There is a contrasting and complementing relationship between the two parshi’ot before us, that which we will read this week, and that which we read last week – the parshi’ot of Shoftim and Ki Tetze.

Already from the initial superficial examination of these parshi’ot we will see that the content and focus of Parashat Shoftim are based upon the general legal-governmental structures and how these map the course of the nation’s existence. Opposing this we have Parashat Ki Tetze which focuses on the individual, he who builds a new house and must construct railings around his roof, (D’varim 22:8;) and he who sees his fellow’s ox or lamb straying, and is obligated to return them to their owner, (ibid. v. 1.) Even in those sphere which are national in nature, like war, (ibid. 21:11,) this parasha focuses on the individual’s struggle with the evil inclination, (ibid Rashi, ibid.) and not with the national experience.

It is interesting to note the parshiya that appears at the “border” of these two parashot, between the parasha focusing on the collective nation, and that focusing on the individual. This parasha is that of the Egla Arufa, (literally “Decapitated Calf”) which as we will see is the transition from the collective to the individual, placing both in harmonious union, as opposed to conflicting collision.

Let us begin our examination of this issue.

Let us note that first we will deal with this concept in the collective sphere, emphasizing the questions that arise, and slowly our appreciation of the depth of this matter will develop.

The Torah states as follows:

“When a corpse is found fallen in the field in the land God your Lord is giving you to occupy, (and) it is not known who smote him.”

(D’varim 21:1)

The emphasis of the verse “in the land God your Lord is giving you to occupy” is very interesting. Isn’t murder a severe crime regardless of where it is committed?

While indeed the literal meaning of this verse is to indicate that the process described in these verses (of Egla Arufa) only applies in Eretz Yisra’el, yet there is an additional emphasis in the verse. The verse contrasts the corpse, i.e. murder, with “the land God your Lord is giving you to occupy.”

The significance is that in Eretz Yisra’el, the land of morality, the land wherein the infinite is destined to leave its unique mark, the land which is to be a light unto the nations – in this land, when there is darkness and evil manifesting in the form of murder, even is this is the exception rather than the rule, this is of the greatest severity.

“Your elders and judges must go out and measure (the distance) to the cities around the corpse”

(ibid. v. 2)

These “elders and judges” are in fact the Great Sanhedrin of seventy-one judges which would leave its confine in the Temple in order to go out to the scene of the crime. And what would they do? Measure distances from the corpse!

It would seem that in order to perform such a simple task, measuring the distance from the corpse to all the surrounding cities, certainly others would also be qualified? Why then do we bother the highest legal body in the land with the physical determination of the closest city? Certainly this murder may simply have been ‘a settling of accounts amongst figures active in the underworld?’

The Torah’s message is that murder is murder! And murder unsettles the entire system, from the national systems all the way down to the individuals themselves, as we will see shortly.

“The elders of the city closest to the corpse must then bring a female calf which has never been worked, and which has never drawn a load with a yoke. The elders of that city shall bring the calf to a swiftly flowing stream, (the land around which) must never be worked or sown. There at the stream they shall decapitate the calf.”

(ibid. v. 3,4)

Now “The elders of the city closest to the corpse” enter the picture, i.e. the minor Sanhedrin of that city. They take the calf down to the stream and decapitate it there, in an area which “must never be worked or sown,” which signifies the life that was cruelly ended.

And then:

“And the priests from the tribe of Levi shall then come forth, for it is them whom God has chosen to serve Him and to pronounce blessings in God’s name, and it is by their word that every dispute and leprous sign shall be decided.”

(ibid. v. 5)

Thus it is at this event that we also find the Kohanim. Therefore, murder shocks the echelons of the governmental framework of Yisra’el. The Great Sanhedrin travels to the scene of the crime, the minor Sanhedrin decapitates the calf, and this is all performed in the presence of the Kohanim, the Priests of the Tribe of Levi.

It is from this initial picture of the basic understanding of the verses that we observe the deep insight that the reality of murder – any murder – must never be accepted or tolerated, and especially “in the land God your Lord is giving you to occupy.”

