Bar-Ilan University

Parashat Devarim 5772/July 28, 2012

Parashat Hashavua Study Center

Lectures on the weekly Torah reading by the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. A project of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Paul and Helene Shulman Basic Jewish Studies Center, and the Office of the Campus Rabbi. Published on the Internet under the sponsorship of Bar-Ilan University's International Center for Jewish Identity. Prepared for Internet Publication by the Computer Center Staff at Bar-Ilan University.

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Elishai Ben-Yitzhak[1]

"For judgment is G-d's"

Inheriting the Land and a Legal System—Do They Go Hand in Hand?

This week's reading begins with a long oration by Moses in the fortieth year of the Israelites' wandering in the wilderness, on the eve of entering the promised land. The first subject addressed by Moses is the taking possession of the land, but this is interrupted by a description of the legal system (Deut. 1:12-18). This description includes the criteria for appointing judges (verse 13), as well as an outline of the proper way for them to work (verses 16-18). When this subject is completed, Moses returns to the topic of taking possession of the land and also mentions the affair of the spies.

This leads us to wonder - what does taking possession of the land has to do with appointing judges? Why did Moses have to digress from the subject of possessing the land in order to talk about the legal system? It seems, in my humble opinion, that Moses wished thereby to convey and clear and certain message, namely that there is an inseparable bond between the land and the legal system. In order to fully understand this we must consider the words of Shimon ben Gamliel: "The world rests on three things: on justice, on truth and on peace [Heb. shalom], as it is said: 'Truth, justice and peace adjudicate in your gates' (Zech. 8:16; in the New JPS Translation: Render true and perfect justice in your gates)" (Avot 1.18).

It would seem that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel was talking about different values, about three distinct pillars that maintain a well-run human society. However, in the Jerusalem Talmud (Ta`anit 4.2) we find another angle on what he said:

All three are one; if justice is done, then truth is upheld, and peace is made. Rabbi Mana said: and all three occur in a single verse, "Render true and perfect [Heb. shalom] justice in your gates" (Zech. 8:16).

According to this approach, we are not dealing with three separate values, but with three intertwined principles, the leading value being justice—where there is justice, truth will be found, and where there is truth, peace will be found. Hence, the first factor needed for a properly run society is a legal system. At this point we must ask why. What is it in the role of adjudication that makes it so fundamental to any proper society in general and the Jewish people in particular? An answer can be found in Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch's commentary (Deut. 1:17):[2]

When you make a legal ruling you are doing the work of heaven. It is not a matter of your own that you can evade, if you so wish; rather, judgment is the G-d's, and you are obliged to realize it. Therefore, do not supress in your hearts a ruling that is just because of the fear of flesh and blood; on the other hand, you can trust in the Lord's help insofar as you are doing His work. Thus said the Sages: "Any judge who render true and honest judgment, Scripture credits him with being like a partner of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of Creation" (Shabbat 10a). For justice shapes human life and gives them the form that the Creator intended in the hour of creation, since human beings were created none other than for freely realizing the will of G-d, and only to this end did the Creator place human beings in His world.

Regarding the nature of the relationship and the reciprocal bond between the earthly legal system and the heavenly legal system, Katav Sofer says (on Ex. 21:1):[3]

When judgment is rendered on earth it is not exacted in heaven, and when judgment is not rendered on earth it is exacted in heaven.[4] The general rule is that as long as people in the world are reproved and judges mete out punishment to those who transgress, then the Lord behaves mercifully towards us; but when there is no law and justice to smite the wicked and no reproof, then justice is exacted in heaven and the supreme King, blessed be His name, places the earth in judgment…This seems to me to be the reason that judges are referred to as elohim, for the case of both parties will come before G-d [Elohim], since there must be justice, not mercy.

This means that the judge, when sitting on the bench, undertakes a function of G-d. He serves as judicial forum instead of the heavenly court, and the heavenly court does not see fit to intervene where a judge does his work faithfully. In this context, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch adds in his commentary:[5] "Just as perversion of justice is a sin towards man, so too is it towards Heaven."

