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NUMBERS — 35:31 murderer

NUM420 From Judaism's perspective, no one can forgive a crime committed against another. Only the victim of the crime can grant forgiveness. Since he or she is no longer able to do so, that means that murder is, by definition, an unforgivable act (see pages 184–185). Judaism's perspective on not forgiving murderers has long distinguished it from many of the societies among whom the Jews have lived. In the ancient world, for example, it was common for a murderer to pay a ransom to the victim's family, in return for which the family granted absolution. In repudiating this practice, the Torah ruled, "You may not except ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of a capital crime; he must be put to death" [this verse]. As Maimonides explains, "The soul of the victim is not the property [of his family members] but the property of God" ("Laws of Murder and Preservation of Life" 1:4). Thus, from Judaism's perspective, parents who forgive their child's murderer are behaving as if the child were their property. Just as they have the right to forgive a thief for stealing their television, so too, they imply, they have the right to forgive another for stealing their child's life; according to the Torah and Jewish law, however, they do not. ... The Jewish view can be summed up as follows: forgiveness is almost always a virtue, but the taking of an innocent life is an unforgivable offense.

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NUMBERS — 35:31 ransom

NUM422 When someone is found guilty of murder, do not accept a money payment in exchange for the death penalty. If it were permitted to accept ransom and thereby exempt murderers from the death penalty, men of wealth in moments of anger would kill people and later would use their money to save themselves from the punishment. The swords of the wealthy would drip with blood, and social order would be destroyed.

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NUMBERS — 35:32 priest

NUM423 The simple reading of this source is that the City of Refuge is just that, a safe haven for one who kills unintentionally. The source Numbers places a statute of limitations on the killer’s stay there, tying it to the death of the High Priest. It is thus not clear if, according to Numbers, staying in the City of Fefuge is a matter of protecting the unintentional killer, equivalent to a prison term, or a matter of atonement, as the Rabbis of the Talmud would seem to understand it. If so, this would be the closest the Jewish tradition comes to the notion of a jail term. (By Uzi Weingarten and the Editors)

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NUMBERS — 35:33 corrupt

NUM426 At times, one also violates the prohibition of flattery, which according to many Ge’onim (namely, the Tosafist Rabbi Eliezer of Metz, the Gaon, and Rabbi Shlomo ben Gevirol) is considered a full-fledged Torah prohibition, derived from the pasuk: וְלֹא־תַחֲנִ֣יפוּ אֶת־הָאָ֗רֶץ  “Do not corrupt the land” (Bamidbar 35:33). For example, if one speaks lashon hara or rechilus with the intention of flattering the listener--for he knows that this listener already hates the person being spoken about, and he hopes to find favor in the listener's eyes by disparaging that person—then he transgresses this prohibition. This is a terrible sin, for not only does the speaker fail to rebuke the listener for hating the other person--in fulfillment of the mitzvah of giving rebuke (which is a positive Torah commandment--his words also reinforce the hatred that already exists between the two. Because of him, the listener will repeat his sinful actions over and over again, and a new dispute will arise, as will several other problems; Hashem should save us. Note that unfortunately, this prohibition is violated very frequently. For instance, when someone speaks disparagingly of another person, then even though the listener realizes that what we said was against halachah, he might nevertheless nod his head in agreement. He might also embellish the story by adding a few negative words of his own, because at times the speaker is a prominent person from whom the listener has received favors, or because the listener is afraid that if he does not speak up he will be considered unintelligent or the like. The yetzer hara will therefore be able to convince him to yield to the pressure and show his approval to the speaker. However, my brother, you should know that this is essentially a violation of the prohibition of flattery, even if the listener adds only a few words. It is regarding such circumstances that the pasuk says: וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ שַׂכִּ֣ין בְּלֹעֶ֑ךָ אִם־בַּ֖עַל נֶ֣פֶשׁ אָֽתָּה׃ “And you shall place a knife in your throat if you are a man of spirit” (Mishlei 23:2). A person is obligated to endanger his life rather than incur such a grievous sin. According to the Torah, if a person finds himself in such a situation he must, at minimum, exert a great deal of self-control and ensure that he does not encourage the speaker by making even one gesture that indicates that he approves of his words. It is about situations like these that Chazal said (Eduyos 5:2): “Better that a person be called a fool his entire life than be considered wicked in the eyes of Hashem for even one moment.” This is relevant even when one knows that the speaker will not be influenced by his rebuke. However, if there is a possibility that his rebuke may be effective, then he is certainly obligated to reprove the speaker as well...

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NUMBERS — 35:33 expiation

NUM427 Blood-guilt required expiation with blood. In the case of an untraced and unavenged murder, the blood was "covered" or "wiped away" by means of a symbolic right of expiation (Deuteronomy 21:1-9). Deuteronomy 32:43 announces that the defilement of the land, caused by the slaughter of Israelites, will be removed by God's avenging their blood upon their enemies, thus making expiation for the land of His people. [This verse] lays down the principle that "no expiration can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but the blood of him who shed it." Consequently money compensation was ruled out in cases of murder. S.H. Langdon, H.E.R.E., V, p. 654. Offenses other than manslaughter could be propitiated by means of a gift, whether in the form of a sacrifice or a "forfeit money" (asham) and of "sin-money" (hattat) which were given to the priests in order to satisfy the offended God (II Kings 12:17; Amos 2:8).

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NUMBERS — 35:33 pollute

NUM429 Many people believe that if we want people to think well of us we must practice the art of flattery, for the truth is that most people don't feel properly appreciated. The skillful flatterer--and some people are so needy that we can just about eliminate the finesse of subtlety--helps to convince them that's not so. However, buttering up people usually means moving beyond honesty. How far should we go to win the favor of others? Should we lie? Suddenly we face two conflicting rabbinic values: ingratiating oneself with others and telling the truth. What should the caring Jew do? In matters of musar, our sages don't offer clear-cut guidelines that help us choose correctly in specific cases. Individual temperament and the human situation vary too greatly for that. Instead, our ethical teachers have left us a maze of differing opinions; we acquire wisdom in learning how to find our way through them. In the case of flattery, however, a specific path is mandated. We read in [this verse]: "Don't profane or (spiritually) pollute, tahanifu, the land in which you live." Since the word for flattery, hanufah, comes from the same root, h-n-f, as tahanifu, the rabbis rule that this biblical commandment prohibits verbal insincerity as well as profane actions. The midrash to the Book of Psalms demonstrates further the rabbis' revulsion at verbal deception. "R. Hiyya taught: Hypocrites may be exposed to publicly prevent a profanation of God's name.… But why does God allow people to sin publicly? In order that, when a misfortune occurs to the flatterer due to his wickedness, people should not blame God (Mid. Pss. 52.3). "Four kinds of people do not see the face of the Shekhinah: the mockers, the hypocrites, the slanderers, and the liars" (Mid. Pss. 101.3). Thus, aggadah, non-legal rabbinic lore, backs up halakhah, talmudic law, in its condemnation of flattery.

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