From: "Yeshivat Har Etzion's
Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To: yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject: IntParsha 41: Re'eh
YESHIVAT
HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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INTRODUCTION TO
PARASHAT HASHAVUA
PARASHAT
RE'EH
Equality
and the Temple
By
Rabbi Alex Israel
Our Parsha this week focuses on two themes. The first
theme is the centralized worship of God. The Torah goes
to great length to ban multiple worship sites and worship
of other Gods. The Jewish alternative to the Pagan
temples and altars "on mountains and hills and under
every fertile tree" is "the site that the Lord your God
will choose amidst all your tribes as His habitation, to
establish His name there." (12:5) There is to be only one
place of worship, one sacrificial altar, and this is to
be situated in a yet undesignated place - the site which
God will choose. With the hindsight of history, we know
this place to have been the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
[see II Samuel Ch.24:15-24 for the episode in which this
site was identified.]
The second theme is a theme of social justice and
cohesion. This is expressed through the laws of Charity
which are mentioned in the Parsha, the benevolent
treatment and freeing of a slave, the remission of debts
in the Sabbatical Year (see Ch.15).
There are passages in which the two themes - the Temple
as the sole place of sacrifice and worship, and the
concern for the status of the poorer classes in society -
come together. One example would be the three Pilgrim
Festivals which are described towards the end of our
Parsha (Ch.16) Here, we read:
"You shall rejoice in your festival with your son
and daughter, your male and female slave, the
Levite, the stranger, the orphan and the widow in
your communities. You shall hold festival for the
Lord your God seven days in the place that the
Lord will choose..." (16:14-15)
The Torah paints here an image of social cohesion with
the Temple at the epicenter. During a festival, the
possibility exists that those on the fringes of society
and those who have no independent means of living might
be excluded from the celebrations, for financial reasons
or for social reasons. The Torah deliberately stresses
that at the Temple all people celebrate together. The
Torah is proposing here a certain equality, an attempt at
unity despite economic and societal differences. The
place where this can happen is at "the place that the
Lord will choose." Before God, all are equal.
But how exactly does this work? Why would the downtrodden
person feel included in the festive Jerusalem
environment? What is it that the Temple manages to create
that might generate this mass rejoicing of the entire
nation together?
MAASER SHENI
I believe that some of the answer is provided by the law
of Ma'aser Sheni - the Second Tithe - which can also be
found in our Parsha. Let us read the verses together and
we will then engage in a deeper analysis.
"You shall set aside every year a tenth part of
all your grain produce that your field yields. You
shall consume the tithes of your new grain and
wine and oil and the firstlings of your herds and
flocks in the presence of the Lord your God, in
the place where He will choose to establish His
name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord
your God forever. Should the distance be too great
for you, should you be unable to transport them
... you may convert them into money. Wrap up the
money and take it with you to the place that the
Lord your God has chosen and spend the money on
anything you want - cattle, sheep, wine, or other
intoxicant or anything you may desire. And you
shall feast there, in the prsence of the Lord your
God, and rejoice with your household." (14:22-26)
What does this text tell us? It instructs the Jewish
farmer to set aside a tenth of his agricultural produce.
This tenth must be brought to "the place which God
chooses" i.e. the Temple, where the food will be eaten.
For those who live so distant that the food will spoil on
the journey, they may sell the food, taking the monetary
value to spend on food and drink in the chosen city.
What is the value of all this? What difference does it
make if one eats produce at home or in Jerusalem? The
food is not holier! Why do it? Let us add that a tenth of
a year's harvest is an enormous amount of food. Can a
single family eat all this food? What is the reason to
transport that volume of food to the capital city?
Another point might be to mention that at times, these
tithes seem a little like taxes. It is possible that
Jewish farmers resented them just like many people resent
taxes. Is that what they were? But then, this tax is
consumed by the owner! It does not go to the Treasury or
something. We will attempt to delve into this simple law
and to illustrate the way in which law might have made a
marked impact upon the social and religious substance of
the nation.
