Cities of Refuge

Cities of Refuge in the Torah are not sanctuary cities in the same way that we think of sanctuary cities in our own times.  Cities of Refuge mentioned in this week’s parasha refer to 6 cities set aside for those individuals who have unintentionally killed another individual.  Such a loss of life is to have been the result of an accident that occurred where the guilty individual acted without malevolence, and without premeditation, yet caused the death of another.  The “killer” in such cases was sent to a refuge city where he/she remained until the death of the High Priest occurred.

When you think about accidents occurring, I’m sure you’ve thought to yourself, well that was just an accident waiting to happen!  That accident was totally avoidable.  It’s true, there are varying levels of responsibility that accompany any accident.  So now, we’ll take a look at how the Talmud classifies three levels of accidents.

The first classification is an accident that was “almost being forced.”  It is a catastrophe that cannot be seen nor avoided.  You’re driving and have a sudden medical episode that comes out of the blue.  Your car hits a pedestrian on the sidewalk as my car swerves off the road.  The pedestrian is killed and you survive.  That is a situation where you truly incur no guilt.  According to Jewish law you would not have to seek safety in a city of refuge.

The second classification is defined by the Talmud as “if on purpose.” You’ve got a car with mushy brakes and have been told time and time again that they need to get fixed.  Otherwise, they might fail and they will present a great danger to others.  You ignore the warnings, don’t fix the brakes and lo and behold, they give out.  You crash into a group of pedestrians participating in a street festival and kill 3 and injure 4 more. As a result, you are not able to seek safety in a city of refuge, because you are culpable for the accident.  You were warned and chose not to fix your brakes.

Third classification according to the Talmud is the one who has some guilt but not due to extreme negligence.  You are going to be chopping wood using an axe that you’ve used in the past.  You begin chopping the wood, and the handle of the axe flies off killing an individual who is passing by.  You are guilty and perhaps had you checked the axe prior to chopping, the accident could have been avoided, and a life could have been spared.  In such a case, you are able to flee to a city of refuge which is truly a form of exile from the community and where you can be safe from blood avengers.

 “The Talmud in Makkot also tells us that were actually 42 more cities other than those listed in the Torah as cities of refuge. All 48 Israeli cities were known as Arei Haleviim. They were given to the tribe of Levi and served concurrently as Arei Miklat, cities of refuge.

This connection to the tribe of Levi uncovers the true nature of these cities. The task and charge of the Levi'im was, over and above everything else, to teach Torah to the Jewish people.” (Prisons could lessons from Cities of Refuge, Aug. 9, 2002)

Putting individuals who had inadvertently shed the blood of other individuals in cities devoted to teaching Torah values was intentional.  The goal was not punishment, rather it was rehabilitation.  Torah values are known to center around the importance of treasuring and preserving lives.  How do we know this was the purpose these cities?  The Talmud states that if the inadvertent killers ever became the majority in any of these cities then the city would lose its status as a city of refuge. 

In some ways, this concept of not surrounding killers by too many other killers made a lot of sense.  If you want to influence an individual’s behavior, it is better to provide them with peer models rather than with peers who suffer from the same forms of behavioral and/or emotional challenges.  Rehabilitation can be better achieved when individuals are given opportunities to learn new patterns of behaving and have access to learning which can re-inspire them to follow patterns of action that show care and concern for life. 

So if you look at the cities of refuge as described in the Torah and the commentary in the Talmud, they were not only places were blood avengers had no access to those who had inadvertently killed another individual, they were places where rehabilitation could take place.  Their purpose was not punishment, but the provision of a place from which re-integration could safely take place.