Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual/2

Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual

Exegetical Approaches

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Utilitarian: 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.

Details of the rite – According to this approach, the very existence of a rite leads people to talk about the killing, making it more likely that some information will be revealsed that will aid infinding the killer.  each of the specific details of the rite is aimed at finding the killer, as seen below:

A calf that has not been worked

Beheading

נַחַל אֵיתָן

Not sown land – Rambam understand this to mean that the land shall not be sown in the future.  As such, this serves as an incentive to the owner to find the killer, lest he lose the ability to work his land.

Elders vs priests

יָדֵינוּ לֹא שָׁפְכוּ אֶת הַדָּם

"כַּפֵּר לְעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל"

Parallel cases

Context

Repentance and Atonement

The ritual is one of atonement, meant either to cleanse the land from 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, Yerushalmi SotahSotah 9:6About the Yerushalmi, Bavli SotahSotah 45bSotah 46a-46bAbout the Bavli RashiDevarim 21:4-9About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, 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

"כַּפֵּר לְעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל" – The prayer,² "Forgive, Hashem, Your people" implies that the rite focused on attainment of atonement.

Declaration of Innocence

• Ralbag suggests that the elders' declaration

A calf that has not been worked

Beheading

נַחַל אֵיתָן

Unsown land

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.³

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

Teach the Value of Life

Killing of the calf

Beheading

Why a calf?

Elders and priests – Both the elders and priests are needed for the ceremony since the murder constituted both a crime against society and a spiritual sin against Hashem.  Thus both the elders and priests must participate in the rite. The elders take responsibility for their failure to protect life, while the priests highlight the need to ask forgiveness and gain atonement.  Together they reaffirm the value and holiness of life and reflect on their communities role in maintaining it.

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 A simple reading of the verses seems to imply that these are the words of the elders, but see

³ 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.