Accused of Murder

And they shall announce and say, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see [this crime]. (Devarim 21:7)

If a dead body’s found outside city limits, the elders of the closest city must come and announce that they didn’t shed this blood. Rashi asks: Would you think that the elders of the city were murderers? Rather, they were attesting that they didn’t see this traveler and send him away without food or accompaniment.

Leaving this traveler all alone without even sustenance to give him strength to fight his attacker makes the neighboring city responsible for allowing this murder to occur. (Rav Yaakov Neiman, Darchei Mussar)

The Rosenberg family lived down the block from us. They were a lot younger than us, but such sweet, nice people, and we considered ourselves lucky to be their neighbors.