In Parashat Shof’tim (Judges) Moshe continues to review God’s laws with B'nei Yisrael. As you might expect from the title of the parasha, he begins with the legal system which Moshe asserts must be unbiased and fair. The other three groups of public officials mentioned besides judges include kings, priests and prophets. Although some of the laws may seem anachronistic now such as the Levites’ portion of the sacrifice, we can learn a great deal about the land that the Israelites entered, the customs of the inhabitants such as consigning a son or daughter to the fire (18:10), and the principles by which the Israelites are expected to live. A prescribed address for officials talking to Israelite soldiers before they enter battle is also presented.
Find the food connection...
שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים, תִּתֶּן-לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ
You shall appoint judges and officials for your tribes.
--Deut. 16:18
Food judged the best!
The Side Dish
“Justice, justice (tzedek, tzedek) shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (16:20)
Tzedaka is one of those Hebrew words that doesn’t translate well into English. When we talk about giving tzedaka, it’s not really charity. Charity is derived from the Latin word, caritas, and is related to God’s love. Tzedaka is derived from tzedek, the Hebrew word for justice. For me it makes more emotional sense to give to someone out of a sense of doing the right thing. I don’t have to depend on loving emotion to move me to give.
Justice is not relegated to the court in Judaism. We can pursue it every day in the way that we live. Do we patronize stores that treat their employees fairly? Do we try to avoid buying clothes made by child laborers? This goes beyond giving money to people in need and enters the realm of justice. Are there other ways your Shabbat guests suggest we pursue justice daily?
Furthermore, justice does not always mean law-abiding. We celebrate the actions of those who stood up to the segregationist state laws in the U.S. They sought justice, not charity. We celebrate those who helped Jews escape Europe for Palestine under the British Mandate even though these Ma’apilim disobeyed British law. Who decides what is just and what is not? We have the Torah to help us, but what is just is not always easy to do or easy to identify. Perhaps that’s why the Torah repeats the word “tzedek.” Don’t give up—keep seeking justice even if it eludes you at first.