be subjugated by other nations, would apply. However, if the people do not merit a quick redemption, then God will bring the redemption in its time by moving the nation to repent due to persecutions. In such a case, when the nation does not really merit the redemption, the verses that describe a situation in which God will "remove the spirit of defilement" (Zechariah 13:2) and "the wolf will lay down with the lamb" (Yeshaya 60:18) will obtain. When redemption comes in this way, says Rav Meir Simcha, then there will no longer be any murder, even in an inadvertent way. Since the Torah, in describing the widening  of the borders of Eretz Yisroel, says " when you observe the mitzvos … to love God…" , it is describing a situation in which God brings redemption early, and, so it occurs in a natural way, so that inadvertent murders may still occur. This explanation, although ingenious, does not seem to emerge from a simple reading of the verses. Rav Moshe Sternbuch, in his Ta'am VeDa'as to parshas Shoftim, mentions Rav Meir Simcha's explanation, and then offers one of his own, which I would like to expand upon.


  Rav Sternbuch writes that the institution of refuge can service not only people who have murdered inadvertently, but also people who are righteous and serve God out of love. We find, he says, that great tzaddikim sometimes impose exile upon themselves in order to engage in self-introspection and reach higher levels in their service of God. Although Rabbi Sternbuch does not mention this, his own illustrious ancestor, none other than the great Vilna Gaon, went into self-imposed exile during a time in his life. As I heard it told by Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik, zt"l, the Gaon's doctor wanted him to take a vacation for health purposes. The Gaon's devoted student, Rav Chaim of Volozhin, did not think that his teacher would agree to take a vacation for mundane reasons, and, therefore, he used a different approach. He suggested that the Gaon go into a self-imposed exile as an attempt to reach a higher level of repentance. The Gaon agreed, and embarked on a journey that has yielded many an interesting story about his experiences during that period. Perhaps, then, says Rav Sternbuch, this will be the function of the cities of refuge that will be set aside in the future, in messianic times. These cities, which originally were meant to serve as a refuge of the inadvertent murderer from the hands of the blood avenger, will, at that time, serve as a refuge for the righteous to increase their level of attachment to God.


  The notion of elevating something whose core purpose is to act as a safeguard from something  negative to a device that has an independent virtue to it is discussed by Rav Yerucham Levovitz, the great mashgiach, or spiritual guidance counselor, of  the Mir yeshivah in pre-war Europe, in his Da'as Torah to parshas Shoftim. Rav Yerucham notes that the beraisa in Avos (6:6), says that royalty is acquired along with thirty privileges, or attributes. Rashi explains that these thirty privileges include the mitzvos incumbent upon the king, as mentioned in parshas Shoftim. Actually, says Rav Yerucham, our first impression would be to say that these thirty items are not privileges, or indications of the greatness of the king, but, rather, devices that are needed to guard the king from his own weaknesses. For example, the Torah forbids the king from having too many wives, so that they don’t turn his heart away (Devorim 17:17). Additionally, the king must always carry a copy of the  Torah with him, and read from it, all the days of his life, " so that he will learn to fear the Lord, his God to observe all the words of this Torah…...so that his heart does not become haughty over his brothers and not turn from the commandments right or left…" (Devorim 17:18-20). Nevertheless, says Rav Yerucham, once the king must do these things as safeguards, they then become privileges and attributes of his royal position.


   Rav Yerucham says that the same applies to the forty-eight attributes of Torah which are mentioned in the same beraisa in Avos. Although, at first blush, the list seems to consist of things one must do in order to acquire Torah, once they are necessary for that purpose, they are also considered as attributes and privileges that come along with the acquisition of Torah. Perhaps, then, in a similar way, in light of Rabbi Sternbach’s explanation of the positive function that going into exile can play in a person’s spiritual development, we can say that even though exile to a city of refuge began as a device needed for the person who murdered inadvertently, once the Torah established it as something necessary, it takes on a positive aspect, as well.


  On a wider scale, perhaps we can suggest that Rav Yerucham's approach to the mitzvos of the king can serve as a general approach to the vicissitudes of life. The mishneh in Avos (3:19), records the teaching of Rav Yannai that we are unable to explain the tranquility of the wicked or the suffering of the righteous. In other words, we can never really know the precise reasons for the circumstances in which we find ourselves in life. Our challenge is to understand that God has a purpose for placing us in these circumstances, and, once we find ourselves in them, to utilize them in a positive way.



  Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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