Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual/2

Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Discover the Killer

The ritual and its various components are all meant to aid in finding the unknown murderer.

Sources:Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan)Devarim 21:1:1-9About Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan), R. Yosef Bekhor ShorDevarim 21:1-9About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambamHilkhot Rotzeach uShemirat haNefesh 9Hilkhot Rotzeach uShemirat haNefesh 10Moreh Nevukhim 3:40About R. Moshe b. Maimon, ChizkuniDevarim 21:2-9About R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach, Sefer HaChinukh530About Sefer HaChinukh, R. BachyaDevarim 21:1-9About R. Bachya b. Asher¹

Natural or miraculous? These commentators disagree whether the killer is to be found via natural or supernatural means:

• Miracle – Both Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan) and R. Bachya maintain that the ritual will miraculously lead to the murderer, either as a trail of worms leads from the heifer to the culprit, or as the heifer himself walks to the house of the murderer.
• Natural – The other commentators suggest that the publicity generated by the ritual will motivate people to search for the killer and gather information that will aid in the investigation.

A calf that has not been worked

Beheading

נַחַל אֵיתָן

Not worked and unsown

Elders vs priests

יָדֵינוּ לֹא שָׁפְכוּ אֶת הַדָּם

"כַּפֵּר לְעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל"

Atonement

The ritual is one of atonement, meant either to cleanse the land form the blood of the innocent, or to atone for the people / leaders who might be partially responsible for the death..

For the Land

Acts of murder defile the land, which can only be cleansed though the blood of the killer. When the killer is unknown and cannot be brought to justice, the ritual is necessary to cleanse the land.

Sources:ShadalDevarim 21:1-7About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto

Death defiles – Bemidbar 35:33 explicitly states that blood defiles the land and can only be purified through the blood of the killer: "וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא יְכֻפַּר לַדָּם אֲשֶׁר שֻׁפַּךְ בָּהּ כִּי אִם בְּדַם שֹׁפְכוֹ".

Heifer substitutes for killer

For the Nation/Leaders

The rite atones for the nation's shared responsibility in the death.

Sources:Mishna SotahSotah 9:6About the Mishna, Bavli Sotah,Sotah 9:6About the Yerushalmi Yerushalmi SotahSotah 9:6About the Yerushalmi, RambanDevarim 21:4-8About R. Moshe b. Nachman, RalbagDevarim 21:7-9Devarim Toalot 21:6About R. Levi b. Gershom, R. David Zvi HoffmannDevarim 21 IntroductionDevarim 21:7-9About R. David Zvi Hoffmann

Prevent Scapegoating

The ritual is meant to prevent scapegoating and the killing of innocents that might result from the people's zeal to find a culprit so as to prevent potential collective punishment.²

Sources:ShadalDevarim 21:1-7About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto #2

¹ R. Bachya brings several ways of understanding the ritual; this is one which he cites in the name of Rambam and then also "על דרך המדרש".

² In other words, without a ritual that could atone for the death, in their zeal to find who is responsible so as to prevent possible collective punishment, the people might be quick to punish an innocent.