SOCIAL IMPACT
Maimonides gives the following rationale for this law:
"God commanded that The Second Tithe be spent only
on food products, and consumption was restricted
to Jerusalem. This ensures a culture of generosity
and kindness (in the city). The money must be
spent on food, and the sums build up throughout
the year. Eventually the money will be used to
finance some sort of gathering in order
to
strengthen love and bonds of brotherhood between
people." (Guide to the Perplexed 3:39)
"The benefits of the festivals ... the
second
tithe money were used for expenses ... as well as
the first born animals ... there will be
an
enormous amount of food ... and a person will
naturally donate to the needy. The verse
has
already stressed the notion of charity at festival
times when it states: "You shall rejoice in your
festival with your son and daughter, your male and
female slave, the Levite, the stranger, the orphan
and the widow in your communities..." (16:14)
Maimonides informs us of the effect this law has in the
social realm. With so much food to consume in Jerusalem,
what was a family to do? They would save the money of the
second tithe which had collected during the course of the
year and would spend it in Jerusalem on their festival
expenses. However even the most luxurious restaurants in
Jerusalem will not use up the vast sums (10% of
everything) which had accumulated. Hence, people would
simply make handouts to the poor. The markets of
Jerusalem were full of the best food and everybody was
only too delighted to provide generously for the poor.
After all the money had to be spent, and only in
Jerusalem. Likewise, a person who had a wedding, a
barmitzva, a party for whatever reason might decide to
have it in Jerusalem. Why? Because the entire cost of the
caterer can be paid for by Ma'aser Sheni money! So
Jerusalem became a place of "gathering".
So let us summarize. Maaser Sheni on a basic level acts
to attract Jews to Jerusalem for the Pilgrim Festivals
and to enjoy the festival fully - expenses paid! But over
and above this, it encourages everybody in Jerusalem to
share their food, to provide for any and everyone else.
And further still, Jerusalem becomes a place of family
gatherings and celebrations.
Now maybe we understand how Jerusalem became such a
welcoming place for "outsiders". On the festivals, it was
simply a place of giving, everybody happy to give freely
without a second thought. It was a place where all could
feel comfortable.
SPIRITUAL REASONS.
The passage in our Parsha talks about the sceond tithe as
being aimed at a purpose: "so that you may learn to
revere the Lord your God forever." How does this law
ensure this spiritual goal?
Here are two comments by two mediaeval commentators:
"SO THAT YOU MAY LEARN TO REVERE THE LORD: When
you witness that place of God's immanent presence
(shekhina), the priests going about the Temple
service, the Levites at their posts, and Israel
gathering (to pray and study)." (Rashbam)
"SO THAT YOU MAY LEARN TO REVERE THE LORD: Because
in that chosen place of the Temple there will also
be the Supreme Court of law who research
and
legislate (lit. teach)" (Sephorno)
The two commentators are discussing the precise nature of
the spiritual experience in Jerusalem. Rashbam chooses to
see the Temple as a source of spiritual inspiration. The
magnificent structuitself, its impressive service and the
very feeling of God's close presence. The overall
emotional-spiritual experience of the Temple ensured its
role as a catalyst for greater closeness with God and
deeper personal spirituality.
The Sephorno however, sees the entire spiritual
experience as related to a more intellectual experience.
He talks about visiting the Supreme Court, the Beit Din
HaGadol. There one would hear the finest scholars in the
land analyzing legal intricacies and issuing legal -
Halakhic - rulings which would bind all of Israel by
their authority. The intellectual process, the Yeshiva
experience, is the fundamental factor in the spiritual
inspiration of the city.
The Sefer HaChinuch takes this particular point a stage
further:
"God knows that most people are attracted
to
material things for they are all mortal; they
cannot apply themselves to the demanding process
of Torah study. Thus God devised a
situation
whereby there would be a place in which everyone
would be aware of God and knowledgeable of His
law. Now there is no doubt that a person resides
where his money lies. Therefore when a person
would bring his tithe ... to the place of of Torah
observance and study - Jerusalem - where
the
Sanhedrin (Supreme Court) sat, scholars of immense
knowledge and shrewdness.... he will, at the very
least spend some time in study of Torah,
or
alternatively he would send a son to study Torah
and would maintain him there with the money of the
second tithe. Through this will come a situation
whereby every household in Israel will have at
least one representative who was learned in the
words of Torah and able to teach the
entire
family...."
The Sefer HaChinuch proceeds to explain the effect of
communal members who have a passion for and a knowledge
of Torah, and the effect that they can have on a
community.
But let us summarise the view of the Sefer HaChinuch. He
proposes that the Second Tithe as a tool for spreading
the word of Torah and popularizing Torah study. The large
sums of money that were designated for food use in
Jerusalem would be ideal for supporting a Torah scholar
in Jerusalem, preferably the farmer himself, or a son of
his. Let us not forget that if the Sanhedrin was in
Jerusalem, then the 70 most prominent sages were also
residents of the city. In that case, Jerusalem was filled
with Yeshivot, and the tithe money could support a
student easily within those environments. Then, this
learned person would be able to influence his home
community too.
