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Parashat Shoftim
Rav Chaim Lifshitz
Essays and Articles:
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Shoftim Translated by S. Nathan l'ilui nishmat Esther bat Mordechai IN RULING HIMSELF, A JEW RULES NATURE From the way things sound in the previous parasha, when the Jews were given the Torah, they were being handed the helm that navigates the forces of nature. The Jew does not need to invent an instrument that will lead him to the moon. The Jew must navigate himself toward ruling the forces of his own nature, as in rigorously avoiding prohibited foods and carefully fulfilling the Land-related commandments. For these too are natural forces, and through them, the Jew can rule his own nature. This is mainly true if and when the Jew succeeds in ruling over the fragile essence of his own soul, i.e. his sense of justice. The sense of justice requires the capacity to make ultra-fine distinctions. Control over justice is the helm by which the Jew steers all the forces of nature. This is why the judge is called elohim, god, as it says: “The owner [the plaintiff] must approach the elohim.” This means that a judge preoccupied with the effort of arriving at a true verdict becomes a partner to the Creator of the universe. Our parasha deals with precisely this matter. Ohr HaChaim comments on the first verse in our parasha, on the phrase: “Judge…a trial of justice”: It means that when the judge wishes to attend to the trial of the people who are having a dispute, he should do so in this order: Let him remove the two people from his gaze, and not clothe the dialectic of the law with people who are having a dispute, by saying: According to this approach, this man would be found guilty. But according to the other approach, the opposite would be true… Rather, let him do his delving and his pondering all sides of the halachic picture as though there were no individual who needed this particular verdict at this moment, but rather, as if he were merely examining the law in order to know the ways and legal practices of the Torah. After he has arrived at the law in this manner, then let him judge the plaintiffs according to whatever verdict he has netted in his catch. Let him pronounce the innocent one innocent and the guilty one guilty… And our Sages have said (Beitsa 16): “On Rosh Hashana, a man’s sustenance is determined, etc. so that now if a monetary gap falls between one person and another, and they stand before the judge, then if he judges according to the Torah that God has commanded, then the innocent one wins whatever he had deserved to win, etc. This means that the judges are pronouncing the very same verdict that was decreed by the Court on high, which is named “Justice.” Ramban on the Hebrew word for bribery: “Shohad = shehu had – meaning ‘it is sharp,’ as the cutting sword. For twisting the law bring a sharp sword to the world, as it says in Avot (5:11): ‘The sword comes into the world for twisting the law.’” Further on the Ramban discusses the double phrasing: “ ‘You must pursue justice, justice.’ Justice means wearing a hat of salvation on one’s head, and the only head is truth, as it says, “the head of Your word is truth,” and the only truth is peace, as it says (Kings II, 20:19): ‘For if there will be peace and truth in my days, etc. This means that the scripture is saying: ‘You judge in your own court, and pursue justice, justice, and achieve them, so that in the next world you may enter the second justice, which is the supreme justice, which is the great light hidden away for the righteous for a future time, and this refers to the might of the Holy One. Yet you shall inherit the Land by virtue of the first justice, for the first justice alludes to the Land of Israel.” Justice divides into two categories: Heftsa and gavra, objective and subjective. The first justice must be carried out through money; the plaintiffs who are suing for justice must pay one another according to the verdict. The second justice must come to light in the mind of the judge. To achieve this second justice, the judge must delve deeply into himself. He must clarify and sort through all aspects of possible doubts that could rise, which might have bearing on the case. He must do this from a rational perspective, from an emotional/intuitive perspective, and most importantly, the judge must overcome his own midot, his own character traits and tendencies, and his own personal interests. This subjective clarification process is the objective incarnation of a human being’s most hidden powers. If one succeeds in this, one is called a partner to the Creator of the universe, and one’s rulings are uttered in the name of God. So it appears from the remarks of those great commentators, the Ramban and the Ohr HaChaim, mentioned and quoted above. A second form of control that God’s servant is commanded to exercise in our parasha, is control over the tendency to enslave oneself to one’s own logic according to one’s own rational process, and not to obey the authority of the posek: “According to the teaching which