Moses Pharoh's Court by Phillip Ratner
Justice is the main subject is this week’s portion, shoftim (judges). Our Sages say: “By three things is the world sustained: justice, truth and peace. As is stated (Zachariah 8:16), “Truth, and a judgment of peace, you should administer at your [city] gates.” (Pirkei Avot 1:18). In this statement we must understand the context of shoftim. Judgment is the application of justice, and justice is the righteous thing to do; therefore, by doing the right thing we indeed do justice. Although the word may suggest “law”, its meaning is related to make Truth prevail as the foundation for peace. “You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the wise.” (Deuteronomy 16:19). Doing what is right is acting with and for the Truth, which is Love’s ways and attributes that oppose ego’s agenda of manipulation (perversion of justice), self-interest (favoritism), and corruption by pursuing materialistic fantasies and illusions (bribes) at any cost (losing the Truth of Love).
The portion continues addressing idolatry as what makes us separate from our Creator’s ways and attributes. Idolatry as the masks ego wants to wear for every aspect of our lives. Mystic Sages comment on this verse: “If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall rise and go up to the place the Lord, your G-d, chooses.” (17:8), saying that our “cities” represent the aspects of consciousness that we have to watch over in order to maintain their harmonious balance and expression. They also say that the gates of these cities are seven in the head (ears, eyes, nostrils and mouth) and two in the lower part of the body that all must be guided with justice, meaning in Love’s ways and attributes.
In sum, we have to conduct every aspect, dimension and expression of our consciousness in the direction of Love; and, as we mentioned in previous commentaries, our higher awareness of Divine Love (represented by the High Priest) is the best “judge”: “And you shall come to the Levitic kohanim and to the judge who will be in those days, and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the words of judgment. And you shall do according to the word they tell you, from the place the Lord will choose, and you shall observe to do according to all they instruct you.” (17:9-10). The awareness of Love as our permanent connection with the Creator is the best judgment we can have, to deal with the illusions of the material world. When Love is conducting every aspect of our lives, Truth is served and peace prevails within us individually and collectively.
The portion mentions divination, soothsaying, and other kinds of incantations as the lowest means to pursue control over the forces of nature, and to transgress Love’s ways and attributes (18:10-12, 14); and “Be wholehearted with the Lord your G-d.” (18:13), if Love is our Divine sustenance, why should we pursue the mirages of ego’s fantasies and illusions? Still, the choices are only ours, and also their consequences. The text continues with a reiteration of the cities of refuge (19:2-21), where the Levites are responsible to bring back to Love’s ways and attributes those who have transgressed against their fellow man. Our Sages teach that every man, for the primordial fact that he is the image and likeness of G-d, Love, is not evil. Any crime that he may commit is the result of ignorance, therefore he must be educated with the teachings of the Torah. This is one of the main principles of Judaism. The cities of refuge are places designated directly from our Creator to rehabilitate those who fall into the lower aspects of consciousness. This is one of the most precious Commandments given to us, and we must comprehend it as part of the Divine Essence that created everything and sustains everything. Love is about learning to be and do His ways and attributes, and the cities of refuge were designed for that purpose. When we are not able to live harmonically among our brethren, and transgress against them, we need to be helped to redeem ourselves. This help is available with those who can guide us back to who we really are: the image and likeness of G-d, Love. The Torah calls them Levites, and we also call them the highest level of our consciousness; the sublime awareness that we are always connected to our Creator, the existential knowledge that we are His creatures. In this awareness we can return to our true identity, and be able to amend, restore, or rectify our transgressions against ourselves and others: “You shall not have pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (19:21). Our Sages emphasize that this is not about revenge or retaliation but to restore, restitute or compensate for the damage caused by our negative actions.
The parshah ends with the verse: “And you shall abolish the [shedding of] innocent blood from among you, for you shall do what is proper in the eyes of the Lord.” (21:9), inviting us to reflect on the value of life in order to protect life, and to sanctify it according to G-d’s will, Love’s ways and attributes.
