At the end of Parshat Shoftim we learn of the Egla Arufa, the calf that is decapitated in a dry streambed in the event of an unsolved murder. Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook explains that the appearance of this mitzvah in our parsha is evidence of the universal significance of this ritual, beyond the specific situation.
The purpose and symbolism seem, on the surface, to be somewhat clear, the Gemara discusses them (Sota 46a), and this is not generally counted among the inscrutable mitzvot (i.e., the chukim). But, Rav Tzvi Yehuda explains, the more transcendent meaning of the ritual does warrant further explanation. He notes that the means by which the calf is slain is unique to this ceremony and to the slaughter of a donkey that is pledged to the Beit HaMikdash and cannot be redeemed. The cut is made at the base of the skull, in the place where the (knot of) the tefillin rests on a human and at the seat of the intellect. When the calf’s head is severed thus from its body, it is symbolic of our abandonment of reason and allowing the Divine Mercy to supersede our own judgment and discretion, having failed so completely to prevent this sort of deplorable behavior in the midst of our society.
As noted, the ritual of the Egla Arufa transcends the specific needs of the moment, and this fact is alluded to by its appearance in Parshat Shoftim. The mitzvot of Parshat Shoftim are relevant to the governance and political practices of an Israelite (or Israeli) society ruled by law. The king is interchangeable with the elders, as we find in the present passages (Devarim 21:1-9), and stands in for the collective of Israel at large. Rav Tzvi Yehuda points out that in the Torah there are three rituals of kaparah (atonement), one of which is found in the recitation of the elders upon performing the ritual of the Egla Arufa: “Atone for your nation Israel, whom you have designated Hashem, and do not allow for innocent blood [to be shed] among your nation Israel.” (ibid. 8). These rituals are the Egla Arufa, the Para Adumah, and the service of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur, notably the sending of a goat into the wilderness. They correspond to the three commandments for which one must allow oneself to be slain rather than violate: idolatry, fornication, and bloodshed. Each of these laws is more important than a single human life because all of human society is compromised by their abrogation.
The ritual of Egla Arufa is enacted by the elders on behalf of all of Israel for the purpose of expiating the transgression of wanton bloodshed – of murder. The problem with the unidentified body found in the wilderness is not only the simple act of violence and cruelty that brought about this outcome, but specifically that no one knows who the perpetrator is. The murderer could be anybody, and therefore it is everybody. When one person violates a commandment or wrongs another, that person can do teshuva and can provide restitution, and thereby rectify the wrong he has created. However, in a case such as the unsolved murder, there is no way for the nation of Israel to repent for the innocent blood that has been shed, and the judgment for allowing this crime to be committed in our midst is likely to be swift and merciless. For this reason, it is necessary for the elders to perform this strange and disturbing ritual in order to invoke Divine Mercy in rectifying the wrong, just as is the case with the other two rituals mentioned above as kaparah.
Rav Tzvi Yehuda’s father, Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, wonders whether this mitzvah applies regardless of whether the victim was Jew or Gentile. The distinction is noteworthy, because it is certainly forbidden to slay any person in cold blood whether they are from the People of Israel or not. The question, then, is whether the emphasis of the ritual is on the moral breakdown of Israel per se – of the proliferation of violence and cruelty among the nation – or whether there is a unique sanctity to Jewish life as bound by mitzvot which must be addressed through this unusual ritual.
Rav Kook says that on the surface it seems that any dead body found in the wilderness with signs of violence should precipitate the performance of the ritual because the language of the Torah is “a dead body found on the earth” (Dev. 21:1). This language can apply to any human remains without regard to national origin. However, the above-referenced Gemara expands upon the core ritual as described in the Torah and notes that not only was the victim not accompanied upon his death, he was also not brought to a burial ground and laid to rest. These practices are generally carried out by the community only for its own members and not for the strangers in their midst. Thus, the Gemara’s discussion suggests that the Sages believed the Torah’s scenario applied specifically to an Israelite victim. According to Rav Kook, however, this is not conclusive and the matter warrants further investigation.
