עקידת יצחק — והקריתם לכם ערים / ערי מקלט

Q — Why does the unintentional killer require exile to a city of refuge? If it was accidental, why any punishment at all? Why does his freedom await the death of the Kohen Gadol?

A — The cities of refuge teach that even one who killed b'shogeg needs galus and atonement, because an outward act carries an inner root that requires tikkun — true accident does not befall the wholly careful. Exile separates him to reflect and repair the inattention beneath the deed. His release at the Kohen Gadol's death links his fate to the one whose service atones for Israel, marking that the blemish was real yet bounded. The law refuses both extremes: neither murder nor blamelessness, but a flaw to be mended through measured exile.