We then are told of the confession of the elders of the city closest to the corpse:

“And all the elders of the city closest to the corpse shall wash their hands over the decapitated calf at the stream. They shall respond and say, ‘Our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes have not witnessed it.’”

(ibid. v. 6,7)

The term “Our hands have not spilled” appears in the Torah as a kri and k’tiv. [“Kri” – literally “Read as,” and “K’tiv” – “written as.” Certain words appear in Torah in a certain manner (k’tiv), yet when read are read in a slightly different fashion, (kri).] The k’tiv appears in singular, “shafcha” – “has poured;” whereas the kri is “shafchu,” in plural.

The significance of this is to inform each of the elders that even though he employs the plural term together with his colleagues, he must see himself and his own culpability as the focus, and therefore it is written in the singular.

There is nothing easier than passing the responsibility on to others, and there is nothing nobler that taking responsibility for reality. Thus, according to our Sages, the Kohanim declare:

“‘Forgive Your people, whom You, God, have liberated. Do not allow (the guilt for) innocent blood to remain with Your people, Israel.’ The blood shall thus be atoned for.”

(ibid. v. 8)

[This reminds us of Adam’s sin when he replied to God’s question of “Did you eat from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” (B’reshit 3:11,) by shirking his responsibility for his own actions. Adam responded: “The woman that you gave to be with me – she gave me what I ate from the tree, (ibid. v. 12.) Yehuda, on the other hand, confessed regarding Tamar, “She is more righteous than I,” (ibid 38:29,) and it was specifically this confession and his owning up to his error that became the core of his strength, as Ya’akov stated in his blessing to Yehuda, ““Yehuda, you – your brothers will acknowledge! (literally “admit”)” (ibid 49:8.) Cf. the shi’ur for Parashat D’varim, “Lion cub of Yehuda.”]

This prayer-declaration seems to be as Yom Kippur Katan (“Minor Yom Kippur,” the day which precedes almost every Rosh Chodesh,) when the Kohen Gadol prays for mercy for the all of the nation.

However there is a term which seems to be hiding between the lines that is often missed: “whom You, God, have liberated.” What does this have to do with the context of the declaration? How is the Exodus from Egypt related to this parasha of an unsolved murder leading to the decapitation of a calf? In fact we will soon see that this verse and the following verse contain within them a deep concept that is expressed when Bnei Yisra’el exit Egypt, traveling from the “Iron Furnace” to “the land God your Lord is giving you to occupy.”

“You shall thus rid yourself of (the guilt of) innocent blood in your midst, since you will have done that which is morally right in God’s eyes.”

(ibid. v. 9)

Who is the verse referring to? Who is this “You” who will rid himself of the guilt of the blood?

Rashi comments as follows:

“‘You shall thus rid’ – (the verse) indicates that if the murderer is found after the calf was decapitated, he is then executed, and this is then ‘that which is morally right in God’s eyes.’”

(Rashi, ibid.)

According to Rashi, then, “You shall thus rid” refers to those charged with upholding the justice system in Yisra’el - the elders and judges. This, then, is one more stage in the incident of murder that has just occurred when the identity of the cruel murderer is revealed.

Yet there is a difficulty with this explanation. The word “You” appears in the singular, thus referring to an individual. If the intention was directed at the judges, the verse should the have stated the plural form, “v’a’tem.”

It seems that it was this very point that brought the Ibn Ezra to explain the verse different to Rashi:

“Some are of the opinion that (the verse means that) you are obligated to rid (Yisra’el) of murder; but the correct understanding in my opinion is as I have mentioned.”

(Ibn Ezra, ibid.)

According to the Ibn Ezra therefore, there is an obligation for the individual to rid Yisra’el of all murder. And how shall he do this?

“For innocent blood will not be spilled in your land if you do that which is morally right in God’s eyes; similar to the concept of ‘the reward of a transgression is transgression, and the reward of a mitzva is mitzva.’”

