In Parshas Shoftim, Moshe Rabbeinu instructs the nation regarding many topics and mitzvos, including, but not limited to: the appointment of righteous judges, prohibitions against avodah zara, the appointment of a Jewish king, regulations governing soldiers going out to war, categories of men exempt from battle, the importance of seeking out the counsel of the wise men of the generation, gifts to the kohanim and leviim, and the prohibition against cutting down a fruit-bearing tree. 

The parsha ends with the topic of eglah arufah. The Torah informs us that when a corpse is found in the field, and it is unknown who the murderer is, the distance between the corpse and the two nearest cities are measured. The city that is found closest to the deceased is held quasi-responsible for the killing, and the elders of the city must carry out a ritual to cleanse themselves of the killing.

The pasukim tell us:

וְהָיָ֣ה הָעִ֔יר הַקְּרֹבָ֖ה אֶל־הֶֽחָלָ֑ל וְלָֽקְח֡וּ זִקְנֵי֩ הָעִ֨יר הַהִ֜וא עֶגְלַ֣ת בָּקָ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־עֻבַּד֙ בָּ֔הּ אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־מָֽשְׁכָ֖ה בְּעֹֽל - And it will be, [that from] the city closer to the corpse, the elders of that city shall take a calf with which work has never been done, [and] that has never pulled a yoke;

וְהוֹרִ֡דוּ זִקְנֵי֩ הָעִ֨יר הַהִ֤וא אֶת־הָֽעֶגְלָה֙ אֶל־נַ֣חַל אֵיתָ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־יֵֽעָבֵ֥ד בּ֖וֹ וְלֹ֥א יִזָּרֵ֑עַ וְעָֽרְפוּ־שָׁ֥ם אֶת־הָֽעֶגְלָ֖ה בַּנָּֽחַל

And the elders of that city shall bring the calf down to a rugged valley, which is neither tilled nor sown, and there they shall break the calf’s neck in the valley (Devarim 21:3-4);

וְכֹ֗ל זִקְנֵי֙ הָעִ֣יר הַהִ֔וא הַקְּרֹבִ֖ים אֶל־הֶחָלָ֑ל יִרְחֲצוּ֙ אֶת־יְדֵיהֶ֔ם עַל־הָעֶגְלָ֖ה הָעֲרוּפָ֥ה בַנָּֽחַל

And all the elders of that city, who are the nearest to the corpse, shall wash their hands over the decapitated calf in the valley;

וְעָנ֖וּ וְאָֽמְר֑וּ יָדֵ֗ינוּ לֹ֤א שָֽׁפְכוּ֙ אֶת־הַדָּ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְעֵינֵ֖ינוּ לֹ֥א רָאֽוּ

And they shall raise their voices and say, "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see” (21:6-7).

Chazal wonder as to the intention of this statement: “our hands did not spill this blood and our eyes did not see”. Quoting the Sages (Sotah 45b), Rashi (to v.7) explains:

ידינו לא שפכה. וְכִי עָלְתָה עַל לֵב שֶׁזִּקְנֵי בֵית דִּין שׁוֹפְכֵי דָמִים הֵם? אֶלָּא לֹא רְאִינוּהוּ וּפְטַרְנוּהוּ בְּלֹא מְזוֹנוֹת וּבְלֹא לְוָיָה 

Our hands did not spill this blood: Would it enter one’s mind that the elders of the city are murderers? Rather, the intention of this statement (and their guilt) is that their eyes did not see this traveler, and they allowed him to be sent off from their town without food and provisions, and without accompaniment. 

Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch explains that the Sages elucidate the words of the town elders as follows: “‘Our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes have not seen him.’ Now, would it enter anyone’s mind that the elders of a city, the judges of the court, are murderers? Surely this declaration is superfluous! Yet such a declaration is indeed necessary. If city officials do not show hospitality to poor wanderers, to a tramp passing through their city; if they allow him to leave without food and without escort and, as a result, he resorts to crime and suffers a calamity, then they are responsible for his fate, and they are to be blamed for his death. Of such guilt they must clear themselves…

“The very words of Scripture, ידינו לא שפכה (our hands did not spill this blood), prove that the elders are clearing themselves of any blame for participating in the crime and are not seeking to clear themselves of blame for turning a blind eye to the murderer after the commission of the murder… Thus, according to Talmud Bavli, the elders of the city make a momentous declaration: ‘In our society no one is left in such dire need that he is compelled by poverty to commit a crime!’ … They make this avowal not only for their own personal selves but for the community which they represent” (Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch, commentary to Devarim 21:7).

Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm z’l teaches, “And when a community has thus sinned against the lonely stranger in its midst, it must accept full moral guilt for his murder. And the elders must announce in shame, ‘These hands did not spill this blood and our eyes did not see.’ Do you know how the Rabbis would translate that? ‘No, we did not murder him with our very hands, but nevertheless we admit that our hands are stained with his blood, because our eyes did not see - we were blind to his existence, indifferent to him, we overlooked him, we failed to encourage him and inspire him with the dignity of being a man among men. Our hands are stained because our eyes were clouded!’” (Derashot Ledorot, Deuteronomy, p.39).

In a Jewish city and a Torah society, a traveler, a stranger, a guest and a fellow Jew may never go unnoticed. If calamity shall befall him because of the negligence of the people of the town, then guilt is upon the people, and leaders, of that town. 

The lesson for all of us is very clear. Am Yisrael is made up of a nation of brothers and sisters, and we are all connected, related and interdependent, one to another. Just as we would take care of our relative in their time of need, so too, we must never neglect the traveler, or stranger, amongst us. We must provide each Jew with provisions, food, time, a heart, friendship, warmth and accompaniment, whether he is in our midst, or when he goes on his way. 

Parshas Shoftim is the first parsha read in the month of Elul, the month leading up to the Yamim Noraim and a time of teshuva, tefilah and tzedaka. When we learn and internalize the lessons of the egla arufah, and we show compassion and love for our fellow Jews, then in that merit - b’midah she’adam moded mod’din lo - we will be graced with the Divine mercy and compassion for ourselves, our families, our nation and our Land.

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום