opinion
Survivor’s Guilt and the
Atonement of the Innocent
BY CHAIM STEINMETZ
M y friend Johnny was lucky. He lived in a
Belarussian village near the Lithuanian
border, and in 1941, the day before the German
invasion of the Soviet Union, he was conscripted
into the Red Army.

Because of this, Johnny was taken east just
ahead of the S.S. killing machine. He survived the
Holocaust, but his father and siblings did not. Until
the end of his life, Johnny would wake up in the
middle of the night, tormented by the question of
why he survived into old age while his brothers and
sister were murdered in their teens.

Survivor’s guilt is so powerful that it doesn’t
weaken with the passage of time. Johnny was still
grappling with the murder of his family during the
Holocaust as a 95-year-old great-grandfather.

Many survivors were burdened by similar feel-
ings. Primo Levi described survivor’s guilt this way:
“Are you ashamed because you are alive in place
of another? And in particular, of a man more gener-
ous, more sensitive, more useful, wiser, worthier of
living than you?”
Survivor’s guilt has been the subject of multiple
studies. And these types of guilt feelings are not
unique to Holocaust survivors; others who experi-
ence the deaths of colleagues, such as soldiers or
survivors of accidents, experience similar feelings
of guilt. Bereaved parents are often afflicted by
guilt, wondering why they couldn’t do more for
their children. Sometimes it is the innocent who call
out for atonement.

Our Torah reading includes an unusual atone-
ment ritual, the Eglah Arufah, which offers insights
into the meaning of psychological guilt. A dead
body is found, and the murder remains unsolved.

The elders of the nearest city then perform a mul-
tifaceted ritual in response. First, a calf is decapi-
tated; afterward, the elders wash their hands and
declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor
did our eyes see it done.” Then the Kohanim call
out “Absolve, O Lord, Your people Israel whom You
redeemed, and do not let guilt for the blood of the
innocent remain among Your people Israel.”
This ritual of Eglah Arufah is extremely puzzling.

Why does an unsolved murder require atonement?
And why do the elders have to declare their inno-
cence? Some commentaries see this ritual as a publicity
stunt that shapes the communal mood. The Rambam
14 SEPTEMBER 8, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
offers the fascinating view that the purpose of the
Eglah Arufah “is evident. … As a rule, the investiga-
tion, the procession of the elders, the measuring and
the taking of the heifer make people talk about it;
and by making the event public, the murderer may
be found out, and he who knows of him, or has heard
of him, or has discovered him by any clue, will now
name the person that is the murderer.”
This explanation doesn’t see the Eglah Arufah
ritual as purposeful in itself; instead, its goal is to
draw attention to the unsolved murder and get
people to report any information they may have to
the leaders of the community.

But other commentaries take a very different
view. They see the Eglah Arufah as directly related
to questions of innocence and responsibility, and
they comment on two aspects. First, they analyze
what the elders’ statement, “Our hands did not
shed this blood” might be referring to. As Rashi
puts it, “Would it enter anyone’s mind that the
elders of the court are suspected of bloodshed?”
Survivor’s guilt is so
powerful that it doesn’t
weaken with the
passage of time.

The Talmud Yerushalmi offers two opinions as
to what this declaration means. One opinion is the
elders are declaring that they did not let the mur-
derer go free and fail to bring him to justice. This
declaration is an acknowledgment of one type of
social responsibility for the murder: The elders
must promote law and order, and be vigilant in
locating and prosecuting criminals.

The other opinion in the Yerushalmi is that the
elder’s declaration is about the victim. They are
declaring that they did not overlook the victim,
and did not fail to offer him appropriate food and
protection to embark safely on his journey. It is a
communal responsibility to take care of visitors,
one that can be a matter of life and death.

A fascinating view is offered by the Malbim and
Rashi’s commentary to the Talmud. Both see the
declaration of communal responsibility as being
about charity. If a community fails to feed the poor,
the indigent will be driven by hunger into a life
of crime. In order to obtain food, these indigent
criminals will be willing to kill or be killed. The dead
body is either that of the victim of a crime or a
criminal killed in self-defense; but either way, if the
community had provided for the hungry to begin
with, this death would never have occurred.

