By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari
Shalom,
At the end of our parasha we have the halacha regarding a corpse which was found outside the city limits and the murderer is unknown. The Torah commands the Bet Din to bring a calf and offer it in a special manner for atonement. There’s an interesting passage that the Bet Din needs to recite in this ceremony:
״כפר לעמך ישר×ל ×שר פדית״
“Atone your nation Yisrael whom you have redeemedâ€
(21,8)
In the Talmud ( Horayot 6A), our sages teach that this atonement is needed for all generations up to the time of the Exodus and that’s what the verse in the Torah is referring to. The obvious question is asked: What atonement do they need? What is the connection between the act of murder that took place here to those people who left Egypt?
Harav Shalom Shvadron זצ״ל, the famous Magid of Yerushalayim, explained: If there’s HaShem forbid a murder, that’s a sign that the previous generation did not raise and discipline and educate the generation properly of the importance and value of life. And if the previous generation didn’t do enough in this regard, that would be an indication of the laxity of this issue in the generation prior etc… all the way to the generation which left Egypt.
That’s the reason they all need atonement for this sin, and of course to contemplate and educate and repent and change this attitude.
We can apply this to the positive side as well; if the lack of education could have such an impact, so much more so a good and positive and proper education and being a proper role model could have a much greater impact. Our holy sages teach,“One who teaches his son Torah, it’s as if he has taught all generations following him…â€( Kidushin 30A)
Shabbat Shalom