Eglah Arufah: Our Shared Responsibility to Notice, Strengthen, and Protect Every Yid

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. We just read Parshas Shoftim, which concludes with the parsha of Eglah Arufah. Eglah Arufah is the halacha when we find someone murdered between two cities. The zekeinim go and they measure to the closest city, and they bring an eglah, which they will be arufah, to chop its head off, and they say a tefillah, a proclamation: Yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh. It is not our hand that spilled this blood. V'eineinu lo ra'inu. We did not see what happened to this person. Kaper l'amcha Yisrael asher padisa Hashem. Forgive Klal Yisrael that You have redeemed. V'al titen dam naki b'kerev amcha Yisrael. There should not be innocent blood spilled among Klal Yisrael, v'nichaper lahem hadam. So this parsha of Eglah Arufah is the parsha of how to deal when there is a murder which is unsolved. If you look at the Baalei Mussar and the sefarim, the mefarshim. There's many lessons that are conveyed in the parashah of Eglah Arufah. There's many, many yesodos of limud that need to be learned from the halacha of Eglah Arufah. Let us begin analyzing and understanding the parashah of Eglah Arufah to take out its lessons. If you take a look, we see that the chachamim, the zekeinim, the kohanim, they must come and proclaim their innocence. Rashi points out, why would we think that they are guilty? I mean, to proclaim their innocence means that there is somewhat of a doubt of their responsibility, that they have to claim that it's not their achrayus, it is not their sin. Says Rashi that what they have to proclaim and say, Yodeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh, v'chi alah al lev sheziknei beis din shofchei damim heim? You would think that they're murderers, that we need them to claim that they're not. Ela lo rainu, patarnu b'loi mezonos u'v'loi leviyah. They're going to say that it is not our fault. Because we did not see this wanderer, and we did not feed him, we fed him, we gave him mezonos, and we escorted him. Leviah. Leviah is a halacha. Whenever a guest comes to you, whenever someone from the outside comes to you and he leaves, you must escort him. So we did this, and therefore it is not our responsibility. Now let's say they did not feed this person. So then this is a reason why he should have been murdered. This is a cause for him to be murdered. What does one have to do with the other? It seems that this is their proclamation of innocence, because we fed him, and therefore it's not our fault that he got killed. And if we didn't feed him, this is a direct reason why he should get killed. There's murder for many reasons in the world. How is our not feeding, not giving him mezonos, directly connected to his murder, his death? Rashi in Mesechta Sotah explains something interesting.

The chachamim refabricate the scenario of how he was killed. Mistama, probably this person needed food, and since he needed food, he went and he robbed. He was on the way alone, and he robbed the person who he was robbing went and murdered him. But that's the only scenario possible where a person gets killed. We have to remake the story that there was a stealing, he stole, and therefore it has to do with the fact that we did not give him food. Very interesting. It's a very interesting pshat that Rashi is pointing out here. Had we given him food, he wouldn't have robbed. Had he not robbed, he wouldn't have been murdered. We are almost reinventing a scenario that it's not necessarily muchach. It's not necessarily that it's a given. Now, rabosai, let me ask you a question. If you take a look, we say, the chachamim have to say, Kaper l'amcha Yisrael asher padisa. Forgive Klal Yisrael. Why is it that all of Klal Yisrael needs a kaparah? The person who killed definitely needs a kaparah. The zekeinim, we're going to blame them for not feeding? Okay. But why is it, kaper l'amcha Yisrael asher padisa? There's a tremendous lesson here, rabosai: responsibility of the community for what happens to the individual. And I begin with this because I want to uncover all the lessons in this concept, in this yesod, that we are all united in responsibility as a whole, as a group, as a nation, Kaper l'amcha Yisrael, for what happens to the yachid, to the individual. And now let us learn where the responsibility lies and what is the lessons of Eglah Arufah that teach us our responsibilities. Rabosai, let's understand the parsha properly. A murder happened. We don't know who killed this person, yet all of a sudden we go into high gear to put blame. The chachomim, the zekeinim, the kohanim have to come and say, It's not my blame, it's not our fault, and we're starting to find somehow how it can be connected to them because we should have fed this person. This is the connection. This connects them to the murder and the murder scene. How does the lack of feeding this individual Somehow tie back to the murder and to the chiyuv and to the responsibility over this murder. Let me begin by telling you over what the Even Ezra explains. We seem to connect it to the closest city. The rotzeach necessarily comes from the closest city, but he can't be traveling from somewhere else. Says the Even Ezra, it's not that the rotzeach, the murderer, comes from this city, but if a murder happens next to a city, it must be the hashpa'ah. It must be the influence. There's something about this place that such a thing could happen. So here we're learning an interesting yesod, that not only do we blame, not only are we trying to find blame on the zekeinim, not only we're trying to find blame on Klal Yisrael as a whole, Klal Yisrael, but we're even trying to pin it and connect that there's some blame in the place. It has something.

