Parashat Shoftim 5786

Unsolved Murders

A D’var Torah for Parashat Shoftim

By Rabbi Dorit Edut (AJR ’06)

Many of us have seen the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” and the Netflix series “FBI:Most Wanted” before they went off the air. We were probably attracted to the solving of these crimes because of our curiosity, but I also hope we may have been motivated by the desire to see justice done – something which our Torah tradition has ingrained in us for centuries.  In my own community we have an organization called CrimeStoppers of Southeast Michigan which works closely with law enforcement and encourages people to anonymously report tips that might solve a murder crime with the promise of a nice financial reward. Yet with daily reports of new murders, resolved or not, we as a society are left with much unease.

Our Torah portion this week, Shoftim, with its emphasis on “pursuing justice” offers us a perspective on our social responsibilities, though not really relieving us of the weight these responsibilities may carry.  At the end of this portion, there is a whole description of a ritual to be carried out in the case where a murdered person is found in an open area, yet no one knows who the murderer is. The elders of the town nearest to where the body was found are to take a young calf that has never been worked to a nearby wadi with a continuously flowing stream; there they are to break the neck of this young heifer, while the Levites make a blessing over it; finally, the elders are to wash their hands over the heifer and make a public declaration that they did not kill this person nor do they know who the murderer is. Then they ask for God’s absolution for all of the people of Israel for this crime. Quite a strange ceremony for which our Sages and modern commentators have some pertinent things to say.

Rashi, on Deuteronomy 21:4, explains the symbolism of this ceremony thus: “The Holy One, blessed be He, says, as it were, Let a heifer which is only one year old and which therefore has brought forth no fruits (no offspring) have its neck broken at a spot (the untilled valley) which has not brought forth fruits, to expiate for the murder of him whom they did not permit further to beget children.”  Already there is a communal responsibility involved here in that the whole society contributed to this tragedy, that this person was prevented from being able to have any or anymore children; in other words, the sin of karet, of having one’s family name/future be ‘cut off’, has been committed by the Jewish community. Yes, this is not an easy perspective to face.

Maimonides explains in The Guide for the Perplexed as follows: The reason for the breaking of the heifer’s neck is to discover the murderer and to cleanse [the guilt for the innocent] blood. He explains that the planning of the whole procedure would attract much public discussion so that possibly witnesses would come forward and the murderer would be identified.  Even knowing that this field will never be cultivated again and stand as a living reminder of this murder could possibly cause people to discuss it, clues to be uncovered, witnesses to open up and a suspect to be arrested. This certainly shows a high level of understanding of human psychology and is the basis of how much our present-day crime solving processes work. It also emphasizes the responsiveness of people in a community who feel a certain level of concern for what has happened to a fellow human being, maybe even some underlying feelings of guilt.

Our human responsibility to each other extends even further – to examining whether we have done all that is possible within our means to have PREVENTED this murder – by helping the victim before he was attacked. Rashi understands this from the declaration made by the elders when they ‘wash their hands’ of the act. In the Talmudic Tractate Sotah 35, he explains that they are declaring that “they have never dismissed any stranger from our city without food (so that he might have been forced to steal food) and never let a stranger go without accompaniment (so that he might have gone unprotected on a dangerous road).” If this was, in our day, a child who may not have had parents who watched over him/her carefully, or a disabled person who may have gone out at night, for example – could we have been better neighbors to have offered more protection?

With the plea for atonement from the priests at the end of this ritual, we are very much reminded of the prayers of Yom Kippur where we emphasize our individual and communal responsibilities, asking for God’s forgiveness, and a chance to be released from all punishment if we can show that we have truly changed our ways. This is also the understanding that Ovadiah ben Yakov Sforno, 16^th century Italian rabbi and physician, gives to these words in the final sentence of this chapter:

– “When you are aware of someone’s guilt it is up to you to sentence the carry out the sentence and not to rely on heaven to intervene. When you are unaware of the identity of the guilty party, and you have made exhaustive attempts to find him without success, you may rest assured that G’d Himself will take care of the problem.”

    Many of you may have heard of the murder of Samantha Woll, the Downtown Synagogue president here in Detroit, which occurred just two weeks after October 7^th.  At first there were many considerations that this had been a crime related to the war in Israel, in part because she had headed a Muslim-Jewish young adult forum. Others thought it had been a person who was upset with her because of a relationship that went sour. The one person the police arrested because he had been in the area just prior to having found her body outside her condo was later proved to be innocent.  Today this crime haunts our Jewish community and remains unsolved. And yet…. if we hear the words of Rabbi Sforno, we may just have to stop looking or feeling communal guilt.  If we truly have done all that we can, including our law enforcement system, then we must release ourselves from this guilt.

There may be no way of solving a murder, even if we may have suspicions. There comes a point where we may have to leave things up to HaShem and believe that ultimately justice will be done, though it may not be earthly justice.  At the same time we must continue to “pursue justice” in every aspect of our lives and gradually bring this world to be a much better place for all who are on this earth.