vort from the Rebbe on Parshas Shoftim. One of the dinim we learn about in Parshas Shoftim is ערי מקלט, the cities of refuge. If someone killed somebody b'shogeg, unintentionally, and the גואל הדם is able to chase him and has a right to kill him, Hashem said we should set aside cities of refuge, six cities of refuge, where the רוצח, the person who killed, is able to run away, and when he runs there, he is safe. And the pasuk uses the term תכין לך הדרך. תכין לך הדרך means you shall prepare the way והיה לנוס שמה כל רוצח, that the רוצח, this person who killed, should be able to run there. And Rashi says, what does it mean תכין לך הדרך, you should prepare the way? So Rashi says, מקלט מקלט היה כתוב על פרשת דרכים. By every crossroad, every fork in the road, there was a sign that would point which way is towards ערי מקלט, to make it easier for the person who has to run away to ערי מקלט to find his way, to make it easier to get to ערי מקלט. Now, we know that

even those mitzvot that don't apply physically nowadays, they're still נצחי, they're still eternal, because in the spiritual sense, they still exist nowadays too. So this inyan of ערי מקלט, including this idea that there was signs put up by every crossroad showing which is the way to ערי מקלט, we also have ברוחניות nowadays. The Gemara says in Makkot that דברי תורה קולטין. Just like ערי מקלט protects, so too does דברי תורה protect. Torah protects a הורג נפש. If he is a הורג נפש, killed somebody ברוחניות, then ברוחניות there is a way to protect yourself, and that is through Torah. Now what does it mean a הורג נפש ברוחניות? הורג נפש ברוחניות doesn't mean davka somebody else. Could be his own nefesh. When a person turns away from the derech of Torah, Torah u'mitzvot, he is a הורג נפש, he kills his nefesh. The nefesh of a Yid is connected to the Eibershter through Torah u'mitzvot. Vadai there is the essential connection that's always there, but we're talking about the revelation, the connection that's there בגילוי comes through Torah u'mitzvot. And when a person turns away from Torah u'mitzvot, he cuts himself off from life. Torah is called כי הם חיינו ואורך ימינו, תורה is our life. And if a person turns himself away from Torah, then he cuts off his source of life, and he is called a הורג נפש, he's הורג נפש his own nefesh. Now, when a person chas v'shalom does it, a person could fall into yeiush, could give up hope, say, \"Okay, I did that, I cut off myself, so too bad, I'm lost already, it's too late.\" So the Eibershter says, \"No, there is a concept of ערי מקלט. You could always go back. דברי תורה קולטין, you could always go back to Torah.\" But remember, not only always can you go back, Hashem says, \"I'll make it easier for to inyan to go back.\" And that's the idea that there were signs by every crossroad pointing to the way to ערי מקלט, which makes it easier for him to get to the ערי מקלט. The crossroads, the fork in the road spiritually means when a person has a choice to go this way or that way, which means he has a choice to go in the way the way of Torah and go back to Torah, or he has a choice chas v'shalom to go the other direction.

Every Yid has בחירה חופשית, every Yid has free choice. So the Eibershter says there is a sign that makes it easier for you, which means the Eibershter says, \"I make it easier for you, guide you which way is the right way to go.\" The Gemara says in קידושין, יצרו של אדם מתגבר עליו בכל יום, every day the yetzer hara of a person tries to overcome him, ואלמלא הקדוש ברוך הוא עוזרו אינו יכול לו. If Hashem wouldn't help him, he wouldn't be able to do it, which means Hashem helps a person and guides a person to the right way. Doesn't force him to do it, he still leaves it up to his bechira, up to his free choice, but he helps him to do it. The Gemara also says הבא לטהר מסייעין אותו, הבא לטמא מניחין אותו. If someone comes to become tahor, to do the right thing, the Eibershter helps him. If somebody comes to do bad, the Eibershter won't stop him, the Eibershter gives him free choice. He just leaves him do it, and he doesn't help him to do it, but to the good side, Hashem helps. And this is the idea of having signs pointing and helping the person who is running away, helping him to get to the ערי מקלט. Hashem helps every Yid to get to the ערי מקלט, which is דברי תורה. So if a person is a הורג נפש Which means he turned away chas veshalom from Torah. So der Eibershter says, \"You have a choice to go now to ערי מקלט. It's not just a plain choice, I guide you and help you to go. I won't force you to do it, but I'll help you to do it.\" And these are the signs that Hashem put. He says we should put up signs pointing to the right direction, which makes it easier for the person to go. And

especially this is important in the month of Elul. The Rebbe said many times that just like there's ערי מקלט in space, specific places of ערי מקלט, there's ערי מקלט in time. ערי מקלט in time is the month of Elul. And a person has to run away and find protection, even though he didn't behave properly, in the year, this is the month of Elul when you make a cheshbon. And as the Alter Rebbe says, the mashal of the מלך בשדה, that the king is in the field, and he makes himself available for every person to get close to him. So he doesn't force them to come to him, depends on the person himself. That's why Elul is the ראשי תיבות, אני לדודי ודודי לי, I am to my beloved, my beloved is to me, means it starts from me, starts from the Yidden. Der Eibershter doesn't push us to do, doesn't force it upon us, like the time of פסח דער אויבערשטער forced himself upon us, נגלה עליהם מלך מלכי המלכים, he revealed himself to us. In the month of Elul it works the other way, starts from us. But he definitely makes himself available, makes it easier for us to be able to do it. And this is the ערי מקלט which has the signs showing מקלט מקלט, helping the person to go to ערי מקלט, to go back to the Torah, which דברי תורה קולטין. And if we

do that during the month of Elul, we're guaranteed that der Eibershter will give us a כתיבה וחתימה טובה לשנה טובה ומתוקה.