Parashas Shoftim – Guard Your Senses
This week's sedra is Parashas Shoftim which contains many commandments, both new and re-spoken by Moshe concerning the establishment of a just society in Eretz Yisrael. The sedra also contains a variety of laws pertaining to the protection of the Torah from encroachment by those who might try and weaken its authority, for example a rebellious elder or a haughty king. Sforno explains that majority of the commandments found in parashas Shoftim are actually directed towards the leaders of the nation themselves because their conduct has such a powerful influence on the rest of the people, for hopefully good, but potentially bad. So what better way to start the sedra than with the commandment to establish a just judicial system with the Torah stating that... “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates” [16:18]. Rashi informs us that we also learn out from this opening possuk that the Torah is commanding us to set up courts of law in every city of Eretz Yisrael with the intention for cases to be judged locally and therefore speedily. One of the biggest problems that is apparent in the contemporary world in fighting crime
The start of perek 21 (1-9) is devoted to an ostensibly odd topic, known as the eglah arufah. Briefly, if a corpse is found between two cities and the murderer is unknown, then there is an entire ceremony involving offering a cow in the valley between the cities, with a form of confession verbalised by the elders of the nearest city to the corpse. What exactly is going on here? The Ibn Ezra writes that the ceremony is aimed at atoning for the sins of the town nearest to where the corpse was found, for had they been free of sin, such a thing would never have happened in close proximity to them. The Rambam takes a different and more rational approach. In his Moreh Nevuchim (3:40 - cited by the Ramban here), the Rambam writes that this grand ceremony publicises the murder, which should lead to the killer being discovered (since everyone will be talking about it and everyone will be trying to find out who the murderer was). The Ramban, however, explains that this entire ceremony is a form of korban, and as such comes to achieve certain levels of atonement and closeness to HaShem, with its deeper facets hidden from our understanding and knowledge.
In our parsha we are commanded (18:13) ‘be complete (tamim) with HaShem, your God.’ What does this mean and involve? Rashi writes that we are not to go looking into what the future will hold - just accept everything with full trust and faith in HaShem; He takes care of us. This explains the connection to the next few psukim, which deplores the use of magic (something often used to predict or find out the future). However, the Chofetz Chaim highlights that it only says that one must fully trust HaShem - it does not extend the same level of trust to fellow humans. This means, as the Chofetz Chaim explains, that one is not to be naïve in trusting everyone; before relying on someone, make sure they are trustworthy - one cannot merely fully assume so from the outset.
The posuk states "Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha"(Devarim 18:13)
There is a famous story told about The Chofetz Chaim
A few boys from the Yeshiva came to complain to the Chofetz Chaim. They had given someone money in a business venture and the man cheated them and stole all their money. The Chofetz Chaim said I understand your problem and where you went wrong. Since you are innocent Yeshiva boys and you are accustomed to trusting in Hashem with purity and wholehearted faith. You carried over that attitude to your dealings with this businessman and his grand scheme. But the truth is, if you read the posuk it says clearly, “Tamim TihiyehIm Hashem Elokecha”, go innocently with Hashem...
The pasuk in Parshas shoftim states: "Righteousness, righteousness you shall pursue so that you will live and take possession of the land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you." Why does it need to say righteousness twice?? We see often in the torah that words are used to emphasise a point G-d is trying to get across!! Being Righteous isn't enough in Hashem's eyes!!! one must be righteous and pursue righteousness!!! The following story might help, a man has a favourite tv program, he prepares to sit down and watch this more than he prepares for his date!! He prepares the perfect cup of tea/ or cold beer, he gets the tv to the perfect volume, he adjusts his chair to the perfect reclining position and hes ready to watch... coronation street!!! Anyway two minutes into the episode of corra the program is interrupted with an infomercial showing a thin black child in africa, "This child like many others is strving day in day out and needs your help" reads the caption. "£2 per month is all we need!!" The man feels sick with guilt but decides to do nothing
Towards the end of our sedra we are given the ‘rules of engagement’ - laws of conduct in war. Before we go to war, the ‘anointed kohen’ speaks to the people, delineating the various groups people who should return home from the battlefront. These include anyone who has built a house but has not yet lived in it, has planted a vineyard but has not yet redeemed from its special status it in its fourth year, someone who is engaged but is not yet fully married, or someone who is afraid that sins they have committed will not stand him in good merit to survive the war. This is the opinion of Rav Yossi Haglili,[1] who holds that these first categories (house, vineyard, fiancee) are there to serve a purpose so as not to embarrass someone who is leaving the front because of their sins - this way, people will think that the deserter has a new vineyard. Rabbi Akiva argues though, and explains that there is no ‘sin category’ to allow people to return from fear of their sins. Rather, it is people who are too afraid to fight properly who may return from the front. We will discuss two psukim in this portion, which is the subject of a dispute between the Rambam and Ramban
The sedra opens with the command to appoint shoftim and shotrim in our cities. What are these two positions? Rashi explains that shoftim are the judges who decide what the outcome of a case is. Shotrim, Rashi says, are the court officers who make sure that the verdict is carried out eg make sure that Reuven does pay the money to Shimon. The mussar vort (I heard from Rabbi Kelaty) here is that there are times in life when one needs to be a shofet, and times to be a shoter. This means that there are times when one needs to decide on a direction to take (a shofet), but equally sometimes one must go with whatever decision they have made and make sure the carry it out - a shoter. This means sticking with the decision through thick and thin, and not necessarily changing it until you are convinced that it just doesn't go. After all, if one keeps changing their decisions after each slight hitch in the plans then one is never going to come to a firm decision.
