Parashas Shoftim

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Shoftim and the Haftorah , again as part of the series of Parshas from Isaiah as hope after Tisha B'Av a few weeks ago, is from Yeshayahu Isaiah 51:12-52:12 talking of hope in the Messianic times and that HaShem Is our Savior , The One and Only, an important Truth to remember , when Israel Wants a king, as the other nations have , seeing as in this Parsha of Shoftim , the tenets of a Jewish King are mentioned .
This Parsha of Shoftim starts out with the Commandment to appoint " Shoftim Ve Shotrim , " - " Judges and Officers , " in all our cities which HaShem our G-D Gives us , in order to judge the people with righteous judgement and the Officers to ensure the Law is carried out and to act as Law Keepers to bring those breaking the Law to Judgement Court.
HaShem Teaches here how a Judge is to conduct himself and what kind of a person he is to be .
Torah Tells us that the Judge is to Judge with Righteous Judgement . This refers to Judging by HaShem's Law, not man made Laws . The Judge is not to pervert Judgement , changing it to suit himself or in favor of the wrong .The Judgement must be straight and honest according to HaShem's Torah . Torah Tells us the Judge " shall not respect someone's presence , " which means that the Judge shall not give favor to a litigant who may be of a higher position or status or change Judgement feeling sorry for a person who is poor . The Judge is to treat both litigants with equality and the same , not showing any favor bias to one or the other , whether they be rich or poor , higher position person or lower position person . They are to be treated the same , where the Judge is not to show more respect to one or the other but rather to treat them as equals . And also very importantly , the Judge is not in any way , whether financially or even in a form of a favor , ever to accept a bribe , for as The Torah so beautifully puts it , " for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make just words crooked . "
So a Jewish Judge is to be a person who follows Torah with their heart and soul , a person of high intelligence and one who will not be afraid to pass judgement on a person , no matter if that person would threaten them . The Judge is to be a person who will not accept bribes and judge totally fairly for they are a representative of HaShem on Earth . Our Sages say that when a Judge Judges , he is to picture a sword hanging above his head , ready to come down on him should he not judge properly , and Gehinnom below him , to fall into , should he not judge properly . Thus Judging others is as a matter of life and death , for when judging one's fellow , one may have to judge another , and they may have to pay with their livelihood . Dovid Ha Melech was a great and holy Tzaddik , and he would do a very special thing . He would judge litigants with strict fairness and if it came to judging one who couldn't afford the judgement rendered , he would still judge fairly , even if it meant having to judge a poor man who is to pay and if the person was a good and moral person who was Torah Observant , or even really down and out financially , Dovid Ha Melech , after the Judgement was passed , would see to it that this man or litigant would be given the funds to pay in an honorable and charitable way , via Dovid's own personal money . But the litigant was judged first and would not know that Dovid may help him out afterwards . The Torah Portion here also repeats the word " Righteousness where it is written here , " Righteousness Righteousness shall you pursue , " where our Sages explain that this means that even when pursuing righteousness , the actions we are to take in the pursuit of righteousness , must also be in a righteous way . So we must never think in the way that it is okay to do something wrong morally in order ' for the end to justify the means . ' That is not what Torah Teaches . Only through Righteous methods , are we to pursue Righteousness .
HaShem then Commanded that we are not to ever plant idolatrous trees near the Altar of HaShem our G-D or erect a pillar . This was also the case when building the Temple . No Trees were allowed near the Temple , for this was a practice of the idolators and pagans , that would put asheirah , trees for worship . Jeremiah the Prophet was also Commanded and thus related to us in Jeremiah 10 : 2-5 that we are forbidden to even decorate trees as the heathens do , for this is and was a practice of idolworship , being a part of many idol worshiping beliefs and totally pagan , as was erecting a pillar ( single pillar ) , for this too was a part of idol worshiping ways .
HaShem Commands us not to offer to Him a blemished offering .
