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Weekly Reading InsightsShoftim
5763 Overview
of the Weekly Reading: Shoftim To
be read on 4 Elul 5763 (Aug.30)
Torah: Deut. 16:18-21:9; Haftorah:
Isaiah
51:12-52:12 (fourth of the seven "Haftorahs of Consolation")
Pirkei
Avot - Chapter One
Stats:
Shoftim
, 5th Reading out of 11 in Deuteronomy and 48th overall,
contains 14 positive mitzvot and 27 prohibitive mitzvot. It
is written on 191.6 lines in a Torah parchment scroll, 27 in overall
length. Shoftim
opens with the command to appoint judges and officers to uphold justice. The Jews
are warned not to make idolatrous trees, pillars, or offer blemished animals,
and are told the penalties of idolatry. The Jews are commanded to set up a Supreme
Court and a monarch. The Levites are not to have territorial shares of the Land,
but they receive portions of the Jews' sacrifices, meat, produce, and shearings.
Laws regarding prophets, both false and true, are given. Also relayed are rules
of cities of refuge, havens for the escaped unintentional murderer. An intentional
murderer, however, receives the death penalty. Additional laws discussed are the
prohibition against moving boundaries to steal land, or to testify falsely, who
is not drafted to the army, who may or may not be taken captive, and a warning
not to cut down fruit trees when waging siege on a city. Shoftim concludes with
laws concerning a corpse of an unknown murdered individual found in the field:
The elders of the closest city must decapitate a female calf over running water
to atone for innocent blood shed in their midst.
FROM THE CHASSIDIC REBBES (V:48-63Shoftim)
"You shall appoint a king over yourself."
(17:15) The inner intent of this commandment is to instill in the Jewish
people a sense of nullification before G-d and acceptance of the yoke of heaven.
For a Jewish king is completely nullified before G-d; submitting to his sovereignty
contains an element of nullification before G-d as well. (Derech Mitzvotecha)
A MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE (M:
48-63Shoftim)
FROM THE MASTERS
OF KABBALA (K:47-63Re'eh)
Selected
with permission and adapted from the three-volume English edition of Shney
Luchot HaBrit -- the Sh'lah,
as translated, condensed, and
annotated by Eliyahu Munk.
Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz (1565-1630), known as the 'Sh'lah' - an acronym of
the title, was born in Prague. A scholar of outstanding reputation, he served
as chief Rabbi of Cracow, and more famously, of Frankfort (1610-1620). After his
first wife passed away, he remarried and moved to Israel in 1621, where he became
the first Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Jerusalem. He later moved to Tiberias, where
he is buried, near the tomb of the Rambam. The
commandments mentioned in this parasha are based on the "six pillars of silver,"
i.e. the six pillars upon which the universe is built. These six pillars are:
Torah, Avoda (service), Gemilut Chasadim (acts of kindness),
Din (judgment), Emet (truth), and Shalom (peace).
The
pillar of Din (judgment) is mentioned in the opening verses, where the
appointment of judges and a Supreme Court is legislated. The rules about an individual
Torah scholar who refuses to submit to the majority decision of his colleagues,
the law to appoint a king whose function it is to lead the people in the path
of Torah, and the various instructions about witnesses all belong to the pillar
of Din (judgment).
The pillar of Emet (truth) is represented
by legislation dealing with sorcerers, a false prophet, etc., all of whom originate
in the left side of the emanations, the domain from where sheker, "lies,"
emanate. The legislation not to pay heed to a false prophet, not to be afraid
of violating the demands he makes upon you, as well as the promise that G-d will
provide true prophets, all are part of the pillar of Emet.
The pillar
of Shalom, peace, is presented as part of the legislation dealing with warfare
-- provided the war is not against the seven nations who occupied Canaan at the
time the Jewish people entered it -- in order to show how the Torah stresses peace.
The Torah nonetheless decrees the utter annihilation of all the inhabitants of
the land of Canaan because true peace can only come about when the wicked have
been removed or have become penitents. We are even commanded to preserve ecological
"peace" when the plants in question are of immediate and universal use
to man, i.e. fruit-bearing. Such plants must not be destroyed even if by doing
so the war would be shortened. The anointing of the priest who addresses the soldiers
on their way to battle is designed to assure the soldiers that G-d loves them
and has their welfare in mind. When we love G-d, there will be peace between G-d
and us, and war among our (His) enemies. This is why the Torah orders us not to
fear our enemies.
The pillar of Torah is dealt with in the legislation
denying the tribe of Levi a share in the land to be distributed amongst the other
tribes. It is their task to study Torah and to teach it, as we know from Deut.
33:10: "They shall teach Your laws to Jacob and Your instructions to Israel."