In other words, the moment that I, a private individual, do that which is morally right in God’s eyes, this results in a cessation of the spilling of innocent blood in Yisra’el! However here one may pose a cynical question, which the Avi Ezer, (the great commentator on the Ibn Ezra) sensed:

“The author stated: Do not query the words of the Rav, (the Ibn Ezra,) (saying) since there is free will, will the murderer who covets his fellow’s money, who desires to cunningly kill him, ask whether Bnei Yisra’el are pure and righteous (prior to his act of murder) or not?”

Hence one may question the Ibn Ezra’s approach by questioning the relationship between my own actions and the thoughts and plans of the murderer. As the Avi Ezer so aptly put it, will one “who covets his fellow’s money, who desires to cunningly kill him” pay any attention to “whether Bnei Yisra’el are pure and righteous or not?”

Then we find the fundamental basis for this issue:

“But in truth, if Yisra’el have reached the essence of completion, in unity and brotherhood, they are all as one person, and they will certainly not cause any harm to a Tzadik (righteous individual.) For when their bodies cooperate to assist each man his brother, and each man his fellow, so too their intellects and spirits will cooperate in order to save the soul of the murder victim, and to save the thoughts of the murderer that they (the thoughts) should not breach their boundaries to smite another.”

Let us pay attention to the intensity of these words. “For when their bodies cooperate to assist each man his brother, and each man his fellow,” that there is in fact unity in Yisra’el, this spiritual act’s effect on reality is so powerful that it can “save the thoughts of the murderer.” I can affect the murderer’s soul so that his thoughts “should not breach their boundaries to smite another.”

Once again we see the power of the collective, together with the force of the unity of Yisra’el, have the power to create a different atmosphere, a purer, cleaner, more moral atmosphere that influences all those with whom it comes into contact.

In a similar manner (albeit with different specifics,) the Netziv of Volozhin explains our verse as follows:

“‘You shall thus rid’ – this is a promise that the innocent blood will be rid and no further incidents like this one will occur.”

(Ha’amek Davar, ibid.)

The Netziv understands the verse as a promise and assurance for the future, while in explaining the closing verse the Netziv offers a succint summary of the concept of the Egla Arufa.

“‘Since you will have done that which is morally right in God’s eyes’ – this is the matter of the Egla Arufa, which is perpetrated in public, with the assistance of the Great Sanhedrin which travel (here) in order to measure, and which leads to investigations into the past, and rulings for the future. And it is in this learned, mass gathering that there is Divine assistance to obtain the ridding of evil from among them, and this is ‘Since you will have done that which is morally right’ to see that which is ‘morally right in God’s eyes’”

(Ha’amek Davar, D’varim 21: 9)

Thus it is in this learned, mass gathering that there is Divine assistance to rid of evil from among Yisra’el.

The common basis of the Ibn Ezra and the Netziv’s understanding is that the term “You” refers to Am Yisra’el and not to the elders and judges, (which is as Rashi understood the verse.)

Let us expand our studies with an additional understanding that may be seen as a continuation to all we have said based upon the Ibn Ezra and the Netziv.

As we stated above, Parashat Shoftim deals with the ordering and arrangement of government. The private individual who comes into contact with the various representatives if the regime and judicial bodies of a king, the Sanhedrin and the Priesthood, may ask himself two questions: Will all of these make the world into a better, good place? (Not only externally-materially, but also on the ethical-internal plane.) And the second, and possibly more important question is – what is the individual’s place in the rectification of the world?

Behold, the Torah describes an entire system that stops in its place, the greatest judiciaries, the Great and Minor Sanhedrins, as well as the Kohanim after a murder. This raises the question of whether there is any hope. Is there any hope of eliminating the evil within Yisra’el, and thus the evil in the world?

Then the parsha moves towards its focus: “You shall thus rid the innocent blood in your midst.”

You, Re’uven, you, Shim’on, you the private individual! You have the power to eliminate evil from the world! As important as the legal systems may be, the individual’s responsibility is continually emphasized.

“Since you will have done that which is morally right in God’s eyes” – This concept of moral rightness reminds us of the initial-primal nature of man:

“God has made man upright.”

