The court is obligated to straighten the roads to the
cities of refuge, to repair them and broaden them. They
must remove all impediments and obstacles... bridges should
be built (over all natural barriers) so as not to delay
one who is fleeing to [the city of refuge]. The width of
a road to a city of refuge should not be less than thirty-two
cubits[1]. “Refuge, Refuge” was written at all crossroads so
that the murderers should recognize the way and turn there.
Mishneh Torah, Laws Regarding Murder and
the Preservation of Life, 8:5
The “cities of refuge” were six cities in the
Land of Israel designated as havens for murderers. A person
who killed would flee to the nearest city of refuge, where
he would be safe from the vengeance of his victim’s
closest relative (the “avenger of the blood”)
until he was brought to trial before the sanhedrin
(a tribunal of twenty-three judges that tried capital cases).[2] It was the court’s responsibility to ensure
the accessibility of the cities of refuge by improving the
roads leading to them and posting signs with the words miklat,
miklat (“refuge, refuge”) to show the way.
On the spiritual plane, there also exist six “cities
of refuge” for the spiritual “murderer.”
Life, in the true and ultimate sense, is connection with
the divine source of being and vitality;[3] an act of transgression against the divine will
is a subtle form of “murder,” as it hinders the
flow of vitality from G-d to creation. The words of the
Torah, say our sages, are the “cities of refuge”
for the destroyer of spiritual life;[4]
if he flees into the Torah and immerses himself in it, the
Torah will protect him from the adverse results of his deed.
Specifically, there are six “constant mitzvot”
that apply to every Jew, at all times, and in all circumstances,
so that they are readily accessible to one who seeks refuge
from his faults and failings, whomever he might be and wherever
and whenever the desire to rectify his life might strike
him.[5]
But a haven is of little use if it is inaccessible or its
location is unknown. As is the case with the physical cities
of refuge, it is the community’s responsibility to
“straighten the roads... to repair them and broaden
them... remove all impediments and obstacles” and post
signs at all crossroads.
This imperative has special meaning to us today, when the
roads of life are teeming with spiritual refugees. It is
our sacred duty to station ourselves at all the crossroads
and serve as living signposts, calling out “Refuge!
Refuge!” and pointing the way to the haven of Torah.
Based on an address by the Rebbe, Shabbat
Parshat Mattot-Massei 5712 (July 19, 1952)[6]
_______________
[1]. Approximately 48 feet.
[2]. If the “avenger of the blood” killed
the killer outside of the city of refuge, he was not punished;
if he did so inside the city, he was tried as a murderer.
In those cases in which the sanhedrin determined
that the killing was unintentional (though due to the
killer’s negligence), the killer was returned to
the city of refuge to serve a sentence of exile, during
which the city continued to protect him from the “avenger
of the blood.”
[3]. Deuteronomy 4:4; ibid., 30:20; Talmud, Berachot
18b.
[5]. The Torah contains 613 mitzvot, or commandments.
However, the great majority of them require certain circumstances
to obligate and enable their fulfillment: there are mitzvot
that can be observed only at certain hours of the day,
or only on certain days of the year; mitzvot that can
be observed only in the Land of Israel, or only in the
Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple); mitzvot that pertain
only to men, only to kohanim, only to employers,
or only to farmers; and so on. But there are six mitzvot
(to believe in G-d, to avow His oneness, to renounce idolatry,
to love G-d, to fear Him, and to avoid temptation to sin)
that pertain to all times, all places and all individuals.
Thus, there are six readily accessible “cities of
refuge” for the errant soul (see introduction to
Sefer HaChinuch).
[6]. Likkutei Sichot, vol. II, pp. 363-366.
