[Avodah] It's not our fault

Akiva Miller akivagmiller at gmail.com
Sat Aug 22 19:45:48 PDT 2020


.
At the Eglah Arufa, the zekeinim declare, "Our hands did not spill this
blood! Our eyes did not see!"

I've heard the same explanation of this many times from many sources. In
the words of "The Midrash Says", Devarim pg 242:

> The Elders were declaring that they were not even indirectly
> responsible for the crime: "We have never dismissed any
> stranger from our city without food (so that he might have
> been forced to steal for food and was killed in return), or
> without accompaniment (so that he might have gone unprotected
> on a dangerous road)."

How can the zekeinim have been so sure?

Is it really beyond their imagination that some stranger might have passed
through unnoticed?

We're dealing with an unsolved murder. All the mussar I've ever learned
points to the proper reaction being along the lines of, "We don't know what
happened, but clearly, the system broke down somewhere. This man fell
through the cracks, and we must all share the responsibility, and try to
improve." How can the Torah tell the leadership to publicly deny
responsibility, and literally wash their hands of the incident?

I considered the possibility that this Eglah Arufah procedure is only done
when certain very specific criteria are met - for example, that the Beis
Din of the city has such an incredibly effective Hachnasas Orchim
organization that it would be impossible for such a murder to ever occur.
But if that were the case, then Eglah Arufah would have been listed on
Sanhedrin 71a among the things that never happened, and never will happen.
(The three listed there, if I read it correctly, are Ben Sorer Umoreh, Ir
Hanidachas, and a house getting tzaraas.) But it's *not* listed there, so I
suppose it might have happened, or at least, *could* happen.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Akiva Miller
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