(Kohelet 7:29)

Man, by nature, is upright, honest, and moral. However:

“But they have sought out many devices.”

(ibid.)

We thus see an assertion that focuses on the private individual’s place in the world, emphasizing the collective’s responsibility, precluding the sometimes cynical acceptance of a less than perfect reality.

In relation to the days of Elul in which we find ourselves we may say that often it is easier for us to anoint God as king over everything, over the upper worlds and over the lower worlds, than it is to anoint Him as king over ourselves.

The month of Elul comes to implant within us the understanding that it is all dependant on us, not as the collective nation, but us individuals who are the limbs and organs of that collective. Just as there is no limb that we desire to relinquish – so too there is no true path of any individual soul in Yisra’el that we may pronounce as irrelevant.

There is something more we must add at this point, something at which we hinted at the beginning of our words, and which is alluded to in the parasha of the Egla Arufa in the words “in the land God your Lord is giving you to occupy.” We asked why this description is necessary in this context, for murder is as vile and repugnant in any location. We answered that to the contrary, in the land which is God’s inheritance to the Jewish nation a crime such as this is one-hundred times more severe.

It is on the basis of this understanding that we will achieve a further level of understanding.

In the verses of Parashot D’varim-Va’Et’chanan, preceding the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and the relaying of the Ten Commandments we find a long dialogue by Moshe Rabbenu with Am Yisra’el. One of the verses describes this as follows:

“But you, God Himself took, and he brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, so that you would be His heritage nation, as you are today.”

(D’varim 4:20)

The act of taking the Jews described in the verse is an expression of an intimate act, and not a simply commonplace action. This reminds us of the verse, “When a man takes a woman,” (D’varim 24:5) which describes the act of taking a wife for betrothal and marriage purposes. So too here the description parallels the marriage of Yisra’el with God, so to speak. This act of taking Yisra’el in an act of marriage occurring after God takes Yisra’el “out of the iron furnace - from Egypt.”

What is the nature of an iron furnace that Egypt is described as such?

In order to properly understand what exactly this description signifies, let us examine the opposing phrase in the verse to the term “iron furnace.” The description contrasting the description of Egypt is “so that you would be His heritage nation,” indicating that a “heritage nation” is the converse to an “iron furnace.”

What is a “heritage,” “nachala,” in the Hebrew?

We have dealt with this term in the past, [Cf. the shi’ur to Parashat Pinchas, 5754,

“And to Levi he said: Your Urim and Tumim”] discussing its precise meaning and position in the Holy Tongue. We find the word “nachala” – “heritage” or “inheritance” in similar yet different contexts. The daughters of Tz’lofchad request a “nachala,” and Levi has no “nachala” – “for God is his nachala,” (D’varim 10:9.) The final example suffices to illustrate that the term “nachala” does not necessarily refer to Eretz Yisra’el, for what can “for God is his nachala” indicate in this context?

“Nachala” stems from the root “nachal” – a stream. A stream is a flow of life. Nachala describes a matter that is suitable to he who inherits it, like a stream which stems from its source. According to this, Eretz Yisra’el is the land of “nachala,” “heritage,” it is not merely an inheritance or national territory, but rather holds within it tremendous hidden spiritual forces that are suitable for the nation that inherits and occupies it, Am Yisra’el. (Therefore Moshe’s protestation against the tribes of Re’uven and Gad who desired to settle in Trans-Jordan is quite clear. They desired to settle there for the reason that “It is a land of pasture, and your servants have flocks,” (Bamidbar 32:4,) whereas Moshe declares that Eretz Yisra’el is not a land of pasture, rather it is “Eretz Nachala” - a “land of nachala” by nature!)

Moreover, every tribe of Am Yisra’el has its own unique portion in Eretz Yisra’el, a portion that directly corresponds to the nature and spirit of each tribe, and more specifically to the unique character traits that define each tribe as different from its fellow. Therefore there is the strict requirement that each tribe occupy its exact portion. An “Eretz Nachala” illustrates, therefore, the uniqueness of each individual in the unified framework. That is to say that true unity is not to blur the distinctiveness of each individual, for in the end each of Yisra’el is “a singular nation in the world,” (Sh’mu’el II 7:23.)

