“Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land Havayah, your God, is giving you.”[1] Although the simple, literal sense of this injunction appearing at the beginning of parshat Shoftim is directed to the judges and society in general, Rashi clarifies that it is actually directed to the litigants. The repetitive language of “justice, justice” indicates that one should not be satisfied to bring one’s case to court, rather one should actively seek out the most competent and knowledgeable court to hear the case. Furthermore, repeating the call to justice—“justice, justice”—indicates that this statement applies to both the community and the individual.
The double message of this verse addressing both the community and the individual is reflected in the opening verse of Shoftim as well: “Judges and enforcers of the law you shall place in all of your gates that Havayah, your God gives you for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with a just judgment.”[2] Here again it is clear that this command is incumbent on the entire people.
However, the teachings of Chasidut explain that appointing judges and enforcers of the law applies to the individual as well. The gates mentioned in this verse are interpreted to mean the seven “gates” of perception placed in the head: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the mouth. These seven gates encompass four of the five physical senses: sight, hearing, smell, and taste.
The Torah portion of Shoftim is always read at the beginning of the month of Elul when we prepare for the judgment of Rosh HaShanah and the Ten Days of Teshuvah, which reach their pinnacle on Yom Kippur. We are taught that if we use the month of Elul properly, and through personal introspection judge ourselves with the intent of improving our behaving and rectifying those personality traits needing fixing, then when Rosh HaShanah arrives, the judgment, in a sense, has already been accomplished. This process is what it means on a personal level to place judges “in all of your gates.” Yet we also need “enforcers of the law” to ensure that these corrections do not remain theoretical, rather that we implement real and meaningful changes in our lives and enforce them through intentional discipline.
Cities of Refuge
There is another aspect of judgment in Shoftim—the matter of establishing cities of refuge.[3] The Torah repeatedly mentions the obligation to set aside cities of refuge for those who commit unpremeditated murder but are nonetheless somewhat responsible because of criminal negligence. These cities not only offer the murderers some mode of spiritual penitence, they also protect them from the victims’ relatives who are permitted to slay them if they venture outside the city before the law allows (that is, before the High Priest dies).
Every time the Torah mentions this commandment, it adds a new element. Previously, the Torah established that there would be three cities of refuge west of the Jordan River where most of the children of Israel would settle and three east of the Jordan where two and a half tribes would settle.[4] In Shoftim, the Torah reveals that in the Messianic era, when the Land of Israel’s borders are expanded to include those lands promised to Abraham, three more cities will be added, bringing the total to nine.[5] First let us examine a deeper meaning of the six cities of refuge, then we will explore the meaning of three more cities being added in Messianic times.
Six Constants Commandments
In the introduction to Sefer HaChinuch, an important medieval text that enumerates the 613 commandments in order of the Torah text, the anonymous author discusses six constant commandments whose obligation is continuous and applicable to all Jews, in all places. While one might assume that many commandments have similar criteria, in fact, some commandments only apply to men or to women, to cohanim or to levi’im, and many can only be performed in the Land of Israel or when the Temple is standing. In fact, in our present reality devoid of a Temple in Jerusalem, there are only 270 commandments of the 613 that are applicable.
These six continuous obligation commandments are sometimes called “the duties of the heart,” because they all pertain to our state of mind. They are: (1) Belief in the existence and Providence of God; (2) The prohibition against believing in other gods or in relying on forces other than God; (3) Belief in God’s oneness, in His all-encompassing unity; (4) The obligation to love God; (5) The obligation to fear or be in awe of God; and (6) The obligation to protect one’s mind from negative thoughts.
Interestingly, the author of Sefer HaChinuch enigmatically alludes to a connection between these six constant commandments and the six cities of refuge. This approach reflects the Ba’al Shem Tov’s later insight that all the commandments have eternal relevance, even those which cannot be practiced presently. By meditating on these six constant commandments, we can create a conceptual six-sided cube, a Divine space of sorts where we find safe-haven, a virtual city of refuge to commune with God and a place to delve into the deeper levels of our souls. The individual meditating on the six continuous commandments himself suggests a correspondence to a seventh commandment. Indeed, the individual at the heart of this meditation alludes to the commandment to prayer, which longs to be constant, as Rabbi Yehudah states in the Talmud: “Would it be that one would pray continuously.”[6]
Six Cities of Refuge and the Month of Elul
There is a deep connection between the cities of refuge and the month of Elul when we are urged to examine our previous year’s thoughts, speech, and actions, through introspection, meditation, and prayer. The “evil inclination” is like a relative of one who is killed seeking to exact retribution. In this analogy, the relative is the sins we have committed. Thus, we all need cities of refuge to escape to where we can safely rebuild, heal, and repair our lives.
