Difference between revisions of "Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual/2"

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<category>Prevent Scapegoating
 
<category>Prevent Scapegoating
<p>The ritual is meant to prevent scapegoating and the killing of innocents that might result from the people's need to find a culprit so as to prevent potential collective punishment.<fn>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.</fn>&#160;</p>
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<p>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.<fn>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.</fn>&#160;</p>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="ShadalDevarim21-1-7" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="ShadalDevarim21-1-7" data-aht="source">Devarim 21:1-7</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto</a></multilink> #2</mekorot>
 
<mekorot><multilink><a href="ShadalDevarim21-1-7" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="ShadalDevarim21-1-7" data-aht="source">Devarim 21:1-7</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto</a></multilink> #2</mekorot>
 
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Version as of 07:08, 18 August 2023

Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Discover the Killer

Atonement

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.

Death defiles – These sources note that 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

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.1