Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual/2

Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual

Exegetical Approaches

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Discover the Killer

The goal of the ritual is to publicize the murder so as to more easily find the culprit.

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. Asher

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

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.

Sources:Ibn EzraDevarim 21:1-9About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, 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 need to find a culprit so as to prevent potential collective punishment.¹ 

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

¹ 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.