Tellingly, starting from Nissan, Elul is the sixth month of the year, and the number six corresponds as we saw to the six cities of refuge and the six constant commandments. The month following Elul, Tishrei, which is the seventh month when we celebrate Rosh HaShanah, the Ten Days of Repentance, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah, and Shemini Atzeret (Simchat Torah), corresponds to a person standing in prayer from within the Divine space of the six-sided cube.
It is important to note that the first time the concept of a city of refuge is mentioned is in parshat Mishpatim which contains both the laws concerning premeditated murder and accidental homicide: “One who strikes a man who dies, will be put to death. But one who did not stalk [him], but God brought [it] about into his hand, I will make a place for you to which he shall flee.”[7] The initials of the four Hebrew words, “but God brought [it] about into his hand and I will make a place for you” (אִנָּה לְיָדוֹ וְשַׂמְתִּי לְךָ) spell “Elul” (אֱלוּל).[8]
In addition to the overall correspondence between the six commandments and the six cities of refuge, each commandment corresponds to one of the cube’s directions or planes. If we add the middle point, which corresponds to prayer, we arrive at a total of seven, corresponding to the seven lower sefirot and the seven biblical personalities who are the archetypal souls corresponding to the sefirot: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David. The meditation on these six commandments has even more deep connections and is considered the most basic of all Jewish meditations.
Three Additional Cities of Refuge
When the Torah states that three more cities of refuge will be added in the future, on the esoteric, sod level this addition alludes to three more commandments which will become constant in the Messianic era. These three commandments will correspond to the three higher sefirot of understanding (binah), wisdom (chochmah) and the crown (keter).
The first commandment, corresponding to the sefirah of binah, is teshuvah. This commandment is usually translated as repentance, but in a deeper sense means returning to God. In this context, constant teshuvah means that in the Messianic era human consciousness will be raised to such a level that people will constantly be turning to God, the soul will be continuously engaged in drawing closer to its Divine source, thus fulfilling the Talmudic dictum that one should spend “all one’s days in teshuvah.”[9]
The second commandment, corresponding to the sefirah of chochmah, is learning Torah. In this context, the obligation to learn Torah extends beyond learning the appropriate books to attaining a state of consciousness that will allow all of one’s life experiences to be filtered through the Torah, as if one was wearing “Torah-colored glasses.” Thus, at every moment in life, deeper and deeper aspects of Torah will be revealed.
The third commandment, corresponding to the sefirah of keter, is that of Kiddush Hashem (Sanctifying God’s Name). Colloquially, the commandment of Kiddush Hashem often refers to the willingness to sacrifice even one’s life for God. However, in the future, every breath, every thought and action will contribute to the sanctification of God’s name. This commandment corresponds to the highest sefirah of keter because through it, human consciousness and God will intersect and unify in a relationship of eternal sanctity.
Although these three commandments will only become constant in the future, even now we can accustom ourselves to integrating their essence into our consciousness. The six constant commandments and the commandment of constant prayer already provide the Jew with a fundamental orientation, creating the proper parameters for a life of holiness and purity, a Divine space where the soul can find refuge and peace of mind.
Miklat Miklat
In biblical times, when the cities of refuge were an part of life, signposts were required to be placed throughout the land directing people to the nearest city of refuge.[10] On each of these signposts the Hebrew word for a city of refuge, miklat (מִקְלָט), was written twice. Symbolically, the first time was to indicate how the cities of refuge were a place a person could be integrated into and experience a surrounding healing energy of God’s compassion, while the second instance was to alert the person of the need to fully take this surrounding light into his being, until it was fully integrated within the soul.[11] The numerical value of the word miklat (מִקְלָט) is 179, but when we consider that it was written twice on each sign, the combined value is 358, the same as Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ)![12]
This is a beautiful hint to how the belief in a better world, one of universal peace and harmony that will be revealed in the Messianic era has served the Jewish people as a source of strength and spiritual refuge from the persecution and oppression experienced throughout Jewish history. It also alludes to the ideas discussed above relating to the original six cities of refuge and their related six constant commandments, and the additional three cities of refuge and their associated commandments that will be constant in the time of Mashiach.
[1]. Deuteronomy16:20.
[2]. Ibid 16:18.
[3]. Ibid 19:1-10.
[4]. Numbers 35:9-15.
[5]. Deuteronomy 19:1-10.
[6]. (Berachot 21a; see Living in Divine Space for an in-depth analysis of a potent meditation based on these six constant commandments and the various aspects discussed in this article.
[7]. Exodus 21:12-13.
[8]. See Sod Hashem LiYerei’av, Chodesh Elul, for a deeper explanation of this and others acronyms for Elul.
[9]. Shabbat 153a.
[10]. Deuteronomy 19:1-3.
[11]. Lichiot Im HaZman, parshat Shoftim.
[12]. Ibid.
