[Avodah] redemption - The GoEl HaDam

[Rabbi Meir G. Rabi via Avodah]

the family can come to terms with the killer.
when circumstances are such that the killer is deemed too negligent, he can
not seek refuge in the Ir Miklat and they MUST come to terms, of the
aggressor lives his life in constant fear of being executed.

Lo SikChu Kofer LeNefesh RoTzeach Hu - is a warning [to BDin] NOT to take
redemption money, NOT to avert the death penalty, NOT to come to terms; but
in other circumstances it seems we ought to seek strategies to come to
terms.

That may include but is not limited to offering money - it probably has
more to do with Teshuvah, which is the need to persuade the victims that
the regret is sincere, which is why BDin cannot provide a ruling, it can
only be negotiated through direct communications, and finding friends of
the victims and persuading them of the sincerity and getting THEM to
intercede - this is the Shurah that is described in Halacha and RaMBaM.

Why are they defined as the GoEl the redeemer? It is a redemption for the
society - an evil [negligence of this magnitude, especially when Chazal
indicate it is a reflection of other misdeeds, is an evil] of this
magnitude leaves an impression on the collective mind of the community, the
Eidah, those whose lives is a testimony to HKBH, and if it goes unpunished,
the community is tainted. So the community requires redemption.

This too feeds into the coming to terms with the aggressor - it is not only
the friends of the victim who are impressing upon their traumatised
consciousness the need to forgive to accept that the aggressor truly
regrets [and that the victim is also as Chazal say, a contributor to his
untimely own end] but the community is a sort of spectator to these
negotiations and the aggressors feel a need to be accepted by the community
and not be seen as being too harsh and vengeful or rapacious in their
demands for compensation.

This is a very redeeming experience for everyone

Best,

Meir G. Rabi

0423 207 837
+61 423 207 837
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