We are still left with the question of the relationship between the land and justice. Regarding the connection between the legal system and the right of the people of Israel to the land of Israel we find in Sifre:[6]

"Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land" (Deut. 16:20) teaches us that appointment of judges was so that Israel may live and become settled in their land.[7]

The homilist deduced from the juxtaposition, in a single verse, of the themes of rendering justice and of taking possession of the land that the role of a properly constituted legal system is to vitalize Israel and settle them in their land, whereas a deficient legal system could forestall Redemption.[8]

This line of reasoning can raise a similar question regarding the Amidah prayer. What do we have in mind? After the benediction of ingathering of exiles—"sound a great shofar blast for our liberation"—logically what ought to have followed is the benediction for Jerusalem, since thematically it is the obvious continuation of the benediction of ingathering of exiles. After all, the next stage after the exiles returning is to rebuild Jerusalem, for where are the Jews of the diaspora to come? Instead, the redactor of the prayer interrupts the progression with three other benedictions,[9] the first of them dealing with the legal system: "restore our judges as of old." Dealing with orders of state before the rebuilding of Jerusalem ostensibly disrupts the natural progression from ingathering the exiles to building Jerusalem. It may well be that in arranging the prayer the redactor learned a lesson from Moses and this week's reading, for the order of the prayers also indicates to us dependence between a proper legal system and possessing the land. Along these lines R. Enoch Zondel ben Joseph (Bialystok, 19th century) writes in his commentary, Etz Yosef:[10]

It is well-known that we shall be redeemed solely on account of justice, as it is said, "Zion shall be saved by justice" (Isa. 1:27). That is why we ask, "restore our judges as of old." And [the prayer] says, "remove from us sorrow and sighing" because "when the wicked dominate the people groan" (Prov. 29:2). For when (in antiquity) we were ruled by unscrupulous judges and justice was perverted, then we groaned greatly; but when upright judges are restored to us then that sighing will be turned into mirthful rejoicing.

The author of Etz Yosef goes on to explain that the entire matter of Redemption depends on the legal system; therefore, before one comes to rebuilding Jerusalem and restoring the reign of the House of David, one must first set up a proper and fitting system of justice.

I heard an interesting interpretation of the benediction, "restore our judges as of old," from the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. According to him, in making this request we are not looking back to the past and to specific judges.[11] Rather, this request concerns our own judges and dayyanim sitting on the bench and deciding cases today. What is it that we ask for them? That the judge bear in his heart the initial feeling that stirred his soul as he sat writing his very first legal decision. Then, by the very nature of things and bearing in mind awe of the law and the responsibility that lies on his shoulders, the judge will contend with himself and grapple over how he should decide the case. His heart should pound before every conviction and his hands tremble before every award of compensation, lest he unwittingly err, perhaps by mistaken judgment, or because certain evidence was withheld from him, or because he misunderstood the words of the accused or the witnesses. We pray that this awareness be with the judge even as he writes a legal decision for the hundredth time, or the thousandth.

Note how supremely important a healthy and proper legal system is to our right to the land and to hastily bringing on Redemption. Now we can better understand the words of the prophet, "Zion shall be saved by justice."

Translated by Rachel Rowen

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[1] Mr. Yitzhak is an attorney resident in Elkana.

[2] Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (Germany, 19th century), Hamishah Humshei Torah, Sefer Devarim, Jerusalem 1990.

[3] Abraham Samuel Benjamin Sofer (Bratislav, 19th century), Sefer Katav Sofer `al Hamishah Humshei Torah, Tel Aviv 1975.

[4] Tanhuma (Buber), Parashat Mishpatim, par. 4.

[5] Loc. cit., note 1.

[6] Parashat Shofetim, par. 144.

[7] Thus Rashi's interpretation of Deuteronomy 16:20.

[8] Shabbat 139a; Mishnah Avot 5.11. Regarding the role of dayyanim, see resp. Mishpetei Uzziel, vol. 4, Hoshen Mishpat 1.

[9] The benedictions concerning "restoring justice," "sectaries," and "the righteous."

[10] Siddur Otzar ha-Tefillot, interpretation by Etz Yosef to the benediction, "restore our judges."

[11] As in the commentary of Siddur Tefillah la-Rokeah which relates the words, "restore our judges" (p. 341) to Moses and Aaron; or Resp. Tzitz Eliezer (Part 12, par. 82), that speaks of judges in the Torah.