So the Second Tithe functions as an incentive and a
facilitator of serious high-level Torah Study. It enables
every family to have their own, home grown scholar.
SUMMARY
So, we now realize that a simple law like a tithe of this
nature can have effects way beyond our immediate
expectation. First we have noted the incredible social
impact of the tithe, allowing food to be freely
distributed in the city, and a lowering of the societal
walls that we have built around ourselves. The second
dimension to this tithe - Maaser Sheni - is the religious
dimension. Whether in the emotional-spiritual realm, or
in the intellectual-studious dimensions, The tithe
facilitates an entire range of possibilities of quite a
unique nature.
But from the perspective of Jerusalem - "the place which
God chooses" - we realize how this simple law transforms
Jerusalem into a city of joy and brotherhood, of kindness
and caring, of markets overflowing with every good
thing. It is also a city with an intellectual hub, a
spiritual core; and a place of Torah study and spiritual
betterment.
Shabbat Shalom.
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433
Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved
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From: "Yeshivat Har Etzion's
Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
To: yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject: INTPARSHA -42: Parashat Shoftim
YESHIVAT
HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
**********************************************************************
INTRODUCTION TO
PARASHAT HASHAVUA
by
Rav Alex Israel
Parashat
Shoftim
Judicial
Warnings
Our parasha is a study of four modes of leadership
within the Jewish nation state. They are the judge, the
king, the prophet and the priest. Our parasha describes
their specific roles and duties, and outlines the careful
limits to power and authority set by the Torah.
For certain of these public figures, the Torah would
seem to be less interested in the rights and the powers
of the authority figure, and more concerned with what
they may not do! Within the very sentence in which a
certain authority position is created, that figure is
given severe limitations. With the king:
" ... he shall not keep many horses... and he shall
not have too many wives ... nor shall he amass silver
and gold to excess. ... he will not act haughtily to
his fellows nor deviate from the instruction
(of
God).." (17:16-20)
With the priest:
"The levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall
have no territorial portion within Israel ... the Lord
is their portion, as He promised them." (18:1-2)
In our class this week, we shall concern ourselves
with the opening lines of our parasha. They deal with the
establishment of a national system of courts and law
enforcement. Here again we see the establishment of a
system of government and immediately, the warnings as to
the abuse of high office. Let us read the text itself:
"(18) Appoint magistrates and officials for
your
tribes, in all the settlements that the Lord your God
is giving you, and they shall govern the people with
due justice. (19) You shall not judge unfairly, you
shall show no partiality, you shall not take bribes,
for bribes blind the eyes of the
discerning and
falsify the word of the just. (20) Justice, justice,
shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the
land that the Lord your God is giving you." (16:18-20)
"IN ALL THE SETTLEMENTS"
This is the Bekhor Shor's reading of the
opening
verse:
"Magistrates and officials: .... this refers to the
"Great Sanhedrin" (the "supreme court") which
is the
source of teaching for all Israel (see 17:7-8) ...
thus the primary legal center is in Jerusalem.
In
all your settlements: Smaller court of 23 must
be
appointed in every town. For
your tribes: a
particular tribe must judge its own tribe."
Maimonides builds up the picture in a clear way in
his legal code, the Mishneh Torah:
"It is a Torah injunction to appoint judges and law
enforcement officers in every district and
every
town, as it states
"Appoint magistrates and
officials for your tribes, in all the settlements."
... How many full-time law courts must Israel have,
and with how many judges? First the High Court
in
Jerusalem is established. It sits in the Temple and
numbers 71 members. ...There are two other courts of
twenty-three judges at the entrance to the
Temple
Mount and to the Temple compound. In addition, any
town with over 120 people a
minor court, or
'Sanhedrin,' with 23 judges ... and if the town has
less than 120 inhabitants, one appoints a court of
three judges'" (Laws of Sanhedrin Ch.1).
Maimonides here outlines for us an entire
court
system, from the Supreme Court in Jerusalem to even the
smallest hamlet having a law court of three judges. The
supreme court which takes the cutting-edge cases has 71
of the greatest legal minds in the land. Only this court
can rule on national issues. However, the court of twenty-
three members is licensed to try even capital cases. A
simple monetary dispute will be settled by a
3-man
judiciary.
