Parshas
Shoftim
Guard
Your Gates
By:
Daniel Listhaus
שֹׁפְטִים
וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל
שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר
הֹ
אֱלקיךָ
נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת
הָעָם מִשְׁפַּט צֶדֶק
“Judges
and officers shall you in all your gates [cities] -which Hashem, your
G-d, gives you – for your tribes; and they shall judge the people
with righteous judgment.”
-Shoftim
16:18
Rashi1
explains that this passuk
(verse)
is
teaching us the necessity to have Batei
Dinim (Jewish
courts), as well as people to enforce the rulings of the Batei
Dinim,
in each and every city. Although this is certainly the meaning of the
passuk
on a simple level, many meforshim
(commentaries)
are bothered by the choice of the singular form “l'cha”
and “sh'arecha”
(“to you [singular]” and “your [singular] gates”). If the
Torah was speaking to the entire B'nei
Yisroel and
commanding them to institute a judicial system, the Torah should have
said “lachem”
and
“she'areichem”.
Why does it instead use the singular form of “you”?
The
Sh'lah
HaKadosh2
writes that there is a deeper concept being hinted to in this passuk.
Aside
from the need to establish a judicial system that will rule according
to halacha
(Jewish law) and ensure that its rulings are implemented, there is a
further responsibility that each person has as an individual, which
is based on the following. There
are seven orifices in the face3
– each one an entrance to the neshama
– and through them we are effected in real ways. When dealing with
our relationship with the physical world, this concept is an easy one
to grasp. We can all imagine our ears throbbing after hearing blaring
off-key music, while we can also relate to a feeling of calmness and
tranquility when listening to peaceful music or a sense of confidence
when listening to encouraging words. Similarly, we have all
experienced the horrible effects of eating spoiled food, as well as
the sensation of complete satisfaction after a wonderful meal. We
have seen things which made us upset as well as things which made us
laugh. We have smelled noxious scents which caused terrible head- and
stomach-aches, as well as fragrances which put us into an immediate
good mood. There is no doubt that indeed the orifices of the head
have the potential to be the means of delivery for items which are
both good and bad for us physically. For this reason, we try our
hardest to figure out which ones we should allow into our system and
which we would be happier without. However, the important thing to
keep in mind is that these orifices also have the ability to transmit
both positive and negative packages to our inner-self and effect us
spiritually. Therefore, the question we must ask ourselves is: Are we
as fastidious when it comes to deciding what to allow into our system
which may effect our ruchniyus
(spirituality), as we are when deciding not to eat spoiled food or
listen to blasting off-key music?
The
Ibn
Ezra4
writes that man is a microcosm of the world – an olam
katan.
As the Orchos
Tzadikkim5
points
out, every aspect of the physical world is contained in one's body.
The sun, the moon, fresh water, saltwater, grass, trees, rocks –
all have a place on man's physical self. Moreover, as we have
mentioned in the past, man is a blueprint of the Beis
Hamikdash
and the keilim
(vessels)
contained therein.6
Even furthermore, man represents the 613 mitzvos
of
the Torah.7
It is therefore imperative that we select carefully what enters into
our private world and Beis
Hamikdash,
as well as what we should permit to effect the quality of the mitzvos
we
do. The Gemara8
states
that just as Hashem fills the world, the neshama
fills the body. Hashem breathed into Adam
a
neshama9,
and in doing so made man unique and elevated above all other
creations. It is our duty to keep our neshama
in
the pure state that it was given to us in, and therefore our
responsibility to ensure that the things which pass through the gates
of our body are only things conducive to helping our neshama
grow.
What do we allow ourselves to see, hear, or say? If the answer to
these questions do not have valid answers, then we must do a better
job in establishing our inner shoftim
and
shotrim
(judges
and officers). Who are these personal shoftim
and
shotrim
we
are expected to consult with? The Lev
Eliyahu10
writes that our seichel
(intellect)
is the shofet
(judge) and our degree of yiras
shamayim (fear
of Heaven) is the shoter
(enforcing
officer). We may know what our rabbeim
or
da'as
Torah would
categorize as good or bad. However, without an inner shoter
of
yiras
shamayim,
it is of no use. Only with true yiras
shamayim
could we trust ourselves when it comes to what we are feeding through
these passages into the body.
Later
on in the parsha,
the Torah11
discusses some of the laws regarding a Jewish king. The king cannot
have too many horses, too many wives, or too much
money. The Torah12
then says that even the king himself, to whom the people have an
obligation to fear and listen, is not permitted to display any
haughtiness. The Ramban13
comments
that we see from here that it is forbidden for anyone to be haughty.
After all, if even the king is not allowed to feel inherently better
than others, then certainly regular people cannot express such
lordliness. Rather, it is incumbent on each individual to understand
his place in this world – to be an eved
Hashem.
The
Orchos
Tzadikkim14
writes
that Hashem says about one who is haughty, “The world is not big
enough for both Me and him.”15
One who feels no sense of dependency on Hashem is lacking the most
basic level of yiras
shamayim.
Such a person essentially thinks of himself as a completely
independent entity, and is comparable to one who does avodah
zarah (idol
worship). This is why Hashem says there is no room for this person in
the world.
The
Orchos
Tzadikkim further
describes that when a person utilizes the middah
(trait)
of gaivah
(haughtiness)
in a bad way, one instinctively uses his body to demonstrate the
middah.
For example, this person will begin to look at others in a debasing
way, choose not to listen to the cry of others, and comment about the
stench of poor people.
Following
this thought, perhaps the passuk
in
our parsha
is
additionally referring to guarding oneself from gaivah.
Gaivah
is
something which not only has an easy entry through any of the holes
in the face, but also contains the strength to directly effect the
neshama
and
the guf
in
a negative way. The passuk
therefore
obligates us to work on our middos
and
strengthen our yiras
shamayim – providing
a shofet
and
shoter
–
in
order to guard the gates of the body and become a true eved
Hashem.
As
we begin the month of Elul
preparing
for Rosh
Hashana,
we must internalize what the “yom
haras olam”
(literally – the birthday of the world) is all about. The Gemara16
states that Hashem says, “On Rosh Hashana say malchiyos
so
that you can crown me as King over you.” Rosh
Hashana is
certainly a time of din
(judgment),
but on a deeper level it is not merely recognizing that we are being
judged, but rather to realize that it is Hashem who is the Judge and
King of the entire universe. This is something which we could only
realize once our gaivah
is
removed.
1Devarim
16:18
2Sh'nei
Luchos Habris: Parshas Shoftim
32
Eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils of the nose, and 1 mouth.
4Shemos
25:40
5Sha'ar
Yiras Shamayim
6See
my d'var Torah on Parshas Terumah (titled “Mishkan
Man”) based on the Kuzari (1:99)
7Man
has 248 limbs and 365 tendons corresponding to the 248 mitzvos
asei (positive commandments)
and 365 mitzvos lo sa'asei
(negative commandments).
8Berachos
10a
9Beraishis
2:7
10R'
Eliyahu Lapion, Parshas Shoftim
11Devarim
17:16
12Devarim
17:20
13Ibid.
14Sha'ar
HaGaivah
15Based
on Tehillim 101:5
16Rosh
Hashana 16a
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