Netvort Shoftim 5773: It’s Only Natural

By Rabbi Joshua (botanically known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

            Parshas Shoftim ends with the laws of the axed heifer (eglah arufah), which apply when a murdered corpse, whose assailant is unknown, is found in a field. The Chasam Sofer points out that the section in the Torah preceding these laws, as well as the section following, both deal with war.  He explains that this placement comes to remind us of the infinite value of each human being, even in the midst of war, when people die on a massive level and life tends to be treated lightly. This idea can help us understand parts of the procedure of bringing the heifer to the field where the corpse is found. 

            The Rambam, in his Moreh HaNevochim (3:40), explains the public nature of the procedure as a means of arousing discussion that will eventually lead to the discovery of the perpetrator. The Chizkuni says, similarly, that the need to measure which city is nearest the field where the corpse is found even if that fact is already clear, is in order to publicize the matter so that the murderer will be found.  Following the Chasam Sofer, we can add that the public nature of the event is meant to arouse people’s sensitivity to the tragedy that has occurred, for the fact that such a crime could take place reflects a certain diminution of the value of a human being in the minds of the people. 

            I believe that we can find another connection between the end of the previous section in the Torah and the laws of the axed heifer, in regard to bringing the heifer to the place where it is to be axed. The last two verses of the preceding sections deal with the treatment of trees during battle. The Torah forbids one to cut down a food tree for use in battle, and only permits cutting down a tree that does not produce fruit to use for such purposes. In presenting this prohibition the Torah says, “and you shall not cut it down......; is the tree of the field a man that it shall enter the siege before you?” (Devarim 20:19). The Ibn Ezra reads this last phrase as a statement, rather than a question, thus rendering the conclusion as “for a man is a tree of the field.” The Maharal, in his Gur Aryeh to Parshas Shelach, regarding the punishment of the spies, gives an elaborate explanation of this imagery, explaining that a man, like a tree, grows and bears fruit, namely, the actions that he does in his lifetime.  Rav Yechezkel Abramsky, in a much shorter explanation, simply says that a tree should be allowed to go through its natural process of growth, and so, too, should a man develop himself in accordance with his own nature, without any artificial elements added. In any case, in the procedure of the axed heifer, a calf within its first year is brought to a “harsh valley that cannot be worked and cannot be sown” (Devarim 21:4). The halacha, in fact, is that a field that can be worked and sown is also acceptable, but it is prohibited to work and sow it henceforth. The Talmud (Sotah 46a) says that a calf that has not given birth should be taken to a place that cannot produce fruit and atone for the death of a person who was not left to produce fruit. The Maharsha explains, in the wake of the Ramban, that this is a way of evoking tears, which will arouse the people to find the murderer. We may add, again following the Chasam Sofer, that the arousing of emotion is a goal in and of itself, to renew the people’s sensitivity to the value of human life, and thus prevent such a tragedy from recurring.