But, we may well ask as to the need for this
vast
number of judges and their function. Why does every place
need its own judges? Why can people not just travel to
the next town on the rare occasion that they need to go
to court?
Perhaps the Bekhor Shor gives us a clue. He mentions
the insistence that each tribe be tried in a court of its
own. Why is this necessary? It would seem that a court
that belongs to one's own tribe, is a place that will
give the fairest of trials. Any cultural nuance, every
family or sectarian issue, will be understood and more
readily accepted in a court belonging to your particular
tribe. The tribal court will ensure an environment that
is less alien and more open. Maybe this approach explains
the precise text of the verse: " ... for your tribes, in
all the settlements.... and they shall judge the people
with due justice." Only if a court is in the
towns
themselves will it be able to judge with "due justice."
This is because the person who is judged will be clearly
understood, the socio-economic conditions, the tribal
politics etc. It is good for judges to be close to the
people. It ensures the involvement of the court in the
daily living of the people. But the reverse is true as
well. From the people's perspective, the presence of a
law-court in their midst, both as an address
for
questions and arguments, and as a source of
Torah
learning, is something which raises the standard of the
town. It changes the mindset on the street, giving the
public a constant awareness of Torah standards
and
sensitivities. In the words of the 13th-century work, the
Sefer Ha-chinukh:
"The value of the function of judges and officers is
that they compel people to observe the precepts of
the Torah, turning back those who deviate from the
true path, commanding what is supposed to be
done
and preventing unworthy deeds..."
So, the notion of the courts "in every
settlement"
assures "due justice" and more! It benefits the judges
and it benefits the public.
VERSE 19 - COMPLETE IMPARTIALITY
Verse 18 would seem to be directed at the nation as
a whole. The nation is to see to it that a Judiciary is
established. But verse 19 would seem to be talking to the
judges themselves!
19)"You shall not judge unfairly, you shall show no
partiality, you shall not take bribes, for
bribes
blind the eyes of the discerning and falsify
the
word of the just."
Is this verse talking to judges, in which case, the
Torah switches its audience rather silently or is there
another possibility? And if we are on the topic, to whom
is verse 20 directed: the Judges or the nation?
Let us add a further query as regards verse 19. Look
at the verse. There are three laws or command statements.
Are the three phrases not simply repeating themselves?
If we judge fairly, then it must be an
objective,
impartial verdict. In the pursuit of fair
justice,
bribery is also a non-option. So do these
three
injunctions add anything to each other? Nechama Leibowitz
points out that these laws have been mentioned in other
places in Torah (Exodus Ch.23, Deut 1:17) so what is the
thrust of this verse?
Rashi reads this verse in the following way.
"DO NOT PERVERT JUDGEMENT: literally. AND SHOW
NO
PARTIALITY: Even at the stage of hearing evidence. A
warning to the judge that he should not be gentle to
one plaintiff and harsh to another, letting one sit
and the other stand. When one party sees that
the
judge is favoring his rival, he begins
to lose
confidence in presenting his argument. AND DO
NOT
TAKE BRIBES: Even to deal out justice. FOR
BRIBES
BLIND: Once he has taken the
bribe it is an
impossibility that he will not, in some
way, be
predisposed towards him to influence the case
in
some manner, his favor. THE WORDS OF THE JUST: The
just words - the true verdict."
Rashi interprets this entire verse
as directed
towards judges. He explains that this verse deals with
increasingly subtle temptations within the legal process.
The first warning is the obvious one. The judge must
not "fix" the verdict. This would be a perversion
of
justice. The role of the judge is to weigh up
the
evidence before him in respect to the law and to judge on
that basis and nothing else.
The second warning relates to court procedure. Here,
even a slight gesture to one of the litigants in court
can create an environment which will cause one of the
parties to lose confidence. The judge must show complete
impartiality even in his administration of the courtroom.
The third warning is subtler still. A
judge can
decidthe verdict in his mind, and know that he will give
a verdict in favor of one of the litigants. It just
happens that at this point, that very litigant offers a
bribe. The judge might say, 'Well, I have
decided
objectively, what is wrong with a little extra money?
After all, the problem with bribery is that it influences
a person's thought process, but as for me, I am totally
objective!" Rashi is basing himself in the Sifrei, a
Tanaitic Midrash:
"Do not take bribes: Obviously this applies to
(a
bribe) to clear the guilty and convict the innocent,
but it even applies to bribery that will clear the
innocent and convict the guilty!"
