Parshat Shoftim 5766

I suspect that most of us here are familiar with the old expression: “Charity begins at home.” We’ve even said this from time to time. What we may not know is that Charles Dickens, apparently coined this maxim and that there is another part to it: 'Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.' I’d like to suggest this morning that justice is even closer than that. It’s begins right here, right now, in each of us.

Parshat Shoftim contains one of the best know statements about justice in the Bible: “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” When I googled these well known words, I received almost eleven million hits on the internet! I suspect that this verse is one of the most often quoted statements in the Bible, especially by politicians and public officials, even if they don’t always live up to these idealistic words.

Unfortunately when we say that charity begins at home we usually say this as an excuse for not helping others and the same is true about justice. Charity begins at home but it does not end there. We tend to think about justice only when we feel that we’ve been treated unfairly. We don’t always hold ourselves up to the same standard of justice to which we hold others. Justice may be something that others deserve but it begins with our own personal daily actions.

“Tzedek, tzedek tirdof.” What do these words mean? It’s hard not to return to it each year when we reach Parshat Shoftim. The sages wondered why the Torah repeats the word “justice” in this verse since there are no superfluous or extraneous words in the Bible. Every word counts. There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of attempts to answer this question. I won’t bother trying to share them all with you right now. More basic, I would suggest, is the context in which this verse originally appears.

The passage begins, “You shall appoint judges and officials in all of your gates…you shall not judge unfairly.” Justice, then, is not just a personal concern but judicial responsibility. Judges and officers of the court have a responsibility to make sure that all people who appear before them are treated fairly. They must act according to the highest legal and moral standards so that their actions do not even appear to be questionable. And most important of all, they must make sure that they do not use their position of authority for personal gain. The Torah goes on to say that a bribe “blinds the eyes of the discerning and upsets the plea of the just.”

But most of us are back seat commentators when it comes to the pursuit of justice. After all, how much influence or power do we have in the world? We are not in a position that allows us to pervert justice or to take advantage of others. We do our own thing and live our own lives trying to stay out of trouble. Not so, politicians and public officials. One of my favorite cartoons is a picture of a man standing before a judge and saying, “Your honor – it’s not my fault. If the people hadn’t elected me I wouldn’t be in so much trouble!”

Most of us are quick to complain when we feel that we’ve been treated unfairly. It is harder to see when we are taking advantage of others and it is difficult to admit that we are bending the rules to suit our own needs. Yet we all do it. Judges have a responsibility to act justly but so do each of us even if we feel that our small actions don’t make that much of a difference. Even if no one else knows what we are doing we are still subject to God’s justice and judgment.

Parshat Shoftim begins with very specific words: “Shoftim v’shotrim titayn lecha bikhol shearekha.” Translated literally, this verse says, “You shall put judges and officials before you in all of your gates.” The word “lecha” “before you” is a single pronoun. In Hebrew there are single and plural pronouns and verbs. The verse should have said, “titayn lachem,” “before you” in the plural. Why does the verse begin in a personal and singular form?

Rabbi Shlomo Efraim Lunchitz, author of the Keli Yakar, comments that before there can be justice in society we must hold ourselves up to a strict standard of justice. And before we judge others, we must be willing to honestly judge ourselves.

It seems to me that we have been applying the wrong part of this passage to our personal lives. Don’t just pursue justice, the Torah tells us; first make sure that you have placed judges and honest brokers before you so that you can be certain that you are doing the right thing.

Rabbi Shlomo Luria, the Maharshal, took this teaching quite literally. He had his own personal mokhiakh, a chastiser who accompanied him and would always be brutally honest with him about his own behavior. Before he entered the rabbinic tribunal to render judgments, Rabbi Luria would sit with this man to receive reproof. Only then would he enter into the judgment of others – Rabbi Luria refused to judge other people until he was judged himself.

In another Hasidic teaching, we learn that this is why we were created with two eyes and not one. One eye allows us to judge others favorably while the second eye allows us to see the faults in ourselves. Biologically speaking this is correct. If a person is blind in one eye then he looses his ability to see things with perspective and depth perception. And the same is true morally. If we only see the faults in others and not in ourselves then we loose our moral perspective and our ability to judge people properly. It is through the ability to look at the whole situation, including himself that allows a judge renders a fair decision.

So justice really does begin at home, just like charity. It begins with our ability to honestly look at ourselves and to be self critical. Of course one can also be overly critical of oneself. It is important for us to see our strengths and abilities as it is to acknowledge our personal faults and frailties. My experience, however, is that most people find it easier to see the faults in others than it is to acknowledge their own.

Yesterday morning we celebrated the second day of Rosh Hodesh. We sounded the shofar for the first time in the month of Elul. The count down has now begun. The High Holy Days are now officially here. This is a time when we begin to prepare ourselves for Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment. But before we can stand before the divine court in judgment we must be willing to look carefully at our own lives, with an eye that allows us to forgive others while seeing the faults in ourselves.

I’d like to suggest that with Rosh Hashanah just around the corner it’s not too early to begin preparing ourselves for this season. If each of us took even five minutes a day to reflect on our lives I think we could make a big difference on the impact Rosh Hashanah could have on us. Better yet, it might be helpful to find a partner or friend with whom you can be completely honest and who will be completely honest with you. If you’re uncomfortable sharing such private matters with others, you could also keep a list or write in a journal each day compiling a list of your shortcomings and strengths, a list of hopes for the New Year and regrets about the old one. You could then bring this list with you to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah and use it as a tool for self reflection and Heshbon Hanefesh.

As I have said many times, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are not about simply going through the Machzor, but making sure the Machzor goes through us. If we do not bring our personal concerns and struggles to synagogue at this time of year (and all year for that matter) then all we are doing is going through the motions.

I’d like to make one other suggest for Elul. I’d like to suggest that each of us choose one mitzvah that we really want to work on during this month in preparation for the New Year. It can be any mitzvah you want: lighting Shabbat candles, not spreading gossip, putting on tefillin, or performing one act of kindness each day. Don’t pick anything that will over tax you. It should be something very simple and small, something that you can work on and really accomplish in one month. For instance you can say – for the next month I’m going to kiss the Mezuzah whenever I see one. You might want to do a little research about your mitzvah: google it, stop by our library to see if we have any books about it to see what you can find about this mitzvah. You can even E-mail me and I will be glad to suggest material that you can read and study about your particular mitzvah. The idea here is not simply to do it, but to do it with kavannah, with passion and with heartfelt mental and spiritual concentration. To do something with kavannah means that you are really present when you perform this act.

I’d like to suggest that if you do these two things: spend time in self reflection and actively perform just one mitzvah – not only will the high holy days be more meaningful, but your life will change in surprising ways.

We must begin by being our own judges, by looking honestly at ourselves and by looking for ways to judge ourselves before we judge others. The time has come for us to move from the back seat to the front seat. Rather than telling others what to do and where to go, we need to take the wheel and begin driving ourselves.

As we begin the High Holy Day Season let us remember. Before we stand in the gates we must stand in self judgment before ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom