A short Insight into Joshua, Chapter 20 By Rabbi Nisson Dov Miller

In our chapter we learn about the cities of refuge which were designated for those who kill b'shogeg, inadvertently. We know that in our society whenever there is a need to build a new prison for those who have broken the law there is almost always a clamor by local residents to keep it away from their neighborhood. After all, who wants that element of society living near them. The same could be argued regarding someone who killed b'shogeg. Even when someone sins b'shogeg, we know that our tradition teaches that there must be some spiritual deficiency that caused Hashem to allow the sinner to fall prey to the sin. Similarly, one who kills b'shogeg clearly has a spiritual deficiency that allowed him to fall into this sin. One could argue that all Jews should avoid the proximity of such a person. The prescription that Hashem writes for this deficiency, however, is to seek refuge in the cities of the L'viyim. - in the company of specifically the L'viyim.