These are three ways that the community could
possibly bear responsibility for the victim’s death.

But now a far more important question needs to be
asked: Is this Eglah Arufah meant as an indictment
of the community, or its exoneration? The very ritual
of the Eglah Arufah is self-contradictory: The elders
wash their hands and proclaim innocence, while the
Kohanim pray for atonement, which implies guilt.

Ibn Ezra views the Eglah Arufah as an indict-
ment of the community, for two reasons. First, he
says that the community “erred and did not guard
the dangerous roads.” And then he adds that the
shocking death indicates that God is highlighting
a moral failure in the city, “because if the city had
not committed a similar deed, then the murder of
a person near their city would not have occurred.

God’s thoughts are deep and infinitely beyond our
comprehension.” This understanding sees the Eglah Arufah as a
response to moral failure. The community might
not have committed the murder, but they are still
responsible for it. They should have instituted poli-
cies that could have prevented this crime.

Others take a very different view. The medieval
commentary of the Minchat Yehuda says the Eglah
Arufah ritual expresses the community’s inno-
cence, and they are in effect declaring that “just as
the calf is flawless and the ground is flawless, so
too we are without flaw and innocent of this sin.”
Only the murderer is guilty of the crime.

But this view is puzzling. Ultimately, the Eglah
Arufah appears to be a sacrifice, and the Kohanim
are asked to offer the community atonement. But if
the community is completely innocent, why should
they be required to perform a ritual of atonement?
The answer to this question brings us back to
survivor’s guilt. Even without guilt, one can have
guilt feelings. And for this reason, there is an obli-
gation to bring an Eglah Arufah, because even the
innocent need atonement.

The purpose of the Eglah Arufah is to bring
meaning to those guilt feelings. By killing the calf,
the community reenacts the cold-blooded mur-
der, and the initial feelings of failure, shame and



opinion
guilt are immediately reawakened. The ritual
continues with the oscillating inner dialogue
of guilt. Even though one is innocent, and
can wash one’s hands of the crime, one still
chooses to pray for atonement, to justify
oneself as worthy. The Eglah Arufah is a
reenactment of survivor's guilt, and by dedi-
cating a sacrifice to it, the Eglah Arufah turns
these guilt feelings into something sacred
and meaningful.

Eglah Arufah is an atonement for the inno-
cent, a way of recognizing that guilt feelings
have profound meaning as well.

This is a very different way of seeing guilt.

In general, feelings of guilt have a bad name.

Psychologists from Freud onward have seen
guilt as an unwanted neurosis to be treated
and healed. A Holocaust survivor’s fixation
on the fate of lost family members could eas-
ily be dismissed as unhealthy guilt feelings,
the undesirable residue of years of trauma.

But this analysis overlooks spiritual insights
into guilt. Martin Buber wrote an essay “Guilt
and Guilt Feeling” to respond to Freud’s views
on guilt. He argued that there is a second
type of guilt, existential guilt, which is taking
responsibility for an “injury” to the world order.

In a broken world, ethical people will feel the
need to justify their existence. This is exactly
what the Eglah Arufah is all about, and this
ritual is a way of incorporating “existential
guilt” into our lives, making the trauma of an
unexpected death into a holy sacrifice, and a
way to raise our moral consciousness.

Buber’s insights offer a different perspec-
tive on survivor’s guilt as well. After witness-
ing the death of their friends and family,
Holocaust survivors felt challenged to prove
themselves worthy of being the lucky ones.

This existential guilt led many survivors on a
quest to rebuild a world that was lost.

They would speak to school students about
their experiences and charge them with fight-
ing hatred and antisemitism. They sacrificed
in order to rebuild the Jewish homeland
in Israel. As one observer noted, survivors
“bought a $500 Israel Bond every year even
if they didn’t have a dime.” Or, they did simple
acts of kindness. Eddie, the “candyman” in
my previous synagogue, decided to respond
to the bitterness he had experienced by mak-
ing life sweeter for the next generation.

These survivors were grappling with guilt
feelings. They were seeking atonement,
even though they were innocent. And their
quest continues to impact our community
today. JE
Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz is the senior rabbi
of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New
York. This article was originally published by
The Jewish Journal.

Hate Will Destroy
the Very Essence
of Humanity
BY RABBI IRWIN WIENER
T he history of hate extends beyond our
understanding of time and space. From Cain
killing Abel to the present day, we have learned
nothing about controlling the impulses to destroy that
which we hate. It is a disease that festers and grows
because we allow it to flourish and is nourished by so
many influences beyond our control.

Today, we are witnessing the most virulent display
of hate and bigotry in our country’s history. African
Americans, Asian Americans and all people of color
are experiencing racial profiling resulting in attitudes
that create separation rather than connection.

In recent times we have witnessed, more than ever,
expressions of distrust and fabricated distortions with
the systematic rise of antisemitism resulting in the
uncontrollable rise of atrocities that are reminiscent
of episodes throughout our history.

Our temples of academia spread discontent. The
media thrives on the sensationalism of the fright
associated with hate. Religious authorities try, for the
most part, to control the savagery, only to find their
influence slipping away.

The reports of humanity’s efforts to achieve sur-
vival for all are lost in the heinous acts occurring
every day. It is difficult to find stories of selfless efforts
to feed the hungry, house the homeless and achieve
peace. They seem to be things of the past.

Age-old distortions are prevalent. Every time we
seem to make progress in creating an atmosphere of
connection, there seem to be many more episodes
of discontent. Now the world that is supposed to
be more in tune, more intelligent, more responsible
and more educated has not changed anything. The
flagrant display of hostility is because the disenfran-
chised now find their moment in the sun as they spew
their anger and frustration. They, for the most part,
have become mainstream. And it’s for these reasons
and more that makes it so frightening.

Over the last years, we have witnessed hate and
anger on a scale not imagined or witnessed in mod-
ern times. No longer are these demons of hate hiding
in the shadows, waiting to pounce on the unsuspect-
ing. Now they have become bold and unafraid.

The most recent display of religious and racial
hatred seems to have permeated our society. This
disease has been festering for a long time. The antag-
onism and the vitriol that dominates our thinking are
commonplace and seem impossible to control.

Our country, which was and still is, a beacon of
hope, now finds itself drawn into a lack of endurance
and fortitude as it continues the journey of accep-
tance. We tolerate more than we can digest because
we are afraid and intimidated by the vocal minority
that has now become the majority.

The media constantly reminds us of the atrocities in
lands we cannot even pronounce. More importantly,
we are witnessing the destruction of our cities —
filled with murder and mayhem that seems uncon-
trollable. We read about these horrific episodes and
then return to our normal pursuits. Our minds cannot,
and do not, understand how we have sunk so low.

We close our eyes and hope that when they open, all
of this will disappear together with the root causes.

How will reason prevail when hate is taught in the
classroom, our homes and some houses of faith?
How can the brutality end when we applaud the
tragedies and watch our people get caught up in the
frenzy of destruction of sacred thoughts and places?
Civilized society should demand that we confront
this evil that has infiltrated our lives. Civilized society
should demand a positive approach to the under-
standing that we need each other to survive. The
discourse that should be taking place needs to be
tempered with sanctity for life.

Our dream, as Americans, should be that as we
engage the storm, we also know that the storm can
destroy the very fabric of our being. Our leaders
need to lead the way, not join in the upheaval. Our
leaders need to demonstrate the futility of these
hate-filled episodes that are destroying the essence
of who we are as a nation.

Hate is here, will always be here, but it can be rele-
gated to the basement of bigoted history. If we learn
anything from the atrocities of the past, it is that we
can make the future brighter than the past.

Isn’t this what we want for ourselves and those who
follow? “Never again” is not just a slogan. It is a call
to guard our liberties and the willingness to speak
out when anger and frustration seem to determine
our future.

As we begin a new year, let us resolve to be active
participants in the quest for survival — our survival.

As we learn in Genesis — it is our responsibility to
remain vigilant to preserve decency and Godliness.

This is our duty as the people of Israel. This is our
duty as the people who gave the world the under-
standing of God and all that is required of us — “to
do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.” JE
Rabbi Irwin Wiener is the spiritual leader of Sun
Lakes Jewish Congregation in Sun Lakes, Arizona.

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