to do with the influence of this particular place connected to this murder. Again, rabosai, it's a tremendous lesson, Eglah Arufah. Eglah Arufah is the parsha that connects how such a tragic thing could happen in Klal Yisrael. And we got to tie and connect the dots. That's what Eglah Arufah, the parsha, is about: connecting the dots. When we see things, tzaros in Klal Yisrael, we can hear unfortunate situations. It could be an accident in a car. It could be someone, lo aleinu, is sick. We need to look beyond the actual incident and see where, underlying, where is the problem, and we need to correct, and we need to be mechaper, and we need to fix where the issue is rooted. Now, rabosai, let's pay attention to an interesting Sifri. The Sifri is a Chazal on the pasuk of Kaper l'amcha Yisrael asher padisa. Says the Sifri, Kaper l'amcha, eilu hachayim, the living. The living should be forgiven. Asher padisa, eilu hameisim. These are even the dead people in the cemetery. They too need a kapara. They're not involved. How are they involved? They're not alive. They're not here. And yet, the Medrash, the Chazal, are tying blame, are pinning blame even on those that are not here, the meisim. Now let's go one step further. Asher padisa. What do you mean, padisa? What does it mean, padisa, that you redeemed? Says the Medrash, says the Sifri, padisa miEretz Mitzrayim. Forgive Klal Yisrael who left Mitzrayim, says Rav Shach, zecher tzaddik livracha. We're pinning blame all the way, all the way back to all the people throughout the generations, even to the point where we say those that left Mitzrayim too are somewhat responsible in this story. How are the people who left Mitzrayim responsible in the story of Eglah Arufah? Says Rav Shach, when there's murder in Klal Yisrael, it's a breakdown in the respect for people. It's a breakdown in chesed. We're blaming ourselves that we didn't give him mezonos, that we didn't feed him. It's a breakdown in hachnasas orchim. And we have to find where is this breakdown rooted, and the answer is it goes back generations and generations that we didn't give over properly the middos of Avraham Avinu. The middos of chesed, and that's how we understand that such a thing could take place. You see how much we look and we search for the underlying cause, and the answer is not just today, for the living here, but even for those that are not alive, and even for those that what? That left Mitzrayim. Rabosai, pay attention. When we see acts which are not in concurrence with Yiddishe rachmones, with love and kindness, the Torah says you need to look and find the root of it. And anything, any little thing that somewhat brought about this needs to be rectified with a kaparah of kaper li amcha Yisrael asher padisa. You know, we become very numb to terrible things that happen around us. Yeah, okay, it happened.

