Parashat Shoftim

Dedicated in honor of our grandson, Gary Feldman on his

Bar Mitzvah in Israel by Jack and Grace Marcus and family

___________________________________________________________________

Parashat Shoftim

Guarded Gates

The first passuk in Shoftim begins with these words: “Shoftim veshotrim titen lecha bechol shearecha asher Hashem elokecha noten lecha.” The literal translation is: “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your [city] gates, which Hashem, your G-d, gives you.”

Rambam sounds an alarm in his comment on this passage. He explains that if not for these laws and people’s respect for them, and without judges to hear cases between brothers, then the downfall of the nation would not be far behind. Such a breakdown would lead to anarchy, with the Torah being fragmented into many Torahs, chas veshalom.

The Sh’la Hakadosh and the Chida both cite a similar interpretation. They comment that the “judges in all your gates” is a reference to the judges at the gates of our bodies. Our ears have ear lobes which act as gates to protect us from hearing lashon hara; our eyes have eyelids, so we don’t see what we shouldn’t be looking at; and our mouth has two gates—teeth and lips—to protect us from speaking lashon hara and eating food which is not kosher.

Machloket

The Torah continues, “If a case is too inexplicable for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly ascend to the place G-d has chosen (17:8).” The simple interpretation of the verse is that if one has a halachic question that he is not able to resolve in any monetary or ritual matter, then he should bring the question up to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.

The Ari goes further and explains that these matters come from machloket—divisiveness. Rabbi Frand cites Yoma [9b] saying that the first Temple was destroyed because of the three cardinal sins: murder, idolatry, and incest, while the second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred. Which sin was worse? The fact that a second Temple was built a relatively short time after the destruction of the first Temple, while the second Temple has still not been rebuilt proves that the latter sins were worse than the former sins.

The difference is that in the time of the First Temple, even though there were these terrible sins, at least there was no machloket. However, where there is baseless hatred, where there is machloket, we lose our greatest asset, which is unity. When there is dissension and divisiveness, we lose that strength, and we end up suffering as a nation. The cure to these moments of suffering, he goes on to explain, is the second part of the passuk, “You shall promptly ascend to the place G-d has chosen.” The place that G-d chose is Yerushalayim, which can be translated as “The City of Shalom – Peace.” Peace is the cure.

Don’t Desensitize

We may feel that we are in total control of our behavior and there is no danger of being influenced by the things that we hear or see around us. That’s a big mistake because everything we are exposed to in the media has a tremendous direct and subliminal influence on our senses. According to Rabbi Twerski, many studies have conclusively proven that children exposed to television violence are more prone to violent behavior. Seeing or listening to immoral stimuli will influence our moral values.

“The hands of the witnesses shall be the first upon him to put him to death... You shall remove the evil from your midst (17:7).” The author of the Ohr Sameach, points out that it is specifically those who witnessed a crime who must be the ones to execute the death penalty on the transgressor because witnessing someone committing a sin and continuing to lead an undisturbed existence is likely to desensitize that person to the enormity of the transgression. Therefore, the witness is obligated to execute the sinner to reinforce his fear and aversion to the sin that he has witnessed.

This teaches us the importance of living in a place of Torah, where we are not exposed to forbidden sights and sounds, such as chillul Shabbat. Anyone living in a far-from-ideal environment for whatever reason, who is not thus shielded, must remove the evil from his midst by constantly eradicating it from his heart and mind in order to minimize the effect it has on him.

Just like witnessing chillul shabbat desensitizes the witness to the ramifications of mechalel Shabbat, so does witnessing injustice and corruption desensitize us to these things and cause that person to think it’s okay to live in a sinful environment. It’s just like today how we’ve become numb to all these tragedies that we hear in the news daily.

The Tactics of the Satan

Rabbi Frand brings down a passuk, “Then the two men who have the grievance shall stand before Hashem, before the kohanim, and the judges who will be in those days (19:17).” The expression “who will be in those days” immediately raises a question. Which other judges would a person present himself to, if not the judges who are around in his time? Obviously, he can’t go to judges of previous generations!

