Parshas Matos-Masei

"Environmentalism a la Torah"

Parshas Masei includes a discussion of the "Ir Miklat," the "City of Refuge," provided by the Torah for the protection of the accidental killer from the "goel ha-dam," a relative, in general, of the deceased, who is permitted by the Torah (which itself requires explanation but is not the topic of this essay), to "avenge the blood" of the unfortunate victim. He may do so by killing the accidental killer as long as the latter is not within the precincts of the Ir Miklat, where he must reside until the death of the reigning Kohen Gadol.

However, it is made quite clear that the killer with malice, the murderer, has no business in a City of Refuge; not even the altar in the Temple can protect him, as it can in other religions. "From my altar," says G-d, "remove the murderer, so that he may go to his death."

In a striking verse in the Parshah, in which the Land of Israel appears as an individual capable of contamination and requiring of Atonement, the Torah says "And do not pollute the Land where you live, for blood pollutes the ground; and Atonement will not be made for the Land except by the blood of the one who spilled it." (Bamidbar, 35,33)

We find a similar verse in the beginning of the Torah, where G-d rebukes Kayin for killing Hevel, "And He said, ‘What have you done, the voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!" (Ber. 4,10) And before the Generation of the Flood was wiped out, we find the following description of society: "The earth became corrupt before G-d, and the whole world was filled with violence." (Ber. 6,11)

In Vayikra, Parshas Kedoshim, the Torah provides a list of the sexual abominations committed by the perverted Canaanite nations. G-d then admonishes the People of Israel, "Guard all my decrees and laws and follow them, lest the Land ‘vomit you out,’ …And do not follow the practices of the nations which I am driving out before you, for they did all those (abominations), and therefore I abhorred them."

In Masei again, the Torah explains this extreme moral sensitivity of the Land of Israel, "And do not make the Land in which you live spiritually unclean, the Land in which I allow My Presence to reside, for I am G-d, and My Presence resides among the Children of Israel."

The Midrash teaches that nothing in G-d’s World is morally neutral. It says that in the time of the Moshiach, hopefully soon to come, the fruit on the trees will shout warnings to passers-by, "Do not pluck us from the tree; we belong to a rightful owner."

With the "Nine Days" and Tisha B’Av hard upon us, and with the "Ten Days of Repentance," inclusive of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur fast approaching, we know that we face stringent requirements for spiritual cleanup, and major behavioral changes will be needed, impacting our Quality of Life. It would be wise, then, for us to activate our Internal "Search Engines," to help us do a good and thorough "Cheshbon HaNefesh," "self-analysis and accounting" before we appear before the Heavenly Court for Judgment and, hopefully, Atonement.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU