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SpaceFalcon2001
Just wondering if anyone could help me with this question. It came up originally in Parshas Mishpatim when dealing with the man who is trying to kill his friend and then accidentally kills someone else:
22. And should men quarrel and hit a pregnant woman, and she miscarries but there is no fatality, he shall surely be punished, when the woman's husband makes demands of him, and he shall give [restitution] according to the judges' [orders].
23. But if there is a fatality, you shall give a life for a life,
Rashi: Our Rabbis differ on this matter. Some say [that he must] actually [give up his] life, and some say [that he must pay] money, but not actually a life, and if one intends to kill one person and kills another, he is exempt from the death penalty and must pay his [the victim’s] heirs his value, as [it would be if] he were sold in the marketplace. -[From Mechilta, Sanh. 79]

And after going over the Gemara there is one question I can't yet answer and that is would said person be required to go into exile to the cities of refuge for the accidental killing? It seems strange that such a person can actually kill someone, and get off with nothing more than a fine (and this seems to be the concluding opinion that he gets the fine). Is there some kind of difference that I'm missing that makes this case different from an accidental killing? Or would the fine be on top of the exile?
Yehudi
QUOTE (SpaceFalcon2001 @ Feb 3 2008, 12:29 PM) *
Just wondering if anyone could help me with this question. It came up originally in Parshas Mishpatim when dealing with the man who is trying to kill his friend and then accidentally kills someone else:
22. And should men quarrel and hit a pregnant woman, and she miscarries but there is no fatality, he shall surely be punished, when the woman's husband makes demands of him, and he shall give [restitution] according to the judges' [orders].
23. But if there is a fatality, you shall give a life for a life,
Rashi: Our Rabbis differ on this matter. Some say [that he must] actually [give up his] life, and some say [that he must pay] money, but not actually a life, and if one intends to kill one person and kills another, he is exempt from the death penalty and must pay his [the victim’s] heirs his value, as [it would be if] he were sold in the marketplace. -[From Mechilta, Sanh. 79]

And after going over the Gemara there is one question I can't yet answer and that is would said person be required to go into exile to the cities of refuge for the accidental killing? It seems strange that such a person can actually kill someone, and get off with nothing more than a fine (and this seems to be the concluding opinion that he gets the fine). Is there some kind of difference that I'm missing that makes this case different from an accidental killing? Or would the fine be on top of the exile?


According to the Rambam in hilchos Rotzach 4:1 (as opposed to the Raavad) if one intended to kill one person, and by accident killed someone else, he does not go into exile since one who kills with intention does not go into exile.
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