HaShem Instructs us that should we find in our cities that HaShem our G-D Gave us , one who commits evil , violating the Covenant , going and serving the idols and beliefs of others that are not Jewish , thus breaking this Torah Law of following Avodah Zorah by serving other idol worshiping beliefs and bowing down to their idols , or to the sun or moon , then the matter shall be investigated , and if it be found that they did such a thing , then HaShem Commands us to sentence that person to death with S'kila Stoning , but by the testimony of two or three witnesses only can a person be condemned to death , but never by the testimony of a single witness . It is to be the hands of the witnesses , who are to be the first to put that person to death and then the entire people afterwards , for we are to destroy the evil from our midst .
The Great Sanhedrin has final say and their Judgement is to be abided by , even by elders .
HaShem Then Discusses the Laws of the Jewish King . HaShem In His Torah here Foretells how we as Jews will in the future ask for a king as other nations have . This we did , in Shmuel the Prophet's time , where our first Jewish king was Shaul Saul son of Kish the Benjaminite . This angered HaShem and Shmuel the Prophet , for we should not have asked for a king , as HaShem Is our True King . How sad in our Jewish History how many of the kings of Israel and Judah led us to exile by the behavior of so many of our kings , disobeying HaShem and following the ways of idol worship and the pagan ways of the other nations . How sad that HaShem Had to meet the Kohanim that remained , on the roof of the Temple and Put His Hand Down from Heaven and those Kohanim had to hand HaShem the Keys to the Temple , before the Temple was destroyed . How HaShem Loves His people for He Rather destroyed His House The Temple , rather than His People Israel , before HaShem Sent us into exile . HaShem Here , in this Parsha Teaches us who and how a Jewish king is to be . A Jewish king is not to be a foreign man , but only one of our brethren Jews . The Jewish king must be a man that HaShem Chooses , where a Prophet is sent to anoint him , and the anointing must take place by a holy Torah following Jewish prophet , and the holy anointment oil must be only from the ingredients stated directly in the Torah . So will Moshiach ( whose root is ' Limshicho ' - ' To Anoint ' ) need to be anointed with the holy anointment oil described in The Torah , and the anointing must and can only be done by a Jewish Torah following Prophet . We may not place over us as a king , one who is not Jewish .
The chosen Jewish king must not have too many horses for himself so that he will not return to Egypt to increase horses ( for that is where alot of the beautiful horses came from at that time ) , for HaShem Warned us Jews never to return that way again , after leaving Mitzrayim . The Jewish King must not have too many wives , that will lead his heart astray to foreign ways Chas Ve Shalom . The Jewish king must not greatly increase his silver and gold for himself . The Jewish king is to write himself two copies of The Torah , one copy that was the norm for every Jewish religious male to have done at the time and the second , to be a smaller physical size Torah that the Jewish king is to carry with him always and he is to read from it all the days of his life so that he will learn to fear HaShem our G-D , to observe HaShem's Torah and Commandments and Decrees and do them . The sight of a Jewish king was to be very different one , from the other nation's kings , where the Jewish king represented HaShem , not himself , riding out with Tefillin , which was worn all day long then on his left arm , and carrying the small copy of the Torah he had written , on his right arm , a man totally to be immersed in HaShem and HaShem's Will Only . The Jewish king was to always remember that he is just a messenger worker for HaShem , to carry out HaShem's Will , not his own .
Sadly , as great and wise as Shlomo Ha Melech was , he thought his power of resolve would overcome the Yetzer Horah and he mistakenly felt that he could amass horses and wealth , and still be strong enough to withstand the negativity . Sadly , he was mistaken , for the 700 wives he had and 300 concubines , that he had , for the sake of making peace with his neighbors , brought idol worship into the Holy Land and the Horses he amassed , the most beautiful arabians ( horses ) , caused some Jews to have to return to Egypt in order to be a part of and assist with the business of horses coming from there and so , the wisest of the wise Shlomo Ha Melech found how wrong he was , for HaShem Only Is Wise and Knows all and must always be obeyed . We know that it was Shlomo Ha Melech who worked so hard building the Temple , and on the night of The Temple's Inauguration , was it also arranged for it to be the marriage of him to his first egyptian wife . His egyptian wife , lying to him and still being involved in idol worship , wanted to do everything possible not to let the Temple Inauguration take place , so she plied him with wine , the first time he partook of wine throughout all the years the Temple was being built , and while he was asleep , had hung , a black very large material above his bed and put glittering pieces so he would think in his state , that the stars were still out and so it was still night , and so , on the day he so awaited , to Inaugurate the Holy Temple , he continued to sleep . The Kohanim and elders , waited for his arrival , for they couldn't themselves open the doors to the new Temple , for Shlomo Ha Melech so loved the Temple and It's work , that he carried the keys for It with him , and while sleeping always kept it under his pillow , to be close while he slept , to HaShem's Commanding of him to build the Temple , and so all waited for the king . It was only when Shlomo's Ima , the holy Batsheva ( for whom Shlomo wrote the beautiful words of Eishes Chayil that we say at the Kiddush of the evening Shabbos Meal in honor of the Holy Jewish woman ) was asked where her son is , that she , wise as she will always be , knew what was going on and so she personally came in to the king , her son , woke him from his purposely organized sleep , and so could Shlomo then attend the Inauguration of the Holy Temple . HaShem Always Knows Best and Is Always to be listened to and obeyed .
