Torah Sparks

Pursuing Justice: Parashat Shoftim

by Rabbi David Greenstein
Parashat Shofetim 2016
Our Torah reading opens with a solemn injunction: “Place for yourself, in all your gates … judges and officials, so that they will judge the people in righteousness.” (Deut. 16:18) The text continues to emphasize how important justice and righteousness is for society. Whose obligation is it to make sure that there is a just legal system operating for the people? “Place for yourself,” says the verse. The verse is phrased as a direct address to the individual. The authority wielded by judges and other officers of society ultimately derives from their mission as messengers of each of us.We are personally commanded to pursue justice. Part of our obligation is purely personal, of course – to act justly and treat each other fairly and without prejudice or violence. But another part of our personal obligation is to create social structures that extend beyond the capacities of any one person, to insure that justice and fairness apply everywhere, to everyone. Both these obligations can be daunting. But while many of us are quite confident in our own moral uprightness, we are forced to confront, on a daily basis, how flawed our justice system is on a social scale. The command to pursue justice on a societal scale is a very difficult obligation to undertake.

There are some members of society today who are not comfortable with their relationship to both parts of that personal obligation. They may feel that they are individually quite upright, but either refuse to cede to society the role of pursuing justice on a collective scale, or seek to recuse themselves from supporting the creation of a more just system of government, excusing themselves because “the system is too broken.” But the nature of this obligation is that it will always demand recommitment to its elusive and ever partial fulfillment. As verse 20 says: “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (See my Torah Sparks of 5770/2010)

Moses tells us that this is our personal obligation, and he knows what he is talking about. His first actions as an adult, as we are told at the beginning of the book of Exodus, were to risk his life to protect those who were being treated unjustly. And he did not always succeed in his efforts. He had to flee Egypt because he was challenged by one resentful bully with the words: “Who placed you as an official and judge over us?” (Ex. 2:14) Those very words, spoken as a question and a threat, now echo in Moses’ command to all of us. As one commentator reflected, “Because of justice he had to flee, but he returned to uphold justice.” We must never give up.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein

 


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image:  “Running“ © John Nicholls adapted and used with permission via Creative Commons License.

  • Rabbi David Greenstein

    Rabbi David Greenstein arrived at Shomrei Emunah in August 2009 with a rich, broad and deep background as a rabbi, cantor, artist, scholar, and teacher. Being Shomrei’s rabbi, he says, allows him to draw on all of these passions, as well as his lifelong commitment to building Jewish communities.

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