But when you see Torah values of chesed, Torah values of self-respect for human beings, when there's a breakdown in that, we need to identify and rectify the cause of it. Now, rabosai, let's go a little further, a little more. Let's say we would give mezonos. Let's say we fed this individual. How does it tie in that our feeding would protect him from getting killed? So we said, because the chachamim understood that possibly he stole because he didn't have food, and the murderer killed him because he tried to steal. There's an unbelievable chiddah, rabosai. Fascinating chiddah, fascinating. Had we fed him, he would be b'simcha. If he is b'simcha, his mazal would change, which would protect him from getting killed. You understand what we're talking over here? And we're blaming Klal Yisrael for not being mesameach the person who is alone. He's wandering. He doesn't have food, to the point that if because we were not mesameach him, that's why he was killed, and it is our fault. אנחנו אשמים בזה. Rabosai, we walk around and we see people, they're unhappy, and we don't pay attention to it. We don't pay attention. Mind your own business. The American logo, the American logo, my zeide, zicher tzaddik livrachah, used to say that when he came to America, the one saying that could not, he could not sit well, did not sit well with him was, Mind your own business. And my zeide would say, in Europe we were taught it is my business, your well-being, and what bothers you is my business, because you and me are one, you and me are brothers. We are looking at the root cause of this person's demise, and what is the answer? says the Chida, his lack of simcha, and we're responsible for that. You hear, rabosai? You know, there's an interesting Gemara. The Gemara says that Iyov had three very close friends. When Iyov was in trouble, they all showed up at the same time to console him, to be mechazek him, to uplift him. Says the Gemara, how did they all know that Iyov was suffering, that they all came at the same time? Says the Gemara that all three friends had a tree in the backyard, and on the tree... was carve the faces of the friends. And every morning they would go out, and first thing in the morning, first order of business was to see on the faces, are my friends happy? Something's missing. Says the Gemara, when they saw Iyov's face was sad, all three of them knew, even though they were all in three different locations, that Iyov needs chizuk. He needs to be uplifted. He needs to be mesameach; we should be mesameach him. And they quickly ran to be mesameach. First order of business. Tell me, rabosai, early in the morning, how many look around to say, wait a minute, my friend is having a hard morning? Or are we too busy rushing and running and coming and going and standing? This is, rabosai, a responsibility to be mesameach another person. And if things don't go well for him, maybe, maybe the way the Chida is explaining, it is our, our, our fault. Anachnu asheimim b'zeh.

This is a tremendous lesson in responsibility, community, people. Am Yisrael, kaper l'amcha Yisrael asher padisa. Our responsibility to be keen that our friend should be b'simcha. The Alter from Kelm gives a different pshat why the fact that we gave mezonos means that he was able to not be murdered, and if we would not give mezonos, if we would not feed him, it would be our responsibility that he was murdered. What is the connection? The question that the Chida addresses. Alter from Kelm says it more simply, and he says, had we given him food, he would have felt good about himself. He feels good about himself. He has the strength to stand up against somebody who is out to hurt him. He's not broken. He has self-esteem. He feels good, and because he feels good, he's able to stand up against somebody who is out to hurt him. Rabosai, in life people sometimes don't have the moral self-esteem and courage. They're broken, and because of that, they can't stand up to life's trivials that push down the person. Is that also our responsibility? Maybe, maybe. Maybe if we were mechazek, maybe if we gave encouragement, maybe if we gave chizuk and strength to our friend. He'd be able to withstand the murderers of life situations. Life also could kill a person. You don't need a murderer. It doesn't have to be with a weapon. Daily life has enough tzaros and enough difficulty. Hargen in a mench oichit. Maybe if we don't give the person self-worth, we're responsible for it. Baalei Mussar say, for darkei mussar, says a meyudik pshat. Till now we were discussing, had we given him mezonos, food, then the person who was murdered would be able to protect himself from the murderer. Says baalei mussar, it also works about the person who does the murder. Had we fed this person, then maybe the murderer would not murder. Why? Because if we elevate and we work on kavod ha'adam, if we work on respect and love, it influences, and maybe people won't murder. Rabboisai, you hear what I just told you? Let's listen carefully again. The mefarshim are telling us, both because of the person who was murdered, and both as well the person who murders, this would have been alleviated. If what? If we would give mezoynos if we would have fed him. So either because we would mesameach him, or we gave him self-esteem, he would be able to withstand the person that's murdering him. Say baalei mussar, even the murderer would not murder if there was a buildup and an influence of respect and love and dignity and caring, that we gave mezoynos and we were machnis orch. It's a tremendous lesson on how to build up a society where adam, there's dignity. Nara b'Yisrael, we don't have to murder somebody with a gun. We could murder somebody with lashon hara as well, and maybe even more with lashon hara than with a gun. Maybe we can inflict a tremendous amount of pain as well as murdering the person with lashon hara. So how do we combat that? And the answer is with acts of kindness, acts of respect and dignity, feeding, acts of pleasant behavior.

