There is a special mitzvah (commandment) at the end of the parsha that is required in a situation of an unsolved murder (see Ch. 21). The elders from the city at closest proximity to where the corpse was found are required to make the following declaration: Our hands have not spilled this blood and our eyes did not see. Rashi poses the following question on this verse: Has it entered a heart that the elders of the court are spillers of blood? He answers that what they mean is: We did not see him leaving, and sent him off without food and without escort.

Rabbi Simcha Zissel from Kelm is not satisfied with this explanation, because even if the elders had neglected to give the victim food or an escort how would this make them responsible for his murder? Okay, they weren't so nice to him, but they didn't murder him! His answer is profound and shows us the full depth of understanding in the verse above. Had they not provided him with food and escort, they would have caused him psychological harm. He would have left the city with low self-esteem, with his spirits down and a feeling of insecurity. In this way they would have weakened his ability to resist the attacker. And this would have left them culpable; so much so, that the Torah calls them spillers of blood.

We are left with a very important principle: a lack of self-esteem lowers one's defences. And if this is true in the physical realm (murder), it is equally true in the spiritual realm. A common attitude today is let children grow up and decide for themselves about their Judaism. But if we don't give our children a proper Jewish education, we have automatically weakened them. Where is the self-esteem and Jewish pride so necessary for them to combat every temptation that comes their way to "murder' their spirituality? And who is responsible? Those that could have strengthened them!

Sources:- Mishulchan Gevoa