"He that kills a person accidentally... shall remain [exiled in the "city of refuge"] until the death of the High Priest" (Numbers 35:11, 25). Why is the High Priest to blame? ... Said a venerable old scholar: I heard an explanation at one of the seasonal lectures of Raba, that he failed to pray for his generation. As was the case of that fellow who was devoured by a lion some three parasangs from Rabbi Joshua ben Levi's town, and Elijah the Prophet refused to visit Rabbi Joshua on that account for three days...
In the Hebrew month of Elul, the month before Rosh Hashanah, a voice inside whispers that it’s time to return home.
Some return, even from the most distant places. Some want to return, but cannot overcome their ways.
So the voice inside whispers, “I know you want to return. I appreciate that.”
Some more return. Some try, but are just too tied down.
So the voice inside whispers again, “Even if you don’t return now, I want you to know that you are deeply loved.”
Upon feeling such love, an...
