Cities of Refuge
This week's section contains clear proof that Moshiach is essential to Judaism.
Maimonides (Laws of Kings 11:1) brings three Torah sources that Moshiach will and must come (to perfect the world) and the third and most decisive comes from this week's Torah reading:
"When G-d expands your boundaries as He swore.... and gives you all the land He promised to the Forefathers....you should add three cities…." (19: 8,9)
This is referring to the land of ten nations G-d promised to Abraham (to date we only received seven Gen. 15:18-21) and the three cities are Cities of Refuge that will be added, to the six already spoken of (Numbers 35:14 and Deut. 4:41) bringing the number to nine. Moshiach is the one who will add them.
But this is not so clear.
Moshiach is a religious figure that will bring massive spiritual changes to mankind. He'll fill the world with the awareness of G-d, eradicate strife, sloth and greed. Why will he do such a mundane thing as add three sanctuary cities to the land of Israel?
Why doesn't the Jewish Moshiach just get everyone into heaven as the gentiles claim their Moshiach will do?
Even more, these Cities serve as refuge for people who killed others unintentionally. Will there be such a thing in the days of Moshiach? Isn't Moshiach supposed to fill the world with peace? If Moshiach will make three MORE it seems to mean there will be MORE such murders.
To answer this here is a story:
Once there were two young talented Torah scholars; we will call them Moshe and Shmerl (their names were not told in the original) that married into two rich families from the same town.
The custom of the time was that Torah scholars would sit and learn Torah all day and be supported totally by their fathers-in-law. This was usually a source of great pride and satisfaction for all involved; nothing was more honorable and no endeavor worthier than to learn Torah. Especially when the son-in-law became recognized and respected.
But in this case it didn't work out so well. While Moshe was a good-natured and friendly fellow who was admired and respected Shmerl was aloof and arrogant didn't like anyone and no one liked him.
Unfortunately, Shmerl's father-in-law, instead of trying to correct Shmerl's bad personality, found ways to justify it and consequently became intensely jealous of both Moshe and his father-in-law. And the jealousy bordered on hatred.
He found tens of faults in Moshe, Hundreds!! Every time he saw him he saw more. It was difficult to be near him. But he had to fake a smile and keep it to himself. Moshe was simply too popular... and his hatred, after all, was unfounded.
Until one day. Moshe asked Shmerl's father-in-law for a loan.
It happened like this. One day Moshe was sitting in the back of the empty Shul (Synagogue) silently delving into a deep Talmud Tractate as he did every day, when suddenly he was interrupted by the sound of a man weeping.
He looked up and saw that an elderly Jew who must have entered the shul without him noticing and without noticing him, was standing in front of the Shul weeping and praying to G-d.
Moshe listened. Between his sobs he was saying that he needed money to pay back money he took. G-d was his only hope and if he didn't save him so great was his shame that he was seriously considering suicide!
When Moshe heard this, his entire body shook. he couldn't believe his ears!!
He waited for the man to finish and as he got closer he recognized that it was a simple fellow that he often said hello to on the street. He put his hands on the weeping man's shoulders and asked him warmly what the problem was.
Surprised that he had been overheard but sensing Moshe's sincerity, he opened up. He had been the sexton of another Shul and one day took a large amount of the Shul's money (he had none of his own) and loaned it to someone he trusted implicitly who promised would pay it back in two days...but the fellow left town! He simply ran away leaving him with a huge debt he was unable to pay.
Now he was so confused, desperate and depressed that he felt he was going insane .... He felt so stupid that he had been tricked, so guilty and evil that he had 'stolen' the Shul's money and so helpless that he couldn't pay it back.
Moshe immediately told him not to worry and that he would get him the money. He should come back tomorrow.
The man stood speechless, his prayers had been answered!!! He hugged and kissed Moshe showering him with thanks and blessings as he backed out of the room.
But as Moshe sat alone again he began to think. Where would he get the money? It really was a very large sum totally beyond his means. It would have to be in such a way that no one would know why he needed it. He didn't dare ask his father-in-law. He would certainly interrogate him until he found out.
So he came up with a brilliant idea. He would go to Shmerl's father-in-law (who he wasn't aware hated him) and would ask him for the loan. He could promise that, if necessary, his own father-in-law would be willing to repay the loan or even subtract it from his dowry.
But when he went there and innocently asked for the loan Shmerl's Father in law saw this as a G-d given chance for...revenge! Moshe was in the palm of his hand!!! Suddenly popped into his mind an idea that could destroy Moshe forever!!!
He told Moshe to wait, walked into a back room and returned with a folded garment of fine white linen. He explained that it was a new garment, never worn, left by him as a surety from someone that had borrowed money but did not repay the loan.
