Small Actions, Great Principles: Commentary on Parashat Va’etchannan
By Rabbi Daniel Vaisrub, Hebrew Seminary Professor of Talmud

Sometimes, you can learn great principles from small actions. A great example of this occurs in this week’s Torah reading, Va’etchannan.

Deuteronomy 4:41-43 tells us:
אָ֣ז יַבְדִּ֤יל מֹשֶׁה֙ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ עָרִ֔ים בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן מִזְרְחָ֖ה שָֽׁמֶשׁ׃ לָנֻ֨ס שָׁ֜מָּה רוֹצֵ֗חַ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִרְצַ֤ח אֶת־רֵעֵ֙הוּ֙ בִּבְלִי־דַ֔עַת וְה֛וּא לֹא־שֹׂנֵ֥א ל֖וֹ מִתְּמֹ֣ל שִׁלְשֹׁ֑ם וְנָ֗ס אֶל־אַחַ֛ת מִן־הֶעָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖ל וָחָֽי׃ אֶת־בֶּ֧צֶר בַּמִּדְבָּ֛ר בְּאֶ֥רֶץ הַמִּישֹׁ֖ר לָרֽאוּבֵנִ֑י וְאֶת־רָאמֹ֤ת בַּגִּלְעָד֙ לַגָּדִ֔י וְאֶת־גּוֹלָ֥ן בַּבָּשָׁ֖ן לַֽמְנַשִּֽׁי׃

Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan to which a man who has killed someone could escape, one who unwittingly slew another without having been an enemy in the past; he could flee to one of these cities and live: Bezer, in the wilderness in the Tableland, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth, in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; and Golan, in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.

Why did Moses choose, so close to the end of his life, to designate these three cities of refuge?

This question is amplified by a teaching from Mishnah Makkot 2:4 on this topic:
עַד שֶׁלֹּא נִבְחֲרוּ שָׁלשׁ שֶׁבְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֹא הָיוּ שָׁלשׁ שֶׁבְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן קוֹלְטוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שם) שֵׁשׁ עָרֵי מִקְלָט תִּהְיֶינָה, עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ שֶׁשְׁתָּן קוֹלְטוֹת כְּאֶחָד:

Until the three [cities of refuge] in the Land of Israel [in the Cisjordan] were selected, the three [in the Transjordan] would not admit [refugees], as it is stated: “Six cities of refuge shall they be” (Numbers 35:13): until the six of them admit unintentional murderers as one.”

Moses knew that the three cities of refuge he designated before crossing the Jordan would not function until all six of them were operational; you can’t have only half of a working legal system. Thus, his designating on the east side of the Jordan three cities of refuge had no immediate effect. That would only come years later, after the conquest was complete, long after Moses’ death.

And yet, he did it anyway.

Which brings us to the great principle of this story. In the Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 10a, Rabbi Sim’ai explained: 

זה משה רבינו שהיה יודע שאין שלש ערים שבעבר הירדן קולטות עד שלא נבחרו שלש בארץ כנען ואמר מצוה שבאה לידי אקיימנה

Moses our teacher knew that the three cities in the Transjordan would not function until the three in the Cisjordan were chosen. He [Moses] said, “Since a mitzvah has come my way, I will fulfill it.”

For Rabbi Sim’ai, even a partial mitzvah, even a partial mitzvah that you will never live to see completed, is still a mitzvah.

Lest you imagine that this is a nice little pithy saying and nothing more, let us turn to our master Maimonides, who codified Rabbi Sim’ai’s principle into his legal codex, the Mishneh Torah (Laws of Murder and Preservation of Life 8:3):

אֵין אַחַת מֵעָרֵי מִקְלָט קוֹלֶטֶת עַד שֶׁיֻּבְדְּלוּ כֻּלָּן. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר לה יג) “שֵׁשׁ עָרֵי מִקְלָט תִּהְיֶינָה לָכֶם”. וְהוֹדִיעָנוּ משֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ שֶׁאֵין שָׁלֹשׁ שֶׁבְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן קוֹלְטוֹת עַד שֶׁיֻּבְדְּלוּ שָׁלֹשׁ שֶׁבְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן. וְלָמָּה הִבְדִּילָן אָמַר הוֹאִיל וּבָאָה מִצְוָה לְיָדִי אֲקַיְּמֶנָּה:

None of the cities of refuge function until all of them are designated, as it says “Six cities of refuge shall be for you” (Numbers 35:13). And Moses our teacher made known to us that the three in the Transjordan do not function until the three [cities of refuge] in the Cisjordan are designated. Why then did he designate them [the three in the Transjordan]? He [Moses[ said, “Since a mitzvah has come my way, I will fulfill it.”

According to Maimonides, Moses’s simple act of designation was designed to teach us–by personal example–a major principle of the Torah: when a mitzvah comes your way, even a partial one, do it!