Parshas
Mishpatim
Peaceful
Judgment
By:
Daniel Listhaus
וְאֵלֶּה
הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים
לִפְנֵיהֶם
“And
these are the judgments that you shall place before them.”
-Mishpatim
21:1
Rashi1
comments that this parsha opens
with the word “v'eileh”
(literally: and these) in order to demonstrate that just as the
Aseres Ha'Dibros (Ten
Commandments) in
last week's parsha
were from Har
Sinai,
so too all of the laws regarding how to rule in cases of monetary
dispute and all the other mitzvos
listed
in this week's parsha and
the Torah. The next Rashi2
continues to point out that Hashem told Moshe that the judgments in
this week's parsha should
be “placed before them [K'lal
Yisroel].
Meaning, that Moshe should not merely teach them these halachos
(laws)
for
them to memorize, but that he should teach it for everyone to
understand the reasons behind the halachos.
Indeed, financial disputes and claims of damage are a big part of
every day life and the cause of much stress, strife, and broken
relationships. There is therefore no doubt this parsha was chosen to
be taught right after the Aseres
Ha'Dibros and
why Rashi stresses
its importance.
The
Ba'al Ha'Turim3
points
out that the word mishpatim is
actually an acronym for: The judge is commanded to make a compromise
through arbitration, before judging. This is not a idea that the
Ba'al Ha'Turim made
up himself, rather it is based on a gemara4,
which describes the importance of arbitration before judgment.
However, the Ba'al Ha'Turim is
stressing the fact that this concept is so important it is an
integral part of the word judgment itself.
The
question we must ask is What is so great about arbitration that it be
hinted to within the word for judgment itself? If anything,
arbitration and judgment seem to be almost opposites. Arbitration is
compromise, and compromise by definition is inaccurate? Imagine two
people are fighting over a certain sum of money. Each one feels that
it is fully theirs, and everyone agree that it either belongs to one
or the other. If so, compromising and giving each one half the sum,
may be nice but it is definitely not true. Shouldn't the job of the
beis din (Jewish
court) – those
who love the Torah and emes
(truth)
and want to know the correct halacha
of Hashem to apply – be
to search out the truth and find out who it really belongs to? There
is a system of rights and claims which they should go through the
motions of collecting and figuring out until it becomes clear who is
the halachik rightful
owner of the money or item in question? Why is it that there seems to
be something better about getting the parties to compromise than
finding out the real truth?
If
we take a look at the required qualifications for members of the
Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branch in America, they are very
different than their counterparts in the Jewish legal system. When it
comes to a Jewish king, it seems that the most important quality is
to be humble. The king did not have to be a mighty warrior, master
tax collector, or a person with good domestic and foreign policies,
rather just be someone who was humble. Similarly, the members of the
Jewish “judicial branch” were hand-picked by Moshe and were
people who met the description of “Men of means, G-d fearing
people, men of truth, and people who despise money...”5
Also the “legislative branch” in Judaism – the navi'im
and
rabbanim and
religious leaders who are master interpreters of the Torah via our
mesorah (tradition)
of Torah she'ba'al peh (Oral
Torah) from
Har
Sinai,
were also of such standards.
The
common denominator for the three branches of authority within K'lal
Yisroel
are humble people who know their place and purpose. We look at Moshe
rabbeinu, the
teacher of all B'nei
Yisroel
and his successor, Yehoshua, who were the humblest of K'lal
Yisroel
and the most caring with complete devotion to the nation. They were
willing to give up all personal honor for the benefit of Hashem's
chosen nation. For example, after the eigel
ha'zahav (sin
of the golden calf) when
Hashem told Moshe that He was going to destroy B'nei
Yisroel
and create a new nation from Moshe's family alone, Moshe argued and
fought for K'lal
Yisroel's
behalf. Imagine if these would be the requirements of politicians
now, there would have to be a 100% government turnover in every
country!
The
key is
that every single member of authority within K'lal
Yisroel
must keep in mind that they are not the real authority. Hashem is the
only authority. No king, president, judge, policeman, or law
interpreter, could rightfully maintain their position if they are not
holding it with the intention to be secondary to Hashem and
understand that they are there for K'lal
Yisroel,
and not for themselves. If the leader is saying things contrary to
the Torah and our mesorah,
how are they any different than a navi
sheker (false
prophet) ? A navi sheker tries
to obtain a power of authority and gather a following by pretending
to be a navi.
However, once he says to do something that is against the Torah, we
know he must be a navi sheker
because
Hashem tells us that a navi
cannot
command someone to do an aveirah.
A
person who takes a position of authority within K'lal
Yisroel
without the humility of internalizing that he himself is a servant to
Hashem and without the understanding that he is only in the position
to serve K'lal
Yisroel,
does not really belong in such a position.
The
aforementioned gemara which
the Ba'al Ha'Turim was
referring to brings
a statement from Rabbi Yehoshua ben
Korcha who said, “It is a mitzva
to
settle with arbitration”. The proof he brings is from a passuk
(verse)
in Zechariah,6
“These are the things you shall do: Speak the truth each one with
his neighbor; truth, and judgment of peace you shall judge in your
cities.” As the gemara
points out, the passuk
must be referring to arbitration because how else is it possible to
have a judgment of peace? Either way the judge rules, the losing side
will always be upset. The only way to have a peaceful ruling is in a
win-win situation where all parties meet before judgment and figure
out the fairest way to resolve the dispute in a way that everyone
will walk away happy. Perhaps this cannot always be done, but it is a
mitzva to
do so and we are obligated to try.
Sometimes,
it is easy to get caught up in a position we hold. A king or
president could lose himself in all the riches and royal lifestyle
that he forgets he is there for the people and not for himself.
Policemen and lawmakers could forget that they are not supposed to be
an outside party enforcing unwanted laws but rather keeping peace
within a country or state according to the votes of the population.
So too, a judge could get caught up in seeking “justice” and
wanting to know the truth of what happened, but if both parties are
willing to come to an agreement then that itself is the truth. Shalom
(peace)
is itself emes.
Hashem wants peace in the world and for us to keep His Torah.
We
must always keep in mind not only who we are for ourselves but also
who we are in terms of our spheres of influence within our
communities and our individual part of K'lal
Yisroel
as a whole. Are we getting caught up in our own position, or are we
keeping in mind with humility that there is only one ultimate
position of authority and that we are here to serve K'lal
Yisroel
with truth and peace?
This
is the lesson that the gemara
is
teaching us which the Ba'al
Ha'Turim is
stressing as the core of all justice: peace. Justice between two
people is only to promote peace. A judge or lawyer who knows all the
claims one of the parties could claim to win the case is nice, but
that is not the ultimate goal, for then both parties still leave
upset at each other – one having won, and one having lost. Rather,
the ultimate goal is for there to be peace within K'lal
Yisroel
following according to the rules of the Torah.
1Rashi
Shemos 21:1
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
4Sanhedrin
6b
5See
Shemos 18:25
6Zechariah
8:16
Photo Credit: edited picture from http://www.politicspa.com/friday-superior-court-forum-in-harrisburg/28550/ and http://peacesymbol.org/art/svg/peace/peace-symbol/peace-dove/
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