Parshat Shoftim
“Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land God, your God, is giving you” (Deuteronomy16:20). Although the simple, literal sense of this injunction is directed to the judges and society in general, Rashi clarifies that it is actually directed to the litigants. The doubled language of “justice, justice” indicates that one should not be satisfied to bring one’s case to court, but one should actively seek out the most competent and knowledgeable court to hear their case. The double language of “justice, justice” indicates as well that this statement applies to both the community and the individual.
The double message of this verse addressing both the community and the individual is reflected as well in the opening verse of Shoftim: “Judges and enforcers of the law you shall place in all of your gates that God, your God gives you for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with a just judgment” (Deuteronomy 16:18). Here again it is clear that this command is incumbent on the entire people.
In addition, though, the teachings of Chassidut explain that this applies to an individual as well. The gates mentioned in this verse are interpreted to mean the seven gates of perception placed in the head of a human being: two eyes, two ears two nostrils and the mouth. These seven gates encompass four of the five physical senses – sight, hearing, smell and taste.
This Torah portion is always read in the beginning of the month of Elul when we prepare for the judgment of Rosh Hashanah and the Ten Days of Teshuvah, climaxing on Yom Kippur. We are taught that if we use the month of Elul properly and through personal introspection judge ourselves with the intent of being better and rectifying those personality traits needing fixing, when it comes to Rosh Hashanah the judgment, in a sense has already been accomplished. This process is what it means on a personal level to place judges in all of your gates. Yet we also need “enforcers of the law” to ensure that these fixings do not remain theoretical, rather that we implement real and meaningful changes in our lives and enforce them through intentful discipline.
It is stated in the Talmud that one who judges a true judgment becomes a partner with God in the workings of creation (Shabbat 10a). It is further stated that the verse “the wise ones will be illuminated like the illuminations of the firmament” refers to a judge who judges a true judgment (Bava Batra 8b). Thus, we can understand that when an individual judges themselves they become a partner with God in the judgment of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when creation is renewed once again in a New Year. Additionally, we can say that the ability to experience the Days of Awe, the period of Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur in a state of joy and illumination, is dependent on our judging ourselves with a true judgment.
Inasmuch as judgment and its righteous implementation is such an important part of this Torah portion as well as the approaching months of Elul and Tishrei, it behooves us to delve deeper into the deeper meanings of judgment.
A basic belief that pervades all Jewish thought is that “there is a judge and there is a judgment” (Vayikra Rabbah 30). This Divine judgment is in no way negative nor vindictive but is part and parcel of the very fabric of not only the spiritual worlds, but the physical world as well, and therefore must be acknowledged and understood. The name Elokim, the exclusive name mentioned explicitly in the Torah account of creation has the same numerical value as hateva, the all-inclusive word for nature (86). This name of God is associated with judgment, law, strength, discipline and the sefirah of gevurah. This aspect of creation is manifest in the consistent and dependable laws of nature that rule every aspect of physical reality. Just as the material universe operates according to set laws, so too, there are laws that regulate the spiritual worlds. In fact, it is taught in Kabbalah that these two sets of laws are mirror images of each other.
Based on the fact that the Name of God used exclusively in the Torah’s first account of creation is Elokim, the name associated with God’s attribute of judgment, the Sages assert that initially God wanted to create the world based solely on the aspect of judgment, but, realizing that creation could not continue to exist under such strictness alone, He decided to add in the complementary aspect of compassion. The Sages learn this from the Torah’s second account of creation, wherein the four-letter Name of God (Hashem), which is associated with compassion, is used in conjunction with the Name Elokim: “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, on the day that Hashem Elokim made earth and heaven” (Genesis 2:4).
In truth, it is actually God’s great kindness, represented by His four-letter Name, which is the ultimate motivating dynamic behind nature’s strict laws and the aspect of judgment. The verse in Psalms states (84:12): “The sun and its shield, [is comparable to] Hashem Elokim.” God, in His aspect of mercy is like the sun, the source of light, while Elokim is the shield, the medium or interface through which that infinite light is, by necessity of its inestimable luminescence, perceived and received.
The realization that the name Elokim, which connotes constriction, judgment and retention, is, at its source, unified with the name Hashem, which represents expansion, mercy and giving, surprisingly reveals that these two seemingly contrary forces are in fact one and the same.
This paradoxical marriage of opposites goes even deeper when we consider that the first two letters of the name Elokim, E-l, are in themselves a Name of God. For this two-letter name, embedded within the larger name Elokim that expresses strict judgment, is associated with chesed, loving-kindness, based on the verse: “The kindness of God, all the day,” Chesed E-l, kal Hayom (Psalms 52:3).
Another verse in Psalms (89:3) — “A world of chesed did God build [create]” — further posits that the quality of chesed was in fact one God’s primary inner motivations for creating the world. By incorporating the name E-l, expressing loving-kindness, within the larger construct of Elokim, expressing strict judgment, we see that God created the world in such a way that balanced and integrated these two opposing forces.
From this energetic inter-inclusion of creation’s constituent elements, we see the primordial and ongoing interdependence that exists between chesed and gevurah, judgment and mercy, within the fabric of both material and spiritual reality.
In the same verse that we have the command to appoint judges and the enforcers of law it also mentions that it is God, your God who has given you the gates, the land of Israel, for your tribes. This is an expression of God’s great chesed to his beloved people. Therefore, we see once again how chesed and gevurah are not only two sides of the same coin, but ultimately are one. God, your God in this and many other verses emphasizes as well the unity of these two aspects of Divinity.
This idea is fundamental in understanding the Torah’s concept of justice in society. It is stated in Pirkei Avot that we should pray for the government, for without law and order people would “eat each other up” ( ). Yet the Torah demands that justice be true justice and that the law encompasses both truth and peace (refer to the portion of Mishpatim for more on this concept).
The Torah is replete with laws that govern society and the relationships between people, especially in the areas of damages, claims and the delineation of responsibilities of individuals and communities. Judgment therefore plays a major role in how society functions. Yet it is always important to keep in mind that ultimately all manifestations of judgment when implemented in a righteous manner and understood properly are an expression of God’s lovingkindness revealed through the Torah.
The word “pursue” in the verse, “Justice, justice pursue” is closely associated with this usage in another very important verse: “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalms 34:15). Pursuing justice and peace need not be contradictory, rather ideally, they should represent one reality.