they instruct you…do not veer from what they tell you, right or left,” to which Rashi adds, even if they tell you right is left and left is right. Ramban goes to greater extremes, adding that obeying entails renouncing your own opinion: “Even if they tell you that the right that you see with your own eyes is really left [meaning that they negate not only your opinion but even the evidence of your senses] and the left is right, obey them – because God’s spirit rests upon those who serve His sanctuary, and He would not abandon his devoted followers. They are ever protected from error and from obstacle.” This means to say that the judgment of true judges does not resemble the judgment of flesh and blood mortals. Rather their view partakes of the view of the One on high. The law of the king as well belongs to the process of clarifying one’s personal midot, one’s character traits and tendencies. Here it refers to the individual who is raised above the people, and therefore runs the risk of viewing himself as being cut of superior stuff, and immune to environmental influences that would sway the ordinary masses. Also – and especially – to him, the mitzva applies – of delving deeply and laboring over his own character, and the Torah scroll must never leave his side. “So that his heart will not grow arrogant over his brethren, and so that he will not veer from the commandment right or left” (17:20). “Rage, but do not sin. Speak of it in your own hearts, on your own beds, and keep utterly still.” Much has been said about this verse in Psalms, 4:9. Human nature cannot escape situations that hold contradiction and doubt. One is mandated with an incessant obligation to confront. These situations are not meant to supply their own solutions automatically, through the natural forces they comprise. Conditions of doubt are presented only to the human being. One must confront them and one must find a solution for them, in order to extract their benefit, for one’s own sake and for the sake of an entire universe awaiting the solution that the human being shall offer. Being that a human being is the crown of creation, all things depend upon and all things begin with the individual human being. Human beings themselves created most if not all doubt. Doubt was born in human beings. Doubt’s solution will come from human beings as well. Much of doubt is connected to the realm of morality and midot One of the gravest doubts, looming at the top of the scale of doubts, is the false testimony. “By two witnesses shall a thing be established.” We find here a scriptural decree: According to Torah law, the situation is not determined through natural means. Rather it is the witnesses, by their fitting and proper testimony, who determine the existing situation. “Conspiring witnesses” is a form of testimony that does not testify to a particular situation. Rather, it is a gang of witnesses testifying to their own situation. The Gemara in the beginning of Tractate Makot enters into the thick of the conditions and limitations of the case of conspiring witnesses, to such an extent that one receives the impression that such a testimony can never actually take place. “Study it only to receive reward for Torah study.” Similarly with the “rebellious son.” The ultimate of grave doubts is the law of the accidental murderer. His verdict is unusual, because the verdict of this murderer is to be found at the point of doubt that exists between the two gravest doubts. Similarly with the laws of “the beheaded calf” and similarly with the laws of “infringing on property boundaries.” These twilight zones, these grey areas are what control human beings. Similarly with “the man who is fearful and faint-hearted” regarding the laws of warfare. The man is fearful and faint-hearted, add our Sages, “because of transgressions that he has committed.” Human beings are not dependent upon forces of nature or upon enemies. The most dangerous enemy is oneself. One’s own midot, one’s own character tendencies are what cause one to stumble – and not the natural grey areas in which one finds oneself, such as building a house or betrothing a wife or planting a vineyard. These are brought only as smoke screens, in order not to shame the one who has become faint-hearted man as a result of succumbing to his own bad midot. The war within is the war for which one is held responsible. The war on the outside is incapable of harming those who have won the victory over themselves. The Torah brings us wonderful news: You need not fear the grey areas of the outside world. You are only obligated in responsibility toward yourself. Toward the world – it is sufficient to be aware of the choice. Of the doubt… You may respond emotionally, but nothing more. You may “rage” but not express your rage toward the outside world, but rather grind this condition within your innermost self. (“Speak of it in your own hearts, on your own beds, and be utterly still.”) Rage, internalize, and keep silent. This is true victory, and through this victory, you conquer the world. |
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