Parshat Shoftim
For the first time this year we blew the Shofar this week and with it announced the imminent arrival of Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur as we have now begun the month of introspection and refinement, Ellul – our Parsha speaks out the necessity of having power in terms of our legal system distributed evenly amongst the Judges, Priests, Prophets and Kings, Justice must be accessible and impartial. Procedures must be followed for the prosecution of idolatry, and there is to be a supreme court to deal with hard cases:
The Word for a Judge in Hebrew is Shofet (שפט), if we rearrange the letters we reach the root of the word “Patish” (פטש) (a hammer or in the sense of court a “gavel” a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood:
Interestingly the United States Congress used the same ivory gavel without a handle from 1834 until it broke when Vice President Richard Nixon used it during a heated debate on nuclear energy. This was replaced the Raj of India with an exact replica but since 2021 the congress has used a marble version out of solidarity with the international push for an end of elephant hunting for ivory. The gavel of the House of Representatives, by contrast, is plain wood with a handle and is used more often and more forcefully than in the Senate (It has actually been broken and replaced many times!)
The judge traditionally taps or bangs their gavel to bring the court to attention: the Shofar is too blown to arouse our hearts toward Teshuvah and self-examination, some deeper sources mention that the cries of the Shofar give us an experience of the anguish of the Neshama, to help us to awaken to great need to judge ourselves and examine our deeds over the year. If we rearrange its letters again we are brought to root of Pshat (פשט) – the “simple” understanding, the role of a judge is not to deliver metaphysics and philosophy but rather to render the final judgement in terms of law.
That is why our focus on Yom Kippur is precisely where we have sinned (in terms of Negative commandments) and have not achieved our obligations (in terms of Positive Commandments): Whilst our intensions and private thoughts are with Hashem and ourselves and also cleansed on Yom Kippur, our physical actions have actually affected the world both positively and negatively, we are required to take accountability reaching the obvious conclusion: it is not my world, it belongs to everyone and we all belong to Hashem.
We speak in our Parsha of a system where the King of Israel is also commanded by the Torah, the passages are phrased in the negative: It teaches what a King must not do (rather than what he should do). He should not “acquire great numbers of horses,” or “take many wives” or “accumulate large amounts of silver and gold” (Deut:17:16-17). These are the temptations of power, and as we know from the rest of Tanach, even the wisest of all kings Shlomo HaMelech was himself vulnerable.
A fundamental Torah idea is that leadership is service and privilege, not dominion or power or status or superiority, even the King is commanded to be humble: he must constantly read the Torah “so that he may learn to revere the Lord his G-d … and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites” (Deut. 17:19-20). It is not always so easy to be humble when everyone is bowing down before you and when you have the power of life and death over your subjects.
The larger theological question is why, with a perfect Torah and self-refinement in Holiness would a legal system even be necessary? Do not the prophets speak of times without war, evil and malice – times instead of peace and justice?
Unlike some other faiths, we do not believe in perfect people, we believe in people who are involved constantly in perfecting themselves – individuals who through a living a Torah life are elevated to tremendous levels of Devekut (spiritual attachment) and connection with Hashem and able to change their character, becoming a more refined and crafted person and one who is able to live with the highest levels of integrity and morality.
The Myth of “perfect people” is possibly one of the most dangerous idea that has ever arisen: individuals who make no mistakes, who’s every act is automatically justified regardless of the moral value of such actions: we can immediately see this in lives of famous dictators and some religious personalities.
The Tanach is instead filled with fallible human beings, our Torah is a powerful cure for the moral and spiritual ills of man: not a quest to find a perfect one. To create Law and Customs that honour and protects all:
Our goal is to be a perfecting society – a people striving to do better, to achieve more, to do more good and excellence rather than mistakes and missed opportunities: All of us have erred significantly and severely over the last year, it is now time to face it and to speak it out in Prayer and Teshuvah – to begin the process of preparing for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – to become “Shoftim B’Azmo”, judges of ourselves and designers of our betterment and growth over the coming year.
Our Haftorah is the fourth of the seven very special Haftaroth read between Tish B’Av and Rosh Hashanah:
The Haftorahs of the past two weeks opened with Israel’s complaint that they feel that they have been abandoned by Hashem. Israel is not content with consolations offered by the prophets and instead they demand that Hashem alone comfort them. In response and in contrast, this week’s Haftorah begins with Hashem’s response:
(Isaiah: 51:12)
אָֽנֹכִ֧י אָֽנֹכִ֛י ה֖וּא מְנַֽחֶמְכֶ֑ם מִי־אַ֚תְּ וַתִּֽירְאִי֙ מֵֽאֱנ֣וֹשׁ יָמ֔וּת וּמִבֶּן־אָדָ֖ם חָצִ֥יר יִנָּתֵֽן:
I, yea, I am He Who consoles you; who are you that you fear man who will die and the son of man who shall be made [as] grass?
This year uncertainty and chaos returned to Israel, we have found ourselves at war in Israel; the university campuses and cities around the world immediately became a political battleground of a different kind.
We saw our nation stirred with a common purpose and an outpouring of prayer, charity, volunteering and acts of heroism and kindness beyond measure. We also saw terrible tragedy, grief, despair and the unfortunate reminder that we are still in the darkness of exile, yet our Haftorah promises us that ultimately our people will be redeemed and consoled from our troubles.
(Isaiah: 52:9)
פִּצְח֚וּ רַנְּנוּ֙ יַחְדָּ֔ו חָרְב֖וֹת יְרֽוּשָׁלִָ֑ם כִּֽי־נִחַ֚ם יְהֹוָה֙ עַמּ֔וֹ גָּאַ֖ל יְרֽוּשָׁלִָֽם:
Burst out in song, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for Hashem has consoled His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.
Soon in our days, Amen.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Jonathan Goldschmidt 2024 ©
