Parshat Shoftim
by Rabbi Joe Wolfson
Towards the end of this week’s parsha, a curious passage appears - that of the eglah arufa or decapitated calf. A murder has taken place and a body has been found outside of a city or town. No one knows the identity of the perpetrator. What is to be done?
The elders of the nearest town, together with the priests, are to take a young heifer down to a wadi. The heifer is to be decapitated, the elders are to wash their hands over it and pronounce the following:
יָדֵ֗ינוּ לֹ֤א שפכה [שָֽׁפְכוּ֙] אֶת־הַדָּ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְעֵינֵ֖ינוּ לֹ֥א רָאֽוּ׃כַּפֵּר֩ לְעַמְּךָ֨ יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל אֲשֶׁר־פָּדִ֙יתָ֙ יְהוָ֔ה וְאַל־תִּתֵּן֙ דָּ֣ם נָקִ֔י בְּקֶ֖רֶב עַמְּךָ֣ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל
Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Absolve, O LORD, Your people Israel whom You redeemed, and do not let guilt for the blood of the innocent remain among Your people Israel. (Devarim 21:7-8)
Many are the interpretations, both rationalist and mystical, of this strange ritual - the likeness of which does not appear anywhere else in the Torah, but the most powerful and meaningful to my mind, is that given by the great Rav Yechiel Michel Tukochinsky (1871-1955).
Rav Tukochinsky, who had spent many years as the head of Jerusalem’s hevra kadisha, spent the first half of the 1940s writing his seminal work on Jewish mourning, Gesher HaChayim (Bridge Of Life). In his introduction to the work (which I have translated here), he speaks of the impact of writing a work on such a topic at a time:
of a most terrible war, the like of which has never been seen before. A war that broke the definition of what war is, and has become a global catastrophe, where nations and peoples are at war not only through their armies, but one involving entire countries and their residents, killing, murdering, exploding, destroying and wiping out all existence
This war, reflects Rav Tukochinsky, is the direct result of humanity’s loss of faith in its purpose, where all of her accumulated wisdom "now serves only to increase destruction and devastation, using all of his knowledge to invent all sorts of ways to speedily wipe out the masses of mankind!"
What can be the meaning of a work on the topic of Jewish mourning at such a time? To answer this question, Rav Tukochinsky turns to our parsha and our question - the meaning of the eglah arufa ritual. Take note, he writes: our holy Torah placed these laws specifically in the middle of the laws of warfare (between the passage of ‘when you go out to war against your enemies’ at the end of Parshat Shoftim, and the passage of ‘when you go out to war’ at the beginning of Ki Tetze), to show us that even, and especially, and a time when you are obligated to protect yourself, and to kill and to spill the blood of enemies, do not let the value of life, even then, be a minor thing in your eyes. And the whole Torah of Israel in its entirety comes to teach us the great value of life and its purposes. And all of its commandments and teachings, demonstrate how to make the most of life and through them to fulfill the command of ‘and you shall choose life’ (Devarim 30:19).
Rav Tukochinksy concludes:
The difficulties of life in general, and of the wars of life in particular, cause man to forget not only his value, but also his essence and (the reason for) his existence. Not only does he not ask himself why and for what does he live and exert himself, he does not even realise that he is alive. Remembering the day of death, even if only in a superficial manner, reminds man that he is alive, and this memory has the power to open his eyes to the immense goodness and light which is hidden in life.
In the early days of the Corona virus it was common to hear of individual victims of the pandemic and their stories. In recent months however, these personal narratives have been replaced by figures and statistics.
If the eglah arufa inspired Rav Tukochinsky in the dark days of World War II to reflect upon the value of an individual life even in the midst of so much loss of life, may they inspire us again in this moment where such enormous loss of life can cause us to forget the value of each individual.
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