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Over the summer I had a chance to teach a month-long Iyyun Shiur on the topic of the Eglah Arufah, discussing the ritual mandated in a scenario when an anonymous body is found, murdered in cold blood (see Devarim 21:1-9).
A timely thread on communal responsibility, and Torah:
A timely thread on communal responsibility, and Torah:
The elders of the city closest to the body must come forward and recite “Yadenu Lo Shafechu as haDam haZeh,” “our hands did not spill this blood.”
The Mishnah asks: “Would we ever have thought that the elders of the court spilled blood?!”
It answers that the elders must declare
The Mishnah asks: “Would we ever have thought that the elders of the court spilled blood?!”
It answers that the elders must declare
that they weren’t even indirectly responsible for that bloodshed, by failing to support the needy such that they were victimized (for the Bavli) or for not sufficiently neutralizing violent offenders and allowing their recidivism to result in another death (for the Yerushalmi).
In other words, community leaders are responsible not only for proximate violence, but for more broad-based, systemic concerns; if violence can be traced back to communal problems, its leadership is also culpable.
I’ve been thinking about this Sugya a lot over the past few days. As some community thought leaders have been equivocating with statement such as ‘I signed up for Trump but not for storming the Capitol,’ or ‘We should move on and not talk about Trump’... https://twitter.com/ZuckierShlomo/status/1347180838581108736
... or ‘this was bad, *but*…,’ and otherwise engaging in both-sidesism, the Eglah Arufah principle mandating that leaders take wide-ranging and comprehensive responsibility has been ringing in my ears.
Much of the communal response this week has called to mind a Rabbinic reaction to a diff. scenario where the observant Jewish comm. overwhelmingly supported a position that seemed (to some) like politics as usual, until it resulted in gross political violence, roundly condemned.
I’m talking about the Rabin assassination, which has some obvious differences to our case, but also this important parallel.
At the time, my Rebbi, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein ztz”l forcefully addressed the observant community’s equivocal response.
At the time, my Rebbi, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein ztz”l forcefully addressed the observant community’s equivocal response.
He passionately taught that a community must confront its support of a cause that resulted in such bloodshed, even when it did not directly promote or condone the violence. Rav Lichtenstein rejected the impetus to hide or distance oneself from the direct cause of the violence...
by calling it an anomaly or unanticipated, when “a day before… he could have been cited as a shining example of success and achievement, and a source of communal pride.” Can our community truthfully say “our hands did not spill this blood?”, he thundered!
No, in these situations the community must recognize that they *did* play a role in the violence, that they *do* hold a share of accountability. That their communal hands *did* spill this blood, to a certain extent.
And that, in response, they have an obligation to undergo communal reflection, a Cheshbon ha-Nefesh, in order to mend the underlying societal problems so that the problem would not recur.
Fast forward 25 years: I have seen many communal leaders decry the attacks of this past Wednesday, which is an important first step. I have seen some (but not enough) be clear about who directly caused of that violence, and reject him as a result.
Crucially, some communal leaders have begun to call for communal introspection, but regrettably that group has been far too small.
As anyone who has ever engaged in a personal Musar or self-improvement project knows, it is always easier to deflect, distract, and make excuses than it is to engage in the difficult work of owning up to one’s errors.
While failing to undergo individual self-improvement is harmful, missing the opportunity for communal redemption is far more catastrophic.
Let us hope that the religious leadership of the our community realizes the need to treat this issue w/ the importance it deserves, with the seriousness that Eglah Arufah demands. If not, our community will be doomed to complicity yet again in further cases of national violence.
Oh, and here's a written version of Rav Lichtenstein's talk in full:
https://www.etzion.org.il/en/assassination-prime-minister-rabin-zl
https://www.etzion.org.il/en/assassination-prime-minister-rabin-zl
