Discourse Vehikritem Lachem Masei

This discourse was delivered by the Rebbe on Shabbat Parshat Mattot-Masei, 5734 (1974). The Sedra commands the establishment of Cities of Refuge for one who has accidentally killed, and the Rebbe connects this theme to the Exile through a Midrash: when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, G-d treated the expulsion as if they were fleeing to a City of Refuge, sparing their lives. The entire world outside Eden is thus a kind of refuge, and the Exile itself carries within it the seed of its own repair.