If the Torah had allocated them farmland and orchards, they would be busy tending
their land that they would not be able to fulfill their spiritual tasks. This
is why the Torah instructs the Israelites to give certain gifts to the Levites,
so that they should be free of the burden of earning a livelihood and thus be
able to shoulder the burden of Torah study, etc., instead.
The pillar
called Avoda (service) is represented in our parasha by the prohibition
to plant a tree in the Temple precincts and the prohibition to erect stone-monuments.
The law forbidding the sacrifice of a blemished animal also falls under that heading.
The
pillar of Gemilut Chasadim concerns the true kindness shown to people after
their death. In our parasha, this pillar is represented by the law concerning
the cities of refuge, which provide partial restitution for unintentional murderers.
So, too, the requirement to kill the "egla arufa" calf (if an
unidentified body was found, the nearest city takes responsibility, for they may
have been negligent in the mitzvah of hospitality and an indirect cause
for the death) as a declaration that one has not been remiss in fulfilling this
commandment also comes under this heading.
(adapted from
Torat Moshe - the 16th commentary of Rabbi Moshe Alshech of Zefat on the Torah,
as translated and condensed in the English version of Eliyahu Munk)
An
essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here) (W:48-63Shoftim)
This coming Thursday and Friday is Rosh Chodesh Elul, the first days of
our annual month of preparation before the High Holy days, when the Jewish people
are judged on their behavior of the past year. The Shlah explains the verse, "When
the lion roars who is not afraid" (amos 3:8) The word lion, in Hebrew, aryeh,
(spelled alef, raish, yud, hai), is an acronym for
the 4 words, Elul, Rosh Hashanna, Yom Kippur and Hoshanna Rabbah (the last day
of Sukkot). When the 'lion' of the High Holy Days arrives, people feel the urge
to change their behavior for the better, in preparation of the Day of Judgment.
Because of the spiritual potency of the month of Elul, there are ancient traditions
associating the name of the month with different Torah verses where the first
letters of the words spell out Elul, showing us the different aspects of its character
and how we can utilize them to connect with G-d. The most well known include,
(Shir Hashirim 6:3) "I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me" which
refers to the power of prayer. "Each man to his friend and gifts for the
poor"( Ester 9:22) about tzedakah, and in general, kindness to others.
"Your heart and the heart of your children" (Devarim 30:6 ) referring
to Teshuvah [repentance] and "It came to his hand and we placed for
him" (Shmos 21:13) which alludes to the cities of refuge, built for one who
murdered accidentally. This refers to the Torah, our refuge.
In this week's
Torah portion, Shoftim, there is an interesting verse about the power of Torah.
Why do we study Torah? Certainly because it is one of the 613 commandments, but
even more so, because it is G-d's will and wisdom. By immersing ourselves in the
study of Torah, we are able to connect with G-d. This is a powerful concept, yet,
there is an even greater dimension. In connection with describing how a true king
of the Jewish people should behave, the Torah requires him to write his own Torah
scroll. The verse continues, (17/19) "It should be with him and he should
read from it all the days of his life in order that he should learn to fear G-d."
The Zlotchover Rebbe expands on this. Not only does the Torah come to a person's
aid when that person makes an effort to cleanse themselves, but even more so,
when a person studies Torah, he is literally transformed. More than fasting, meditation,
therapy or any other physical or intellectual occupation, the light within the
Torah gives a person proper focus.
In fact, if a person applies himself to
his optimum potential, he actually becomes a 'walking Torah scroll', able to draw
on divine consciousness to guide him. Interestingly, the two kidneys, referred
to in the Talmud as the base for the different 'humors' of a person, actually
become like two wellsprings of Torah wisdom to teach and direct him! This is the
meaning of the verse (cited by the Ramban), "It should be with (in) him",
literally. He becomes like a written Torah scroll, "and read it", and
he can know Torah just by reading himself. Reb Michal said it in a different way.
The Torah was given to the Jewish people because they are aggressive (azim),
(Talmud Beza, 25/b), meaning just like it is the nature of the body to desire
physical pleasure, so it is the nature of the soul to desire to fulfill the commandments
and will do all in its power to accomplish this. This is why G-d willed it that
the Jewish People receive His Torah.
And when we will truly use all of
our efforts during the month of Elul, to learn Torah and do all of the commandments,
then the final verse hinted in the name 'Elul' will become fully revealed. "and
they said, we will sing to G-d." This was the prophesy of the Jewish people
at the splitting of the red sea, that everyone will sing together at the time
of Mashiach celebrating the arrival of the final redemption! Shabbat
Shalom, Shaul Leiter (for
a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
For all our insights for
this parsha from last year
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