The Parsha then explains about the Priestly gifts .
The Sedra then teaches us of the false prophet , where HaShem Instructs us that when we come to the Land of Israel , we are not to follow the abominations of those nations . We are not to put our children through the fire as sacrifices . HaShem Abhors human sacrifice in any way for atonement of sin . We are not to practice divinations , be an astrologer following the stars and lucky times , following omens , sorcery , being an animal charmer or the evil practice of inquiring of the ov and yidoni or consulting the dead and bringing them up to answer things or tell of future happenings like mediums do , for these things are a total abomination to HaShem . HaShem Will Establish for us Prophets , true Torah following Prophets. And only these are True Prophets .Should one claiming to be a prophet , come and speak in the name of HaShem , that which HaShem Has Not Commanded , or who will speak in the name of foreign ways or deities of others , in other words , one who comes and speaks words that HaShem Did Not Command , thus making up his own Laws , so trying to abrogate and remove even a single Law of HaShem , from the Torah or Tanach ,that person is a false prophet and must die . One way to tell , Says HaShem here in this Sedra is if that person speaks in the name of HaShem that an event will occur and it doesn't occur exactly when and how that person said it would , then this person is false and it is assured that HaShem Has not spoken such things through that person . For HaShem Is Never wrong and Knows all things and what will come to pass .
The Sedra then Teaches of the Cities of Refuge and also speaks of not changing another's land boundaries . This was an action that people in Noach's time did not abide by . They would keep changing their land boundary so as to increase their own , and would even go as far as increasing it , only in increments that would not be enough at once done , to be considered as theft . Even cheating by pretending to be legal , is still cheating . Theft is a destroyer of society .
HaShem Speaks of Witnesses and that they must always be honest and never conspire against anyone , for the false witness , will get the punishment that they were trying to put on their fellow who they were trying to talk against .
Torah then teaches the Laws of when Israel is to go to war and How HaShem Will Fight For us . That there will be a ' Kohein Meshuach Milchama , ' a Kohein anointed for War , who will speak to the people and remind them just before the battle , for Whom they are fighting and how HaShem Will Be There At their side .We are not to be afraid of the enemy , or their large horses armored for battle or their chariots and war cries , or their numbers or the trumpets they blow , for HaShem our G-D Who Brought us up from the land of Egypt , Will Save us . Just before the battle , those men who have just built a new house and not yet inaugurated it , those men who have planted a vineyard and not yet redeemed it , those men who have just betrothed a woman , and not yet married her , and the man who is fearful and faint-hearted , all these , must return home and not partake in the battle . First , before going to war against another , we are to first offer them overtures of peace and that they live according to HaShem's Laws given to Noach . If they do not accept , then we are to smite them . They cannot remain idol worshipers in the Land . HaShem Gives us a special Instruction , that when we besiege a city , we are not to destroy its fruit trees .
