{"id":51120,"date":"2019-03-10T18:24:04","date_gmt":"2019-03-10T16:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=51120"},"modified":"2022-10-02T09:50:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T06:50:56","slug":"the-potential-of-a-community-of-killers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-potential-of-a-community-of-killers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Potential Of A Community Of Killers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[426,547,571],"acf":{"old_id":"51120","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49857,"related_cahpter":"172","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"In a place where the past is transparent, the future is brighter","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The purpose of the cities of refuge is ambiguous in the Torah. In some places they seem to exist purely for the accidental killer\u2019s protection, a place where the blood avenger cannot touch him, where he can live his life safely. Other readings understand the cities of refuge as places of punishment. In this conception, cities of refuge are a punishment for an ambiguous sort of crime: while the murder was not premeditated it may have involved some sort of negligence. However, the cities of refuge seem like a strange sort of exile. Unlike normal exile, where the criminal is required to go abroad, the cities of refuge must be within the boundaries of the land of Israel. It is an exile without exile, an exile where the criminal does not have to leave, at least, not altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A third, more subtle purpose of the city of refuge, stems from its strangeness: it is a city composed only of killers and levites. It is a city where, no matter where an accidental killer might go or who he talks to, his sin is known. It is implicitly understood that every non-Levite in the city has a terrible event in their past. This community of killers, this community of collectively acknowledged sin, is not only a place of protection or a place of punishment. It is a place where no one has to hide what is monstrous within them. It is a place where darkness can be acknowledged. It is a place where the energy human beings usually spend hiding their flaws and their past misdeeds can instead be used to move towards redemption.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tractate Makkot explains that when an accidental killer arrives at a city of refuge, if the inhabitants of the city want to honor him in any way he is required to inform them of his past. <em>Rotzeach ani<\/em>&#8211;I am a killer. If the people of the city insist \u201ceven so,\u201d he can accept the honor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the essence of the city of refuge. It is a place where the teshuva process is open, a place where people are required to speak about the things they have done wrong, and a place where it is safe for them to speak that truth because everyone around them is doing the same. When a person is feeling the most unworthy because of their past, it is a place where they can speak their fear out loud: remember the terrible things that I have done, are you sure that you want me here, in this position of honor?&#8211;and it is a place where, because the people around him have accepted the darkness in their own past, they can answer \u201cYes, we know, and we want you here, doing this, even so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is only in this community of acknowledged, collective sin that the accidental killer has a chance for redemption. It is in this community, where everyone acknowledges the monstrous within them, that they can also reach what is most human. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image by: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">geralt\/Pixabay<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":51121,"id":51121,"title":"dt19-hands","filename":"dt19-hands.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt19-hands.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-potential-of-a-community-of-killers\/dt19-hands\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt19-hands","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":51120,"date":"2019-03-10 16:23:46","modified":"2019-03-10 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Potential Of A Community Of Killers","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"In a place where the past is transparent, the future is brighter","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":51121,"id":51121,"title":"dt19-hands","filename":"dt19-hands.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt19-hands.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-potential-of-a-community-of-killers\/dt19-hands\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt19-hands","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":51120,"date":"2019-03-10 16:23:46","modified":"2019-03-10 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