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 | + | <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> </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 06:08, 18 August 2023
Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual
Exegetical Approaches
Discover the Killer
The goal of the ritual is to publicize the murder so as to more easily find the culprit.
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.
Sources:Shadal
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
The rite atones for the nation's shared responsibility in the death.