The Parsha ends with the Laws of the " Eglah Arufah , " - " The axed heifer , " where , if a corpse is found on the land that HaShem our G-D has given us to possess it , fallen in the field and it wasn't known who killed this person , then the Elders and Judges are to go out and measure towards the cities which is the closest city to the corpse and the elders of that city are to come out and perform the Eglah Arufah , and they are to also wash their hands over the heifer that was axed in the valley and say , " Our hands have not spilled this blood and our eyes did not see . Atone for your people Israel that You Have Redeemed , O HaShem : Do not place innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel . " The true meaning of this Eglah Arufah is a Chok , a Law where its deep meaning is actually hidden , but we do understand that the closest city needs to atone , for seeing as this person was murdered , nearest their city , this person wasn't given proper accompaniment safely out of their city and so , hold a responsibility to what happened to this person . Our Forefather Avraham always kept up the tenet of escorting a guest . Also , the city closest , also holds a responsibility for this murder , in that had they been more holy , the essence of that holiness , would have prevented such a sad occurence coming about . The Laws of HaShem Are Most Deep and totally beyond our level of understanding . So ends the Parsha .
We note that at the beginning of this Parsha of " Shoftim , " which means " Judges , " HaShem Asks us to Appoint " Shoftim Ve Shotrim Bechol Sh'arecha Asher HaShem Elokecha Notein Lecha , " - " Judges and Officers shall you appoint in all your cities which HaShem , your G-D Gives you . "
So HaShem Wants us to appoint Judges and Officers " Bechol She'arecha , " - " in all our cities , " , thus each city has to have its own court of Justice , and depending on how many members in each city , either less than or more than 120 people in the city , so will be the size of the amount of Judges , always an odd number , to make sure there will never be a tied verdict .
But there is also a deeper meaning here in the first words of this Parsha . When HaShem is asking us to appoint Judges and Officers ' in our cities , ' where should we start our judging and overseeing and controlling ? Within us . Within our own personal ' city ,' - our own personal ' body . ' Before we look to others and judge and be official over them , we must first look at ourselves . Many a time , the faults we see in others , are the faults we ourselves possess . This is often what causes us to see those very faults in others .
So where does HaShem Want us to start ? By first looking to ourselves and correcting ourselves , before we Judge others and come down on them . I am not saying we shouldn't help others grow spiritually by correcting them and this should be our holy motive . Of course we must . But we need to also look to ourselves and correct ourselves . The best teacher of holiness is the one who practices it themselves and teaches by example . It is far easier to come down on others , then to humbly come down on ourselves . So we must be " Shoftim Ve Shotrim , " - " Judges and Officers " on ourselves too . We are now in the Month of Elul , working up to Rosh HaShanah , where we need to really look at ourselves and correct ourselves , doing Teshuvah for our wrongs . It is around this time that HaShem Takes note of what happened at and around this time in history when HaShem Created Creation near the end of Elul ( the First Day of Creation was on the 25th of Elul ) and on the first of Tishrei Rosh HaShanah , Did HaShem Create Adam Ve Chava , so HaShem , around this time , Yearns so much for our closeness and so , He Comes Down Closer to us . This is a perfect time , though we should do it always at all times , that we take stock of ourselves and truly be " Shoftim and Shotrim , " for ourselves , Judging ourselves honestly and humbly , so we can take note of our wrongs like a good Judge does and correct what we need to correct on ourselves like a good Officer would do and so , become a true worker for HaShem . At the end of the day , only we can correct ourselves . This is a choice HaShem Has Given us . Only we can choose to climb higher in holiness and spirituality . HaShem Gave us a Caring task to work on , and that is ourselves , as HaShem Says in the first verse of this Parsha , " Asher HaShem Elokecha Notein Lecha , " - " That HaShem our G-D Has Given you , " a physicality that needs to be made holy , with the life soul that HaShem Has Given each and every one of us , to assist in bringing ourselves higher , to HaShem . So let us all , in this holy month of Elul , with honest introspection , really and honestly look within and take HaShem's Gift , of this time of year , to work ourselves up to Heaven . HaShem Desires our closeness . Let us give HaShem our closeness and correct ourselves purely and honestly and make ourselves into the greatest gift we can give HaShem , and that is our total choice of holiness to be close to HaShem , in total love , and to emulate HaShem's Ways and keep HaShem's Holy Torah so we can be at one with HaShem HaKadosh Baruch Hu .
I wish HaShem With Sweet Love , a Very Beautiful and Special Shabbos Kodesh With Deep Love and to all of my fellow Yidden and to all of Creation , a Very Beautiful and Special Shabbos Kodesh with Love .