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NUMBERS | 35:11 unintentionally — NUM402 I have found further in Scripture that “he...

NUM402 I have found further in Scripture that “he who kills a person accidentally” (Bemidbar 35:11) is not liable to the death penalty; that he who inadvertently violates one of the negative commandments is liable only to a sin- offering or a guilt-offering, even where its intentional violation would have made him liable to premature death, or to one of the four types of execution which the court passes sentence on. What we see from this is that there are major grounds for punishment only when both the body and heart participate in the [forbidden] act-- the heart with its intent, and the body with its activity. Similarly, [our Sages] have said that if a person performs a mitzvah but has no intention of doing it for the sake of Heaven, he receives no reward for it. Since the very basis for an act, and what it revolves around, depends on the intention and inner life of the heart, the knowledge of the duties of the heart should come before the knowledge of the duties of the limbs.

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Source KeyDUTIES
Verse35:11
Keyword(s)unintentionally
Source Page(s)17
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