Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan to the land of Canaan, you shall designate cities for yourselves; they shall be cities of refuge for you, and a murderer who killed a person unintentionally shall flee there.
Numbers 35:10-11
Collectively, the Jewish people have been subjected to the paradoxical phenomenon of being hounded by the other nations who threaten to exterminate us, and being provided by G-d throughout history with places of refuge that have guaranteed our survival. This phenomenon is what our Sages referred to when they spoke of “exile,” that parallels the City of Refuge.
When we lived in the Land of Israel and had possession of the Holy Temple, we lost our sensitivity towards G-d and one another, because we did not feel our own vulnerability. By going into exile, G-d was not punishing us, but forcing us to realize the precariousness of our own existence, so that we do not take it for granted and that we become more sensitive to G-d and others.
The purpose of exile was not a punishment for the sake of punishment, but a way to make us more receptive to G-d and other people.
While we cannot comprehend or make peace with exile conditions, no matter how benign they might seem, we must learn the lessons that exile imparts to us:
Don’t take G-d, Torah, Mitzvos, our fellow Jew and human being for granted. Be sensitive to all of the above, even as we pray to finally be liberated from the need to learn this lesson.
Collectively, the Jewish people have been subjected to the paradoxical phenomenon of being hounded by the other nations who threaten to exterminate us, and being provided by G-d throughout history with places of refuge that have guaranteed our survival. This phenomenon is what our Sages referred to when they spoke of “exile,” that parallels the City of Refuge.
When we lived in the Land of Israel and had possession of the Holy Temple, we lost our sensitivity towards G-d and one another, because we did not feel our own vulnerability. By going into exile, G-d was not punishing us, but forcing us to realize the precariousness of our own existence, so that we do not take it for granted and that we become more sensitive to G-d and others.
The purpose of exile was not a punishment for the sake of punishment, but a way to make us more receptive to G-d and other people.
While we cannot comprehend or make peace with exile conditions, no matter how benign they might seem, we must learn the lessons that exile imparts to us:
Don’t take G-d, Torah, Mitzvos, our fellow Jew and human being for granted. Be sensitive to all of the above, even as we pray to finally be liberated from the need to learn this lesson.