blood will pollute the land. As conveyed at the beginning of the Torah from the stories of Eden, Cain and Abel, and the flood, the earth’s environment suffers from human wrongdoing: “The ground is cursed on your account.” “You’re cursed from the ground that opened its mouth to take your brother’s blood.” “The earth was corrupted, because all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.” Human violence and corruption have consequences not only for the immediate victims, and not even only for other humans, but for the condition of the earth and nature. Murder is not only a sin against the victim.
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