Shoftim
Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9
Précis: The parasha Shoftim (literally, “judges”) is devoted primarily to various themes of justice, and includes warnings against false testimony, idol worship, and the dangers posed by mortal kings. The parasha also warns the people against false prophets, magicians, soothsayers and witches. It establishes requirements for cities of refuge in the Promised Land. In short, the parasha is devoted to ways to create a just society in the Land of Israel.
Deut. 16:20 “Justice, justice you shall pursue that you may live and inherit the land which Adonai your God gives to you.”
Liel Leibovitz, writing in Tablet Magazine (9/2/11), suggests that to modern ears, Moses’ demand in this verse may seem somehow quaint or naive. But, he suggests, this directive is actually quite radical. Prior to Torah, the “law” was what the ruler decided what it was, subject to the ruler’s whim. Now, law was recognized as coming from a Higher Authority, meaning that all, including rulers, were bound by its commands. Justice, Leibovitz suggests, ceased being relative, and became absolute: an offense was no longer just a crime but also a sin against God.
In addition, this mitzvah required the creation of courts and judges to wisely and impartially render decisions, as verses associated with this mitzvah assert. But that is not the ultimate limit of “justice.” God, Himself, is by our tradition subject to the law He has enunciated. [This is the basis for the reciprocal relationship of the Covenant, and is also a reminder of Abraham’s demand before the destruction at Sodom “…Will not the Judge of the entire earth do justly?” (Gen.18:26)].
We live in a society where the concept of “justice” is under tremendous scrutiny. Is it “justice” to imprison drug offenders to lifetime sentences? What kind of “justice” leads to the use of military equipment by local police, or to the outrageous number of assaults and murders by police we are experiencing? What kind of "justice" leads the BDSers to single out Israel with their contempt while they ignore the oppression of million by other regimes, and ignore the hundreds of thousands of dead in Syria?
We live in a world where justice remains a hope, but not an established fact. Perhaps that is the reason the mitzvah is to pursue justice.