Chaveiroi has such a tremendous effect. You know, the pasuk tells us that the zekeinim say, Yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh. We did not spill this blood, v'eineinu lo ra'u, v'eineinu lo ra'u, v'eineinu lo ra'u. What does it mean, our eyes did not see? Rashi explains, we did not see him in his problem and did not take care of it, because we took care of it. How many people bring a korban and say, It's not our fault? Would you bring a korban and say, I didn't do the aveirah, I didn't see anything, I don't know about anything, but here's the korban. So what are you bringing a korban for? It's a very interesting korban. Well, we all know that people never take blame, and one of the greatest things we could do in teshuvah is vidui, which is to take blame. Here we have a korban, and the first thing we proclaim is, We didn't do anything wrong. It's not us. So what are you bringing a korban for? Many mefarshim say, v'eineinu lo ra'u is not an excuse, but it's a ta'ina, it's a complaint. The fact that you didn't see, that's also something that you need to bring a kaparah for. What didn't you see? Satmar Rebbe explains, you didn't see the sins that influenced the place, like the Even Ezra explains that such a thing could occur. You overlook. Sometimes we overlook aveiros. And then it becomes all of a sudden a bad influence to the point that if something terrible happens, we need to bring a kapara. Why didn't we look when we had the chance? Says the Chofetz Chaim, levracha, said a different pshat. Ve'eineinu lo ra'u, says my grandfather, zecher tzaddik livracha. A lot of times when somebody's suffering, we say we didn't know, we didn't see, we weren't privy to the fact that he's suffering. That's not an excuse. Ve'eineinu lo ra'u is not an excuse, but it's a taina. You should know. A person must know if the people around him are in pain. You know, as a rav, I get to hear so many problems that I just never knew that the person had, and there are people who are around me, because a person is so caught up in himself and his own problems, he just doesn't see, he just doesn't know. We need to look out, to see, to check. What is the other person? Maybe something's bothering him. There's an interesting Maharsha. The Maharsha says, you notice the Gemara says that we did not not feed him; we fed him. And also, what did we do? No, leviah. We also escorted him. If we didn't escort him, then it would be somewhat our fault that he got killed. Now what is leviah, rabboisai? Leviah is a halacha. Leviah is that a person comes to our house, we must escort him, and the simple reason is because we want to make sure he knows where he's going. If you don't escort him, who knows where he can get lost in a bad neighborhood and something bad could happen to him. Many poskim, halachic authorities, hold that could be today there's no chiyuv of leviah because we have signs, we have streetlights. You're not going to get lost. Why do you have to tell a person where he's going? Yet many mefarshim learn that it's a segulah. There's something, a segulah. You know, Baruch Hashem, we're a beautiful Sefardic community here. Every time they hear the word segulah, they all of a sudden pick up their heads and they're up. Yes, the word segulah, the Chofetz Chaim and Ahavas Chesed calls leviah a segulah. You see? It works. Everybody picks his head up. Okay, so listen to the segulah of leviah.

What is this segulah? The Maharsha explains, when you are melaveh somebody, it's goodwill. It shows that you care for him. He carries this goodwill with him, and it's a segulah for shmirah. Yeah? It's a segulah. This that you're showing that you care and you want he should be safe, he takes that with him, and this protects him. Almost like the words of the Maharsha, Ritzon yerei'av ya'aseh. You want so much he should be protected, he will be protected, to the point that the rotzeach, the murderer, he won't be able to do much to him. You hear? A segulah. It's a beautiful segulah. What's the pshat, rabosai? Kindness is infectious. That's the lesson. When you act in a kind way, it carries. The svivah around takes from it, and there is shmirah, there is protection. This is tremendous lessons in what it means: the svivah, the surrounding, the community. Positive things. When a person does something positive, something kind, how it carries, and it creates an atmosphere against evil, against bad. This is one of the lessons of eglah arufah. And that's why we search, we look to see which city, the people around. And we even blame all the way back to Yotzei Mitzrayim, because good influences good in the world. You know, rabboisai, I don't know if everyone knows what Yud Gimel Midos are. What are the Yud Gimel Midos? Slichos. We're saying slichos. Sefardim have already begun the slichos, and im yirtzeh Hashem, the halachos shiur will be in reference to slichos. What is the essence? What is the ikar of the slichos, the Yud Gimel Midos? Hashem, Hashem, Kel Rachum v'Chanun, erech apayim v'rav chesed v'emes, say it over again and over again and over again. Where does it come from? What is the makor, the root? Where is it found? It's a Gemara in Rosh Hashanah daf yud zayin. The Gemara says, Amar Rabbi Yochanan, אילמלא מקרא, if the pasuk wouldn't tell it to us, we would not be allowed to say the following, that Hashem Himself put on a tallis and He taught Moshe Rabbeinu that whenever Klal Yisrael sins, they should ya'asu k'seder hazeh, they should do the following and say the Yud Gimel Midos, and ani moichel lahem, I forgive them. If you look at the language of the Gemara, the Gemara does not say yoimru. Doesn't say you should say Yud Gimel Midos. It says, Ya'asu. They should do, k'seder hazeh. People always say, Did you say slichos? Slichos is not to be said. Slichos is to be done. Ya'asu. Toimeh d'vorim says, You want to know what the ikar of the slichos is? Mahu rachum, af atah rachum. Mahu chanun, af atah chanun. It's to behave in the Yud Gimel Midos shel rachamim: mercy, kindness, compassion. When a person behaves compassionate, it cleans all the sin. It cleans all the evil, all the bad that comes from one's actions. Every act a person does has hashpa'ah. People don't realize every act you do in this world has an effect, and every kind act uproots the bad. It's zeh l'umas zeh. It combats bad. We gave mizoines. We gave mizoines. That means the murderer...

