{"id":54474,"date":"2019-04-28T22:21:03","date_gmt":"2019-04-28T19:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=54474"},"modified":"2022-11-19T19:09:25","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T17:09:25","slug":"cities-for-accidental-killers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/cities-for-accidental-killers\/","title":{"rendered":"Cities For (Accidental) 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":[851,762,867],"acf":{"old_id":"54474","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":53309,"related_cahpter":"207","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But no refuge for murderers","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The commandment concerning the designation of special cities of refuge was comprehensively presented in the Torah at the very end of the Book of Numbers (Num. 35:9-34). At that time, God told Moses to command the people concerning these six cities, so that they might fulfill the injunction after they had secured their place in Canaan. The mention of the matter in the Book of Joshua now, towards the very end of the book, emphasizes that Israel achieved God&#8217;s promise of possessing the land, and Joshua accomplished the daunting task of taking Moses&#8217; place. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is no question that the Torah&#8217;s legislation, while acknowledging existing cultural norms, at the same time attempted to moderate and to eventually replace them with more advanced models of morality and justice. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is instructive to note that &#8220;avenging the blood,&#8221; by taking the life of the killer (innocent though he may have been of intent to murder) before law enforcement authorities can intervene, happens in many Middle Eastern societies today. Blood feuds, honor killings, and clan infighting are not uncommon in tribal societies; the cities of refuge are the Torah&#8217;s response to these phenomena, a demand over three thousand years ago to replace cruel frontier justice with a functioning and impartial judiciary. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These cities of refuge were associated with the Levites, whose own forty-eight designated cities included these six. The exile of the killer to the city of refuge was therefore not simply an act of justice and compassion, but one of absolution as well. The killer had to not only experience the anguish of banishment from his own town but also make the acquaintance of the Levites, whose special role was to provide spiritual instruction and guidance in ancient Israel. In this way, the killer could achieve pardon by serving his &#8220;sentence&#8221; of expulsion until the death of the High Priest, for that landmark event would usher in a new era of religious leadership. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In cases of premeditated homicide, however, the Torah makes it very clear that there can be no sanctuary from justice. In the bold language of Parashat Mishpatim: &#8220;If a man schemes against his fellow and kills him intentionally, then even from My altar you shall take him to die!&#8221; (Ex. 21:14). The institution of the cities of refuge was a sensible middle ground, preserving from harm those undeserving of death while at the same time brooking no compromise with murderers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Jerusalem: Koren, 2015); <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chapter: \u201cCities of Refuge and Levitical Cities\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cities of Refuge, illustration from a Bible card published 1901 by the Providence Lithograph Company \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":54475,"id":54475,"title":"jo20-Cities_of_refuge","filename":"jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/cities-for-accidental-killers\/jo20-cities_of_refuge\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo20-cities_of_refuge","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":54474,"date":"2019-04-28 19:20:49","modified":"2019-04-28 19:20:58","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":443,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge-266x300.jpg","medium-width":266,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","medium_large-width":443,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","large-width":443,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","1536x1536-width":443,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","2048x2048-width":443,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","post_full_size-width":443,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge-372x420.jpg","home_baner-width":372,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Cities For (Accidental) Killers","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"But no refuge for murderers","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":54475,"id":54475,"title":"jo20-Cities_of_refuge","filename":"jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/cities-for-accidental-killers\/jo20-cities_of_refuge\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo20-cities_of_refuge","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":54474,"date":"2019-04-28 19:20:49","modified":"2019-04-28 19:20:58","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":443,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge-266x300.jpg","medium-width":266,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","medium_large-width":443,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","large-width":443,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","1536x1536-width":443,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","2048x2048-width":443,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge.jpg","post_full_size-width":443,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo20-Cities_of_refuge-372x420.jpg","home_baner-width":372,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54474"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109330,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54474\/revisions\/109330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}