Rashi comments, “Even though he is not of equal stature to judges who existed in previous generations, one must listen to him, for one only has the judges available in his own time.” This does not only apply to judges. It applies to rabbis, teachers, roshei yeshivah, gedolim. The Torah leaders with whom you interact may not measure up to those from years gone by. That cannot be helped. You, however, must have the attitude that the individuals who are Torah leaders in your time are the greatest authorities that exist, and you must approach them with proper respect and deference.

Rabbi Shmuelevitz expands, saying that Hashem will always provide us with Rabbis and leaders who are suited to our generation. In other words, the Rabbis that we have today are tailor-made for us. Hashem ensures that we have the rabbis we need and who are perfect for the needs of our generation.

Rav Pam, ZT’L, quotes the Gemara in Baba Batra (15b) which records a dialog between Hashem and the Satan. The Satan told G-d, “I have traversed the whole world and found none so faithful as your servant Avraham. You promised him that you would give him the length and breadth of the land which he traversed, and yet when he was unable to find any place in which to bury Sarah until he bought one for four hundred shekels of silver, he did not complain against your ways.”

Then G-d said to the Satan, “Have you considered my servant Iyov? For there is none like him on the earth.” The Satan then challenged the Hashem to let him test Iyov to check out his true character. This initiated the well-known events at the beginning of the book of Iyov. Rav Pam asked, since when is the Satan in the business of praising people like Avraham? “There is no one around who compares with the righteousness of Avraham” does not sound like the Satan!

Rav Pam answered that this is, in fact, EXACTLY the tactic of the Satan. He picks some previous gadol and sets him up as a “fine and wonderful Jew”. But he does this only to find fault with contemporary Jewish leaders. Such are the devious techniques of the Satan.

We must show respect and reverence to the leaders who are present in our own days. The Satan—Yetzer Hara—Evil Inclination tries to always belittle our contemporary leaders in comparison to the “great leaders” of past generations. We must avoid this trap when approaching the leaders who are present “in our own days.”

Forgive and Be Forgiven

Rabbi Yoel Gold told a story about a couple that was getting married in Israel right at the start of the pandemic. They decided to make the wedding quickly with just immediate family before Israel went on lockdown. Only 20 people came to attend. Right after the kedushin, the mishtarah—police showed up, saying they received an anonymous tip, and demanded that everyone evacuate the venue. They were afraid coronavirus would be transmitted so the police slapped everyone with a 5,000-shekel fine and sent everyone home.

The wedding was ruined, and the couple was in debt on their very first day as husband and wife. As much as they knew it was for the best, they were so disappointed and heartbroken with how the night turned out.

Seven months later, David got a phone call. “That was my father,” David said to his wife, “a young man in kollel contacted him to say that he was the person who gave the police the tip at the wedding, and he’d like to speak to us.” They decided to meet the boy to get closure on how their wedding turned out.

They went to meet the boy. He explained to them that he was very afraid of the COVID-19 virus that had just emerged in Israel. He heard the music and assumed it was a big wedding, so he called to tell the police hoping to mitigate the spread of the virus. Since that night, he felt a tremendous guilt. He was also in shidduchim and since the wedding, not one shadchan had called with a date, and when he reached out to matchmakers, he could not get a date. He knew he had to apologize to this couple, so he tracked them down and begged for their forgiveness.

The newlyweds, so traumatized from the event, told him they needed some time. After a few days, on Erev Yom Kippur, they decided that even though it was so hard, they would put it all behind them. They would forgive him. They called him, and the bochur broke into tears, crying, “I’m so sorry for what I did. Please forgive me.”

The couple was emotional and accepted his sincere apology. They went into Yom Kippur feeling so at peace, knowing that they overcame a huge challenge, and they felt comfortable asking Hashem for forgiveness when they did the same a few hours earlier.

The next day, while David was building the Sukkah, he got a call that Tamar was in a bad car accident. When David got to the hospital, the doctor walked into Tamar’s room and said, “Your wife must have G-d watching over her.” The whole car was completely totaled, except for the driver’s side! Not only that, but the airbag should have deployed on impact, and for some reason, it didn’t. Tamar was newly pregnant and would have lost her child.