Murder. Yes. Because kindness combats bad and evil. Did you hear what I just told you, rabboisai? Please learn this. Man in life has a tremendous achrayus, a responsibility. Every act could either do something negative, or he could do something extremely positive to combat that negative. Ka'per l'amcha Yisrael asher padisa. Why? Because yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh, because we gave mezonos and leviyah. This is how we combated. I saw my zeide in the ksavim says something interesting. This parsha of Eglah Arufah, before it, the parsha begins, Ki seitzei la'milchamah al oyvecha. That's the parsha before Eglah Arufah. Ki seitzei la'milchamah al oyvecha, when you go out to war. Ki seitzei la'milchamah al oyvecha, v'ra'isa sus v'rechev, v'am rav mimcha. The parsha after Eglah Arufah, which is next week's parsha, Ki seitzei la'milchamah al oyvecha. Say Baalei Mussar, say Chassidic Rebbes, this Ki seitzei brings about midah of retzach, of murder. And therefore the influence is, Ki im matzai chalal ba'adamah, that someone got murdered. How do you combat that? Mezonos and leviyah. That's how you influence. What happens, rabosai, where it's not in our capability of helping the other person? We see a person is down. He needs parnassah, he needs mezonos. So it becomes the responsibility of everyone, Klal Yisrael. Everyone is responsible. But what happens if I can't do it? So let me tell you over a Tzror HaMor. Tzror HaMor is a beautiful pshat. If you notice that there's a dual responsibility between the shoftim, the ziknei ha'ir, and the kohanim are also involved in eglah arufah. If you take a look, what do the zekeinim say when they bring the korban? Yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh. What do the kohanim say? Kaper l'amcha Yisrael asher padisa. Why is it that we need both the zekeinim and the kohanim, and why does one say yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh while the other says, Kaper l'amcha Yisrael? The kohen says, Kaper l'amcha Yisrael. Rav Moshe Feinstein, zecher tzaddik livrachah, says something very profound. The zekeinim, they need to take responsibility on the murder, yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh. Had they taught Torah properly, the influence of the Torah would have created that there should not be a murder. Had they taught the halachas properly, people would know how to give tzedakah, how to do hachnasas orchim. It's their responsibility. You hear how far it goes? What about the kohanim? Their responsibility is to give chizuk after the fact. When Klal Yisrael has a murder, there's a yi'ush, there's a certain feeling of, Oh, how could such a thing happen? Oh boy, how far did we fall? And the answer is, Klal Yisrael, even if you fall, you can have kaparah, and that's also responsibility, says Rosh Yeshiva R' Moshe. The responsibility is chizuk for someone that falls. That's also. Rabosai, how many people we know make mistakes? They need chizuk. That's also the responsibility. But the Tzror HaMor says a different pshat. Says the Tzror HaMor, you know why the kohanim are involved? And the answer is because the job of the kohen is to daven. Had the kohen davened, such a thing wouldn't have happened. Had the kohen davened, such a thing wouldn't have happened. Also, the Rebbe, zecher tzaddik livracha, explains that.

That's the pshat in the pasuk. Yadeinu lo shafchu, v'eineinu lo ra'u. Ziknei ha'ir hahi es ha'eglah. V'nigshu ha'kohanim, bnei Levi, ki bam bachar Hashem levarech, v'al pihem yihyeh kol riv v'chol naga. The kohen, al pihem, according to their mouth, will be every nega, every—what does it mean, al pihem? Simply it means that they will tell if someone is a metzora. Says the Ohr HaRebbe, al pihem means their tefillah. Al pihem yihyeh kol nega v'chol riv. Everything that happens has a lot to do with the kohen's davening. Let me end with this Gemara. The Gemara says that if someone is not mevaker choleh—it's a Gemara in Nedarim, says the Gemara, harei zeh shofech damim, daf mem amud aleph. He's a murderer. How is someone who's not mevaker choleh a murderer? Why is he a murderer? So simply, like the chiddah that we said, had you be mesameach him, maybe his mazal would change, right? The Rosh says something unique. When you're mevaker choleh, the chiyuv is to daven. That's one of the most important parts of bikur cholim, to daven for the choleh. Maybe it is your davening at this particular time that was needed to save the person, and if you don't do it, you are the shofech damim. It's your responsibility. Rabosai, the lesson tonight. From Egl Arufa is, what is our responsibility to a problem? What is our responsibility to a person that's alone, that's downtrodden, that's a wanderer? And the answer is everything, from feeding him to giving him chizuk, to being mesameach him. And if I can't help, nu, rabosai, finish with me. If I can't help, what becomes my responsibility? To daven for him. And all this is, Yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh. Rabosai, pay attention. Egl Arufa is the responsibility of Klal Yisrael, everyone. Everyone. And even those that maybe are not here, and even those that generations back, everyone has responsibility. If a Jewish person gets hurt, if a Jewish person gets murdered, if there's something bad that happens, it becomes our chizuk, our chiyuv, excuse me, our chiyuv, to help, to be mechazek, and to daven. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.