In the manner that this is the nature of an “Eretz Nachala,” the entire other extreme is the “iron furnace.”

What, then, is this “iron furnace?”

According to the plain understanding of the term, individual deposits of iron are placed in a furnace, which is then heated to extreme temperatures, causing the iron in the furnace to melt and form one mass of iron.

This is the complete antithesis of the concept of Nachala. For while a nachala emphasizes the place of the individual, an iron furnace melts all the individuals, forming one mold out of everyone. This is the slave kingdom that was Egypt – millions of slaves subservient to those above them, and they to those above in the next hierarchical level, until he who stand at the climate of the pyramid, a cruel dicator who views each person as another bolt in the huge slave-kingdom that is as an instrument in his hands.

We must not claim that such realities no longer exist, today, in our modern age. A quick glance at the previous century reveals how an advanced, sophisticated land can give birth to a slave-kingdom wherein an entire German people was in awe of and acted at the service of that modern “Fuhrer-Pharaoh” who desired to crush the “Am Nachala” under his boot.

This, then, is Eretz Mitzra’im - the Land of Egypt – or rather “Eretz ha’Meitzarim” – “The Land of the Villains.” This is a land that defines all of reality in accordance to the whims of one individual who leads the country. One must never believe in such a regime that is based on even more than a leader who takes on an almost deified nature – for any belief which transcends reality, which is infinite, carries the believer to that infinity, and then he is no longer a slave. Pharaoh understood this, knowing that this was the most real and present danger to his well-oiled slave kingdom.

In order to demonstrate this concept of the “iron furnace” we may examine a natural phenomenon, the beehive. (It is also interesting to note that the Hebrew word for beehive, “kaveret,” has as its root “kur” - a furnace!)

In the bee hive there is a clear and extremely well-defined hierarchy and of designation of duties. Worker-bees sole responsibility is to gather nectar. Living no longer than six weeks, these bees do not sleep, for the moment it sleeps, it dies. The male bee is responsible for the act of reproduction, and once this has been achieved the other bees no longer supply him his necessary food, and thus he is unable to survive.

There is the queen bee which lives for almost five years! The queen bee’s duty is to lay eggs. The bees within the hive (which can be seen as a furnace) create their beeswax, which serves as protection from exterior predators.

Thus we observe in the beehive an analogy to the iron furnace.

It is interesting to note the tragic fate of those in the iron furnace and the bees in the hive. In both systems those who are no longer relevant are crushed by the collective union. Even he who once stood at the apex of the hierarchy is embalmed in a coffin. He has no grave that his descendants may visit, he is “frozen” as he was.

The furnace allows its leader to feel that he is in control, that he is the lord of the land, as Pharaoh stated: “The Nile is mine, and I formed it,” (Y’chezkel 29:3,) yet ultimately he is embalmed in a coffin. In close proximity to the hive, on the ground, we find precisely the opposite process. The ground swarms with life – vegetation sprouting and growing everywhere.

The entire Torah is a struggle between the “Iron Furnace” and the “Am Nachala;” a struggle between the finite nature of the furnace, and the infinity of Nachala.

Let us return to the parasha of the Egla Arufa.

As long as murder exists, as long as one individual crushes another, thereby declaring that his victim has no place in the world – then Egypt and its mentality of the “Iron Furnace” still exists within us.

This, then, is the sharp contrast highlighted in the opening verse of the topic of the Egla Arufa:

“When a corpse is found fallen in the field in the land God your Lord is giving you to occupy...”

(D’varim 21:1)

The corpse, death, the murder that has transpired, the complete and utter devastation of another occurs specifically in the precise location that so expresses the inimitability of the individual within the collective nation. Therefore it is only fitting that every level of the judicial and legal system be shocked into action.

However, simultaneously the individual is also charged with his responsibility towards the collective nation:

“You shall thus rid yourself of the innocent blood in your midst.”

