~
Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Devarim
Ucon Du It!
By: Daniel Listhaus
לֹא תַכִּירוּ פָנִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט כַּקָּטֹן כַּגָּדֹל
תִּשְׁמָעוּן לֹא תָגוּרוּ מִפְּנֵי אִישׁ כִּי הַמִּשְׁפָּט לֵאלֹקִים הוּא וְהַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר יִקְשֶׁה מִכֶּם תַּקְרִבוּן אֵלַי
וּשְׁמַעְתִּיו
“You shall not show favoritism in judgment, small and great alike shall you
hear; you shall not fear in the face of man, for the judgment, it is
unto G-D; and the matter that is too difficult go you, you shall bring it to me
and I shall hear it.”
-Devarim 1:17
In
the middle of Moshe reviewing the judicial system that he put in place in the midbar
and reminding them of the basic rules of judging appropriately, Moshe tells
the judges that although there will be times when tough decisions will have to
be made and the potential exists of greatly upsetting someone, sill there is
absolutely no reason to be afraid of the litigants. The Chizkuni[1]
explains that there is no need for a judge to fear the men associated with
the case he is judging because no angry litigant could have a legitimate claim
against him. After all, the judge could respond to the angry, guilty litigant
that it was not really he, the judge, who found the man guilty, but rather
Hashem.
This
Chizkuni is quite difficult to understand on two accounts. Imagine you
are a lawyer fighting against the Mafia in a murder case involving many lives
and millions of dollars. As you begin to do your research into the types of
security you will need for you, your family, and any witness you will ask to
testify, a family-friend approaches you and says, “Oh, don't worry. The Mafia
has no claim against you, you could always just tell them that they are
American citizens and must follow the laws as set forth in the Constitution.
All you are doing is keeping within the boundaries of the law and helping the
judge bring forth justice. So drop the security, there is no need to fear.” If
a friend would offer such horrible advice, he is most probably an enemy. Yet,
this is how the Chizkuni is explaining the passuk (verse); that
the Torah tells a dayan (judge) not to fear, for he is not the one who
is making up the laws, rather that it is Hashem who created the laws and it is
therefore Hashem who is really bringing forth the judgment. How does this
assuage the dayan’s fears to stop him from getting nightmares of agitated,
guilty litigants coming to attack him?
Additionally,
what the Chizkuni says does not seem completely accurate on the surface.
Granted the Torah and its laws are from Hashem. However, as we know, Hashem
gave the Torah to the Jews and left the interpretation partially based on the
way we understand using the Torah’s tools of extrapolating. This is what so
much of Torah shel ba’al peh (Oral Torah) is about. There could be thousands
of disputes and yet everyone could be correct as long as they have a mesorah
(tradition) for it and that they properly followed the rules of deriving
laws from the Torah. An argument over one delicate s'varah (logical
argument) starting at one point could end up having two completely different
ramifications in Halacha (Torah Law) later on, like two straight-lined,
but unparalleled train tracks starting next to each other but ending up miles
apart because they went off at a slightly different angle. With this in mind, the
word of he Chizkuni are hard to understand. Even though a judge could
“shift the blame on Hashem” and say that it is really Hashem who finds people
innocent or guilty, it is not really completely true. In many cases, it really
may boil down to how the judges understood the Torah and which s'varos and
applications they opted to utilize.
How
can we understand this passuk as explained by the Chizkuni? The
calming words of the Torah seem easier said than done, and the encouraging
words of the Chizkuni do not seem reasonable?
When we think
of beis din we view them as learned, scholarly people who devoted their
lives to learning Torah and studying halacha. They are Judaism’s
advocates, so to speak because they accepted the responsibility to represent
the Torah. If an ordinary person does something wrong, it may be bad but it is nowhere
as horrific as when a religious figure does the same thing. When a spiritual
leader gets involved with unethical activities the world comes down hard not
only on him for being hypocritical, but also on the system or religion he
represents.
Although
it is certainly true that every member of a beis din or Sanhedrin has
an incredible responsibility to represent Hashem and His Torah, the role that a
dayan, or anyone for that matter who is really close to Hashem,
plays is more than just a representative. A member of beis din or Sanhedrin
does not just represent the Torah’s values and they are certainly more than
mere figure heads of Torah politics. Rather, a beis din which abides by
the rules of the Torah and judges according to the structure and methods that
the Torah allows is a pure conduit directly channeling Hashem’s presence in
this world.
Indeed, no
one can “attack” Hashem whether the shechina itself or the people who
are a part of the shechina itself. This idea is reminiscent of what
Hashem said when He sent the malachim (angels) to destroy Sodom, “ha’mechaseh
ani m’avraham?” – “Could I keep something a secret from Avraham?” Someone who
is so deeply connected to Hashem becomes more than just a “representative”, he
becomes someone who is literally tapped into the shechina. Hashem revealing
His plans is not a requirement for someone who merely represents, but is a
requirement for a navi or member of Sanhedrin who is, in a way, a
part.
This
idea gives us a better understanding of the levels of closeness to Hashem. Each
person has the ability to “represent Hashem” – choviv adom she’nivra
b’tzelem[2]
(Beloved is man for he was created in the image of Hashem). B’nei Yisroel have
the potential to be more than representatives, “chavivin yisroel sh’nikra’u
bonim la’makm” (Beloved are B’nei Yisroel for they are called children
to Hashem). And rabanim, talmidei chochomim, nevi’im, beis din,
or any member of klal Yisroel who acts within the Torah’s guidelines has
the further ability to be a real part of the shechina in this world. This
is what the Chizkuni is teaching us. A judge who is a talmid chochom
who properly follows all of the halachos of judging is not merely an individual
with his own interpretation of the Torah and who is a representative of Hashem,
but rather is someone who is himself a conduit for Hashem’s presence. This closeness
provides him with a siyata d’shimaya (help from Hashem) and access to
Divine wisdom which qualifies his mindset and understanding of the Torah, which
others do not have. Indeed such a person need not worry that an angry litigant will
come and take revenge on the dayan’s judgment because that would be comparable
to an attack on Hashem Himself – an impossibility. On the contrary, it would be
everyone’s duty to respect and trust with emunas chachomim such a person
and listen to what he says.
Interestingly,
this is a concept which the Kuzari[3]
points out is one big differentiator between Judaism and every other
religion. Other religions merely have claims of what is waiting for them in the
next world. However we have the ability to experience a sampling in this world of
the closeness to Hashem that we await for in the next world. Similarly we find
throughout Tanach that at times when klal Yisroel as a whole are
acting in Hashem’s ways and spiritually close to Him, there is absolutely no
reason to fear attack because an attack on us would be a direct attack on Hashem;
and the only effect that that has is for Hashem to keep His promise He made us
at the end of this week’s parsha,[4]
“You shall not fear them, for Hashem, your G-d – He is the One Who shall wage
war for you.” As long as Hashem is “our G-d” and we remain close to Him, no one
can harm us. As the Gemara[5]
says, “ein arud meimis elah ha'cheit meimis” - “It
is not the snake which kills but rather the sin that kills”.
Of course,
however, the first step of moving forward is to stop walking backwards. First
we must be sur mei’rah in order to v’a’seih tov[6].
The period of the nine days is a time which sadly testifies against us that we
are still lacking in our sur mei’rah, for every day that the Beis
Ha’mikdash is not built means it is being destroyed.
May Hashem
help us perfect ourselves, our relationships with others, and our relationship
with Hashem so that we not only allow the Beis Ha’mikdash to be
built but to also create the proper environment for growth to the extent that
we are able to not just witness Hashem’s shechina but be a part of it as
bonim la’makom. It can be done. We can do it. You can do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment