408. Welcome to Levy City: The obligation to give the Levites cities

As discussed in Mitzvah #395, the Tribe of Levi was not given a territory in the land of Israel. In this mitzvah, we see that they were given cities to inhabit. (As per verse 35:7, there were 48 cities in total.) Some of these cities were to be designated as arei miklat, the cities of refuge where someone who accidentally committed manslaughter could flee to escape the wrath of the victim’s relatives.

The basis for this mitzvah is that the inheritance of the Levites was the Temple service. This was to the exclusion of real estate, but they had to live somewhere! So they were given cities in each of the other Tribes’ territories. Because of the holiness of the Tribe of Levi, it was decreed that the cities of refuge would be among their cities in the hopes that living there would help atone for the killer.

This mitzvah applies at a time when the Jews reside in Israel. In the Talmud, it is discussed in the second chapter of tractate Makkos. This mitzvah is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the thirteenth chapter of Hilchos Shemittah and is #183 of the 248 positive mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos.