Q&A: A Question About Cities of Refuge
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
A Question About Cities of Refuge
Question
Hello and blessings,
Do you see any legal logic (or even theological logic) in the fact that a person who killed unintentionally must remain in a city of refuge depending on the life of the High Priest? That is what determines whether a person will be there for a year, 40 years, or maybe not at all (as discussed in Tractate Makkot).
Do you interpret a halakha that runs contrary to logic, or perhaps even to morality? Or do you also find logic in it?
Thank you very much in advance
Answer
I’m not familiar with mountains of refuge. There are cities of refuge.
The Talmud explains this, and I am too insignificant to do so.
Discussion on Answer
Of course. But the interpretation of it is found in the Talmud.
That’s not even from the Talmud, but an explicit verse: “until the death of the High Priest.”