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Why does every small city need its own court with twenty-three judges? The shiur develops the yesod that the purpose of courts is not to punish wrongdoing but to create a moral presence that prevents crime. This presence teaches right from wrong through living examples, just as ants instinctively avoid theft without external enforcement.
Rabbi Zweig begins by examining the requirement that every city of 120 people must have a Beis Din of 23 judges (shoftim v'shotrim titen l'cha b'chol sh'arecha). This seems puzzling - why would such a small population need its own criminal court? The answer emerges through a Midrash on Mishlei about ants who don't steal even without judges or police. The Midrash teaches that ants dropped grain will be left untouched by other ants until the original owner retrieves it, despite having no enforcement mechanism. From this, Chazal derive that humans, who do have judges and police, should certainly not steal. However, this comparison seems problematic - ants appear to lack the inclination to steal, while humans naturally tend toward theft (as the Gemara (גמרא) states, 'most people stumble in gezel').
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Parshas Shoftim
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What is the primary purpose of the cities of refuge - protecting the accidental killer or something else? The shiur argues that creating respect for law takes precedence over providing sanctuary. True deterrence comes from recognizing the gravity of murder itself, not fear of punishment.
