[Avodah] It's not our fault

[Zev Sero]

On 22/8/20 10:45 pm, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> 
> 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 answer seems very simple.  Not even the most thorough hachnassas 
orchim will ever prevent all murders, because most crimes are *not* 
committed out of need.  The idea that the victim was actually a robber 
who was killed in legitimate self-defence, but in a further plot twist 
he only robbed out of desperate need, and had the city's elders done 
their job this would never have happened, is very far-fetched.

The overwhelming likelihood is that he was an innocent person who was 
killed by a robber who was acting out of greed or sheer wickedness, as 
*most* robbers do.  The Zekeinim are merely ruling out that far-fetched 
scenario in which they would bear some responsibility.

And if you ask why, in that case, do they have to go through this whole 
rigmarole to rule it out, I suggest that it's so that this possibility 
is always on their minds, and they do their utmost to make sure that in 
the unlikely even that a body is ever found they should be *able* to 
make this declaration.

-- 
Zev Sero            Wishing everyone a *healthy* and happy summer
zev at sero.name       Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper