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Dear TBZ community:
As summer comes to an end, children go back to school, days slowly become shorter, we enter the month of Elul, and our eyes turn toward what the New Year will bring. Amidst all the new - new Jewish year, new school year - we’re also coming to the end of our Torah cycle - the end of the book of Deuteronomy, the end of the Torah’s story, the end of the journey from Egypt to the land of Israel However, just as the end of one year brings the start of a new one, the end of the Torah is actually focused on the new beginning of the people of Israel when they enter the land. Moses, in these few last parshiot (Torah portions), speaks to the people of the laws and rules they will need in order to build a just society when they arrive in the land. He gives them the tools and teachings of what this life can be, what it could become, as they go on without him and create a just society. But it’s not just aspirational.
This week's parasha, Shoftim (Judges), focuses on the creation of a society that centers on justice. Moses tells the people they will need judges and other officials to help govern their tribes and society, people who will not be bribed, who can be impartial, and who act justly (Deuteronomy 16:18-19). But that wasn’t enough. The appointments of judges that would pursue justice was so important, it was underscored with the famous verse (Deut. 16:20):
צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ
Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your God Adonai is giving you
Yes, it’s important. But why repeat the word tzedek (justice)? Torah commentators have also been intrigued by this. Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez, a widely studied commentary on the Tanakh (Jewish bible), written in Ladino and initiated by Rabbi Yaakov Culi in 1730, and translated to English by Rabbi Ariyeh Kaplan, writes and explains:
…the repetition of the word “Justice, justice” is intended to signify that there are two types of justice – that of strictly following the precepts and statutes of the law to the “letter,” and that of compromise and reconciliation. Some disputes are best settled by the former method of strict legality, while other quarrels can be harmoniously resolved to the satisfaction of both parties by the method of compromise. It requires an astute judge to determine in which situations the first method is correct, and when to apply the second method….
Others see in the Torah’s double usage of the word “justice” the need to seek true judgment whether when is in the right or in the wrong. That is to say just as an individual desires that true judgment be rendered when one knows that his cause is just, so too must that same individual actively seek and desire that true justice be served even when he knows that his cause is wrong and the outcome will therefore be against him. An honest individual will welcome both rulings equally, the one in his favor as well as the one against him, since he knows that both decisions represent correct judgment…
Various commentators interpreted the double usage of the word “justice” as an urging to perform righteous deeds that would lead to the performance of similar deeds in the future, i.e., acting justly must become habitual. What is also important is that one must pursue righteous goals using only righteous means, without ever having nobel goals and purposes justify the use of ignoble methods….
Others maintain that with the repetition of the word “justice” the Torah counsels Israel to pursue justice in both word and deed.
(Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez to Deuteronomy 16:20).
Our tradition is very clear about the pursuit of justice and the ways that this can be achieved as a practice – as a way of living our life. There is no ambivalence in the centrality of the work toward a just world and a just society as part of our religious practice. Living a Jewish life is living with this awareness. The work towards justice is not a side project or an optional part of being Jewish, it is at the core of what being Jewish and living Jewishly mean. People might disagree on what makes a society just, but at the center is our belief that this is what God asks us to do.
And what a teaching to have as we go through our month of Elul, a month of introspection, a month of setting goals for the year to come, a month that allows us to look inwards and outwards so we can reset for the next year. How can we pursue, in big ways and small, justice in our lives? What does justice mean? When do we follow the letter of the law and when do we understand the need for compromise and reconciliation? How can we best pursue justice? What happens when this pursuit is not for our own benefit?
My invitation for all of us this Elul, is to reflect on these questions as a way to prepare for the New Year.
It is wonderful to be back writing my weekly Shabbat N’kabla and I look forward to sharing thoughts and teachings of Torah to help us bring Shabbat together. Please note that starting next week, we have changed the format and communication schedule for TBZ (read below for all details). Shabbat N’kabla messages will be sent on Thursday evening, they will not come from my email, but rather from a new email (shabbat@tbzbrookline.org). Make sure to add that email in your contacts so it doesn’t go to spam. That email will include the Shabbat message in addition to all Shabbat information from TBZ.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing. And may we have a joyful, sweet, and peaceful Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
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