Tamar said, “Hashem must have had a sentence on me. In His kindness, He orchestrated this whole situation with the wedding and having to forgive this yeshivah boy, for us to have the zechut, for me and my child to be saved. When we forgive Hashem’s children, Hashem forgives us. When we hold grudges, they weigh us down and they’re very hard for us. And when we forgive, we become lighter and happier, and we become better people for it.”

It is Never Too Late to Do Teshuvah

The following thoughts are related by Rabbi Biderman in the Torah Wellsprings. The Zohar tells that when Hashem was about to create the world, all letters came to Hashem, one by one, and each letter said that the world should be created with it. When the letter “tzaddik” came and claimed that the world should be created with it, Hashem replied with love that indeed, the world deserves to be created with the letter “tzaddik”; however, if the world would be created with the letter “tzaddik,” which represents immense kedushah, people will fall into depression. They will feel that they can't correct what they did wrong if they fall into sin. Therefore, Hashem didn't want to create the world with the letter tzaddik, although it was befitting. The main thing is that we shouldn't lose hope.

The Zohar states that the world was created with the letter “bet” (this is why it is the first letter of the Torah). Our Sages tell us that the letter “bet” is closed from all sides and open on its front side. This hints that a person shouldn't think about what happened in the past; he should focus on the future to make the future better. No matter what was, when we make the future better, everything becomes good, and even the past becomes rectified in the best way.

Additionally, Rabbi Biderman adds his insight on a rather recent invention is a Shabbos lamp. It is a patent that enables a person to have light on Shabbos when he wants it, and darkness when he wants it. The lightbulb is in a box. When you close the box, you don't see the light, and you open the box when you want the light. Obviously, even when the box is shut, the light is still on; you just don't see it.

This is a parable to a Yid's neshamah—soul. Sometimes you don't see that the neshamah is shining, but the spark is always there. You don't have to create something to turn the neshamah on because it is already shining brightly. It shines brightly and desires only Torah, mitzvot, and a connection with Hashem. All you have to do is to move the disturbance away (the pull to the temptations of this world which prevents us from recognizing the light of the neshamah) and then the light will shine through.

May we always only seek justice between our fellow Jews and avoid distorting justice in any way. May we also guard the gates of our bodies to keep harmful, forbidden influences from entering our lives and the lives of our families. May we commit to taking upon a mitzvah in honor of Rosh Hashanah.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Amram Sananes, written by Jack Rahmey

Download Document

Le’ilui Nishmat…

Eliyahu Ben Rachel

Rabbi Shimon Chay Ben Yaasher

Avraham Ben Garaz

Sarah Bat Chanah

Esther Bat Sarah

Avraham Ben Mazal

Shulamit Bat Helaina

Rabbi Meyer Ben Chana

Rahamim Ben Mazal

Batsheva Bat Sarah Esther

Rafael Ben Miriam

Ovadia Ben Esther

Rav Haim Ben Rivka

Moshe Ben Mazal

Moshe Ben Yael

Yitzchak Ben Adele

Avraham Ben Mazal

Meir Ben Latifa

Chanah Bat Esther

Yaakov Ben Rachel

Malka Bat Garaz

Moshe Ben Garaz

Avraham Ben Kami

Yaakov Ben Leah

Mordechai Ben Rachel

Chacham Shaul Rachamim Ben Mazal

Natan Ben Rachel

Saadia Ben Miriam

Eliyah Ben Latifa Simhon

Margalit Bat Mazal

Ovadia Haim Ben Malaky

Rabbi Aharon Chaim Ben Ruchama

Luratte Bat Masouda

Esther Bat Menucha

Uri Ben Rahel

Rivka Bat Dona

Shalom Ben Zahra

Rachel Bat Sarah

Shalom Ben Zahra

Chava Yvette Bat Jamile

Refuah Shelemah…

Rachel Bat Devorah

Anyone interested in dedicating this Divre Torah Le'ilui Nishmat or Refuah Shelemah or In Honor of someone, can email me at

jrahmey@rahmeyfinancial.com. Checks can be made out to “A Life of Torah” for $101 and mailed to 2387 Ocean Ave Suite 1G, Brooklyn, NY 11229 (please put in the memo “Divre Torah”). Anyone interested in past parshiot please go to the website ParashaPerspective.org