So Rashi has demonstrated that the verse here is a
series of warnings of increasing subtlety, directed at
the court Judges.
NEPOTISM AND POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, on the other
hand,
reads the verse as directed to the same address as the
previous verse 18. He sees both verses as addressed to
the "whole nation who already had their representation in
the Sanhedrin of 71." This Supreme Court
was the
appointer of Judges and law officers. It is the Supreme
Court as the legal guardians of the nation who
are
instructed to create law-courts in every settlement and
hamlet. It is they who are instructed with the warnings
of verse 19. Hirsch also quotes the Sifrei.
"Do not pervert Justice: This injunction is directed
at the person invested with the office of appointing
judges. Lest you should say, 'So
and So is
distinguished looking, I shall appoint him as judge;
so and so is a warrior, I shall appoint
him as
judge, this man is my relative ... this man assisted
me financially, I shall appoint him as judge' ... he
will come out acquitting the guilty and convicting
the innocent, not because he is evil but because he
is uneducated in Law! For those who appoint judges
in this way, I regard them
as if they had
"demonstrated partiality in the
matter of the
court."
This reading of these verses is novel. The
Sifrei
here reads the entire passage as related
to the
APPOINTERS of judges. It reads verse 19 as ruling out
irregularities in the process of judicial appointments.
"Do not pervert justice (by making
inappropriate
individuals judges) and do not show partiality (lit.
recognize faces - ie. favoring certain candidates because
they have done you favors in the past) and do not take
bribes ..."
Here is Hirsch's own words:
"According to this way of taking it, the
sentences
would not be speaking so much of the duties of the
judges, but rather of the duty of
the national
authorities who are entrusted with the appointment
of judges. To appoint such men as judges
through
whom justice, pure unadulterated justice would
be
achieved; and at making such appointments, next to
honesty and uprightness of character, to be guided
solely by knowledge of the law and insight into the
law. For these traits, no other
qualifications,
personal, social or of scholarly attainments may be
substituted ... The warning here, equally addressed
to the national representatives - "Do not
pervert
justice" - makes them, the Sanhedrin who
appoint
judges, responsible for any twisting of the
law,
partiality shown, or bribery accepted at any court
in the land ... you are not to twist the law through
the judges who you appoint."
The Sanhedrin who appoint judges, are
responsible
for any twisting of the law, partiality shown, or bribery
accepted at any court in the land! Hirsch's harsh words
hold a clear message. The values begin at the top. If
judges are appointed because of family ties or other
insider deals, then the process of corruption, bribery
and partiality have already entered the system. To this
end, the Supreme Court hold the key to this
entire
pandora's box. They are entrusted to uphold the standards
of honesty and impartiality.
JUSTICE, JUSTICE - PURSUE!
Verse 20 is a little strange. What does it want from
us? We clearly have an orientation of justice having read
the previous two verses. What might this verse be adding?
Also, the doubled phrase - Tzedek Tzedek - must
be
indicative of something. What is it?
The Talmud states:
"Justice, Justice pursue! - One ("Justice") for
Law
and another for out of
court (compromise)
settlement." (Sanhedrin 32b)
The indication here is that at times the best way of
achieving justice is to circumvent the legal details and
come up with a mutually agreed resolution that supercedes
the letter of the law.
The Ibn Ezra has an interesting reading here:
"This verse is talking to the
litigants. The
doubling of the word "justice" comes to teach you to
pursue justice - whether you win the case or whether
you lose!"
Both of these approaches suggest that this verse is
talking to the litigants themselves. If this is the case,
we could have an interesting situation here whereby verse
18 talks to the appointers of judges, verse 19 talks to
the judges themselves, and verse 20 talks
to the
litigants!
LAND AND JUSTICE
"Justice, justice, shall you pursue, that you
may
thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is
giving you."
Our concluding verse connects Justice
with the
rights of the nation to the Land of Israel. It
is
interesting that in the concluding passage of
the
parasha, the theme returns again. Over there, there is an
unsolved murder. An unknown stranger has been assaulted
and killed on the highway. The elders of the nearest city
are summoned to proclaim:
"We did not spill this blood and our eyes did
not
witness it. Forgive your people Israel
who you
redeemed, God, and do not let guilt for the blood of
the innocent remain among your
people Israel."
(21:8)
The holy land is spiritually
sensitive. It is
justice and compassion that give us the keys to survival
in our land of promise.
Shabbat Shalom
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433
Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved
***********************************************