Cities of Refuge: Torah Reveals the Hand of Hashem

1“And the cities that you shall give to the Levites: the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the killer to flee there, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.”¹ Why did the Torah place the cities of refuge in the portion of Levi, and not elsewhere? The order in which they were distributed is set out in detail in the Book of Yehoshua.² And what connection is there between the Levites and a person who kills unintentionally?

2aWe may say the following. Dovid HaMelech says, “See my affliction and rescue me, for I have not forgotten Your Torah.”³ But how is the second half a reason for the first? Is he to be saved from his trouble because he remembers Hashem's holy Torah? Rather, when troubles come, Heaven forbid, upon the community or upon an individual, we must know and recognize that “the hand of Hashem has done this,”⁴ and that it is not, Heaven forbid, mere chance. This is the meaning of “See my affliction and rescue me”: Dovid asks Hashem to save him from his affliction, “for I have not forgotten Your Torah,” meaning, “I ascribe everything to the power of the Torah, and I see that all of it is the hand of Hashem.”

2bThis is how the Rambam rules: when troubles come, Heaven forbid, upon an individual or upon the community, it is forbidden to put them down to chance.⁵ One must ascribe them to the hand of Hashem, which brought them because the person did not walk in Hashem's way and blemished Hashem's mitzvos. This will rouse him to turn back from his evil way, and Hashem, Who is good, will forgive him and accept his teshuvah. As Chazal said, “If a person sees sufferings coming upon him, let him examine his deeds. If he examined and found nothing, let him ascribe it to bittul Torah, neglect of Torah study.”⁶ The holy sefarim, among them the Tiferes Shlomo, explain this: if a person sees sufferings coming upon him and does not know why, let him ascribe his not knowing the cause to neglect of Torah.⁷ For had he been learning and engaging in Torah, he would know why the sufferings are coming upon him.

3The same idea explains the cities of refuge. The tribe of Levi devoted all the days of its life to Torah, as the Rambam writes: “Why did Levi not receive a share in the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael and in its spoils, together with his brothers? Because he was set apart to serve Hashem, to minister to Him, and to teach His upright ways and His righteous judgments to the many. Therefore they were set apart from the ways of the world … rather, they are the army of Hashem.”⁸ That is the gist of his words. When a person stumbles and kills unintentionally, it is a sign that he has not been privileged to gain the crown of Torah: he has not made the keeping of the Torah a lasting possession of his soul. So he must go into exile to the cities of refuge, to be among the Levites, to learn from them, to cleave to their ways and to be privileged to gain Torah. This is the remedy for “one who strikes a soul unintentionally.”⁹

4With this we can explain a teaching of Chazal. When R' Shimon bar Yochai came out of the cave and saw people busy with material things, he said, “They forsake eternal life and busy themselves with the life of the hour!”¹⁰ R' Shimon lived close to the time of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, and he saw the Jewish people in great distress. He knew that when people do not learn Torah, they end up, Heaven forbid, ascribing everything to chance and failing to recognize the hand of Hashem in every matter. That is why he said, “They forsake eternal life.” He wanted Bnei Yisrael to gain the crown of Torah and to recognize that everything happens by hashgachah pratis, Hashem's watchful care over each individual; through this we will be saved.

5Now that we find ourselves in such a holy place,¹¹ it is our duty to take upon ourselves the yoke of Torah. May Hashem grant that we be privileged to do much for the Torah, learning and teaching; to see fulfilled the words “And all your children shall be students of Hashem”;¹² and to greet the righteous Redeemer speedily. Amen, may it be His will.