He said that he would willingly give him the loan and didn't even care when he got it back, on the condition that Moshe put on this garment and parade through the streets of the town for two hours for ALL TO SEE.
Saying this he held it up by one end and let it unfold for Moshe to see ……. vestments of a Catholic Priest!!
It would make Moshe the laughing stock (if not the local idiot) of the entire town. His wife and in-laws wouldn't be able to show their faces in public and people might even suspect him of idolatry.
Finally he would be on the top!!!
Moshe was surprised and amazed; why would Shmerl's father-in-law make such a strange demand? At first, he thought it was a joke but when he asked and was told that it was totally serious: Moshe parades, Shmerl's father-in-law pays!!! Moshe thought for a moment, considered the implications; shame, ridicule, suspicion …. And agreed.
He put on the garment, paraded through the streets at a time when everyone was sure to see him and two hours later returned, removed the garment and got the money.
Needless to say, Moshe's in-laws were embarrassed to the bone. Even worse; they suspected, as did everyone else, that Moshe had lost his mind or even worse.
But Moshe refused to tell anyone, not even his wife's family, why he did it lest the shame of the Sexton would be revealed.
After a few days, the town forgot about the incident and after a month of close observation, his family also forgot it.
But this is where the story begins.
Shmerl's father-in-law eventually sold this garment to an old tailor for a good price and this tailor decided to use this linen to make quality funeral shrouds (religious Jews use simple white linen garments to dress the dead for burial) that he could sell for a nice profit.
But shortly after they were finished the tailor fell seriously ill and told his wife and children that in the event of his passing they should use them for him.
Sure enough, he never recovered from his illness and when he passed away was buried in these very shrouds he prepared. But a few days after the funeral a strange thing happened; he appeared to his wife in a dream and requested that she dig him up and remove a patch he had added to a hole in the shrouds.
The next morning his wife went to the local Rabbi, told him what she had seen in her sleep and asked if such a thing was permissible; to dig up someone just because of a dream. The Rabbi told her that if he appears again she should tell him to appear to him, the Rabbi himself, and he would get to the bottom of it.
Sure enough, when he again appeared in her dreams, she told him to see the Rabbi and the next evening he did so and explained.
He said that after he died and was buried the linen shrouds he wore radiated such holiness that they protected him from all the sufferings of the grave. In fact, he felt that the garments were able to transport him to the highest realms. But one patch wrecked it.
It seems that he had attached a small patch to the shrouds from another garment and through that patch the forces of judgment and severity were able to enter and torture him.
The Rabbi ordered that the body be dug up and the patch removed.
The story of these mysterious shrouds began to circulate and eventually reached the ears of Shmerl's father-in-law who told Moshe who then went to the Rabbi and gave him the only explanation he could think of.
It must have been his self-sacrifice that made the garment holy and impenetrable. (see Likuti Sipurim Perlow sipur 5 and Shmuot and Sipurim vol 1 pg 281)
This answers the questions about the cities of refuge the Moshiach will make.
We see from our story that even the most mundane and even defiled things can be made higher than all the spiritual worlds if used to serve the Creator with self-sacrifice (as Moshe did).
In fact, Moshe in our story revealed the secret of the raising of the dead. That this physical world if used properly can be potentially 'higher' than all the spiritual ones; that is why all the souls in heaven will return here.
That the dead will raise is one of the 13 basic principles of Jewish faith and as explained by the Kabbalists it means that every time any limb or talent is used to serve the Creator according to the Torah it actually becomes eternal, above death.
But when one is without the Torah death is the result.
Indeed, if the Jews had united with the Torah and not sinned with the Golden Calf, death would have totally ceased from the world!! That is the essence of the Torah; to make this physical world infinite (as it was in the Holy Temple) something like what Moshe did to those shrouds in our story.
That is why Moshiach will make three more Cities of Refuge for unintentional murderers.
In the days of Moshiach everyone will feel that to separate from G-d's Torah, even in thought (!) is tantamount to MURDER i.e. being separated from life!
But nevertheless, it is UNINTENTIONAL.
In other words... we will see that sins can NEVER be done intentionally, all of them were due to unawareness of G-d's goodness.
The cities of refuge will be centers of Torah that will teach everyone about G-d to the degree that they will never make even the smallest mistake again.
These cities will only be necessary in the beginning stages of Moshiach. But after the world is educated no one will even consider being separated from G-d … even in thought.
It is certain that this will occur. But to make it happen even one moment sooner depends on us. One more good deed, word or even thought can tip the scales and we will see that this world, if used properly, is the most blessed, meaningful and joyous place possible with
...Moshiach
