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DEUTERONOMY — 21:4 sown

DEUT1031 Do not work or plant the land where city elders break a heifer’s neck after a murder. Key concept: So that everyone who passes by will be reminded that because a Jew was murdered, a heifer was killed to publicize the tragedy. Everyone will see that the land where the heifer was killed has remained desolate, and so it shall remain forever, just as our hearts should be forever desolate, for a Jew’s life was tragically cut short. The land’s desolation will serve to cause the nation to be repulsed by the idea of murder, so no Jew will ever think to wantonly take another person's life. This is the main idea of the entire procedure--to make us abhor murder and to detest its evil.

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DEUTERONOMY — 21:7 declaration

DEUT1032 Respect for others was fostered by the teaching that man was created alone. The world should be reminded that to save the soul of one person is equivalent to preserving humanity. Did not all "the families of the earth" proceed from Adam? We mourn the dead with such customs as Keriah, Shivah, Kaddish, Yahrzeit and Yizkor, for these emphasize the importance of the soul that has winged its flight heavenwards. When a man was found slain outside the boundaries of the nearest city, the elders thereof had to declare in all solemnity: "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it." [this verse and vv. 1-9]. This was not because they were suspected of being directly concerned with the murder, but because they must clear their conscience before the entire assembly that the death was not the direct consequence of a failure on their part to provide shelter and hospitality for the wayfarer.

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DEUTERONOMY — 21:7 eyes

DEUT1033 The Sifre comments: "Does it occur to anyone that the elders were suspected of shedding blood? With their statement implies is this: he did not come to us and we dismissed him without food; and we have not seen him and neglected to escort him." Failure to help the needy may expose them to starvation. "The Torah," R. Simlai observed, "begins with loving kindness and ends with loving kindness." Sifre, Deut. 210; Sotah 9:6; 14b. See story of Nahum of Gimzo, Taanit 21a. A harsh and hostile world taught the Jewish people to aid one another in distress. Jewish communities considered it to be part of prudence as well as of religious duty to care for their own poor, and to prevent them from becoming burdens to their neighbors. Yoreh Deah 254. Motives of humanity prompted them further to come to the aid of the non-Jewish poor. Philo considers charity a debt due to all men, including strangers, slaves, and even enemies. De Caritate (Philo), 17-18. Josephus writes that Moses taught the following duties towards one's neighbors, without distinction: giving them fire, water and food, showing them the road and burying their dead. Apion II; 29. The Talmud teaches that indigent non-Jews must not be prevented from sharing the gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corners of the fields. They were to be supported along with the Jewish needy; the sick were to be visited and their dead given burial, for the sake of peace and goodwill. Git. 61a; H. Matnot Aniyim 7:7.

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DEUTERONOMY — 21:7 shed

DEUT1034 (Continued from [[GEN1120]] Genesis 21:33 tamarisk AHAVCH 197-8) Let each person look at himself. Sometimes he builds extra buildings in his yard. He does not require them for sleeping facilities, but for less vital uses, and he convinces himself that these are a necessity for one purpose or another. So how can he then refuse to provide quarters for the needs of his soul? Now, if people individually cannot afford the cost, certainly the community is obliged to provide a hostile for wayfarers, so that they should not have to sleep outside. The community must also take care to feed them, and must by no means allow them to depart, God forbid, without food. Chazal (Sotah 46b) have remarked in commenting on [this] verse: "Our hands have not shed this blood," that it conveys: "He did not come to our hand and we let him go without food." Chazal have also declared that "had Jonathan given David two loaves of bread"… as we have explained in chapter 1. It has now become the standard practice in Jewry to found a Hachnasath Orchim Society which devotes self to the fulfillment of this mitzvah. Happy is the lot of these people!

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DEUTERONOMY — 21:7 shed

DEUT1035 After the guest has finished his meal, the host must accompany him on his way. Chazal have ascribed very great value to this mitzvah, declaring (Sotah 46b) that it carries reward without limit. They have also expounded [this] verse in this way: "Can it enter our minds that the elders of the Beth Din shed blood?--They meant to say 'We did not see him and dismiss him without food, and we did not leave him without an escort.'" Chazal have further asserted that if a person accompanies someone setting out on a journey a distance of four cubits, the traveler will come to no harm. Hence whoever fails to escort him it is like one who sheds blood. The community may compel individuals to escort travelers, just as it may force individuals to contribute to charity. Especially is this important when the guest does not know the way, and there are many forks and crossroads ahead. Then it is a great mitzvah to accompany the traveler and show him the way, or at least to give him such precise directions that he makes no mistake.

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