(ibid. v. 9)

This duty and responsibility is placed on you, the individual.

Now we an understand the placing of this section dealing with the Egla Arufa between Parashat Shoftim, which deals with national responsibilities and issues, and Parashat Ki Tetze, which deals with the individual’s specific obligations. The parasha of Egla Arufa demonstrates that notwithstanding the various governmental structures charged with the maintaining of social justice, the individual’s responsibility is no less. Therefore the verse emphasizes:

“Since you will have done that which is morally right in God’s eyes.”

(ibid.)

You! Specifically you!

When commenting on the incident of Yosef and his brothers, our Sages mention something very important that can complete our understanding thus far. As we will recall, after Yosef reveals his identity to his brothers he sends for his father, Ya’akov, calling him to move to Egypt. When Ya’akov sees the wagons (“agalot”) that Yosef dispatched to bring him and his household to Egypt, and the verse states:

“The spirit of Ya’akov was revived.”

(B’reshit 45:27)

Our Sages expounded Ya’akov’s reaction to the arrival of the wagons as follows:

“‘And he saw the wagons,’ (ibid.) – Rabi Levi stated in the name of Rabi Yochanan bar Sha’ula: ‘He (Yosef) said to them, ‘If he (Ya’akov) believes you – good. If not – tell him that when I departed was it not in the matter of the Egla Arufa that he was involved?’ This is as the verse states: ‘And he saw the wagons, (agalot.)’”

(B’reshit Rabba 94)

Yosef gives his brother a sign whereby they can indicate to Ya’akov that it is in fact Yosef his son who is alive after all these years. Yosef reminds his father that the matter that they were examining together, when Yosef was sent at his father’s behest to search for his brothers twenty-two years previously, was the concept of the Egla Arufa.

No doubt Yosef had misgivings as to the mission his father sent him on. Searching for his brothers held within it potential dangers that were in fact realized. However Ya’akov taught Yosef that he must accept the responsibility and search for his brothers. And just as in the case of the Egla Arufa there is a corpse whose murderer is unknown, so too Yosef’s bloodied coat is presented to Ya’akov who pronounces:

“Yosef has been torn to pieces! A wild beast must have eaten him!”

(B’reshit 38:33)

Who is this “wild beast? Ya’akov’s own sons, and Yehuda in particular. [As Rashi explains on the verse “Young lion Yehuda, you have risen from prey (“teref”), my son,” (B’reshit 49:9) – “(You have risen) from my suspicion of ‘Yosef has been torn (“taraf”) to pieces! A wild beast must have eaten him’ – and this is Yehuda who is compared to a lion.” (Rashi, ibid.)]

Ya’akov thus asserts – one who eats his brother is a wild beast.

Yosef embarks on his long journey which emphasizes the individual’s place in the collective. Yosef tests his brothers, attempting to place them before the very same test of brotherhood and unity. He offers them to sacrifice Shim’on, and then to sacrifice Binyamin. However the brothers are no longer prepared to perpetrate such deeds. They are willing to sacrifice their own lives – Yehuda approaches Yosef, taking his life into his hands, and accepts responsibility for his brother. [Indeed it is through this act that Ya’akov praises Yehuda – “You, your brothers shall acknowledge,” (ibid. v. 8.)] Thus the journey to brotherhood is completed.

Ya’akov was aware of the immense dangers that the sending of his favorite son to search for his brothers who were hostile towards Yosef. However Ya’akov appreciated the value of life without unity and brotherhood, without the cleaving of one man to his fellow.

When this saga comes to its conclusion – then and only then is the concept of the Egla Arufa fully understood.

We must recall that we exited Egypt via twelve separate paths, each man in his own specific tribe, but together we form “a singular nation in the world.” We must never shirk our responsibility to rectify the world, to eliminate the evil from our midst, and we must never allow the Egyptian “Iron Furnace” to penetrate our beings. Our destiny is not simply to depart Egypt, but to remove Egypt from within us, to become “His heritage nation, as you are today.”

Translated by Sholem Hurwitz.

Copyright Keren Yishai\Rav M. Elon