SHOFTIM: Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9, Rosh Kodesh Elul
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In
Shoftim, this week’s Parsha, at 16:18-20:
Moses instructs us to appoint judges and police, all part of judicial reform (?).😀
“Justice, justice shall you pursue,” administered without corruption or favoritism.
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On this particular Shabbat we bless the New Moon of the Hebrew month of Elul.
Usually seven days after blessing the moon we perform a ritual known as קידוש לבנה
Sanctification of the Moon , or Kiddush Levanah.
In this ritual we ask Hashem to renew us as He has renewed the moon.
It may be only through our children that we are renewed.
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In Parshat Shoftim, Hashem says at 16:20 -
צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף
“Justice, justice shall you pursue…”
The verse just as well could have substituted honesty or integrity or fair dealing as well as lawfulness and truthfulness for the word justice.
All of those characteristics are a part of doing deeds of kindness.
We are a people of kindness and compassion.
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- Milchomet Mitzvah which is a war fought to assist Israel from an enemy that attacks us. There is no need to ask permission in order to fight this war.
- Milchomet Reshut which is war fought in order to expand the borders of Israel or to magnify the king's greatness or reputation. In this case the 71 judges of the Sanhedrin must give its approval.
In Parshat Shoftim at 17:14 we learn about the setting up of a king:
וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֗ אָשִׂ֤ימָה עָלַי֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ כְּכָל־הַגּtוֹיִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר סְבִֽיבֹתָֽי
“… you will say, "I will set a king over me, like all the nations around me"
This inevitable situation foreseen by Hashem did not lead to anything good for us Jews in the Kingdom of Judah. In the period from the reign of the son of Solomon until Zedekiah the son of Josiah we had no less than 18 rulers.
How many do you recall?
How many were any good?
16 "Only, he may not acquire many horses for himself, so that he will not bring the people back to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, for the Lord said to you, "You shall not return that way any more."
17 And he shall not take many wives for himself, and his heart must not turn away, and he shall not acquire much silver and gold for himself.
18 And it will be, when he sits upon his royal throne, that he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah on a scroll from [that Torah which is] before the Levitic kohanim.
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord, his God, to keep all the words of this Torah and these statutes, to perform them,
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so that his heart will not be haughty over his brothers, and so that he will
not turn away from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, in
order that he may prolong [his] days in his kingdom, he and his sons, among
Israel".
This brings into question the sins of King Solomon, his lack of wisdom, and why the Kingdom of Judea was split into two separate entities.
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In
the Book of Jeremiah there is a poignant encounter with the false prophet Hananiah. In terms of background it begins at Chapter
26:6 where Hashem tells Jeremiah that Nebuchadnezzar is Hashem’s servant and is
doing Hashem’s will.
“And now, I have given these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and even the beasts of the field I have given to him to serve him”.
The warning continues at verses 9 and 10:
“And you, heed not your prophets
or your diviners or your dreams or your soothsayers or your sorcerers, who
say to you, saying, "You shall not serve the king of Babylon." |
For they are prophesying falsely
to you in order to remove you far from your land, and so that I will drive
you out and you will perish”. |
In
Chapter 28 there is a confrontation between Hananiah and Jeremiah in which
Hananiah refutes Jeremiah’s prophesy and says falsely at Verse 11:
“And Hananiah said before the eyes of all the people, saying: So said the Lord: So will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, in another two full years, off the neck of all the nations. And Jeremiah the prophet went on his way”.
Verses
15-17 conclude the confrontation:
“And Jeremiah the prophet said to
Hananiah the prophet: The Lord did not send you, and you assured this people
with a lie. |
Therefore, so said the Lord:
Behold I send you off the face of the earth; this year you shall die, for you
have spoken perversion against the Lord. |
And Hananiah the prophet died in
that year, in the seventh month”. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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Parshat Shoftim concludes with the law of the “Eglah Arufah” — the beheading of a calf - a special ritual procedure followed when a person is killed by an unknown murderer and the corpse is found in a field distant from villages and towns. This ritual underscores the responsibility of the community and its leaders not only for what they do, but also for what they might have prevented. It also signals all of us that if we do what is right, then tragedies such as this will be prevented.
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