Shoftim – Once Upon a Week

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Yehuda Bachana.

The first part of this Torah portion speaks about the governmental order and about judges and the police. and It discusses how to crown the supreme leader, the king. The king had to adhere to certain requirements and could not accumulate too much property, money or wives. Likewise, he had to be accompanied at all times by the Torah scroll that he personally wrote.

Later on, the priestly rights and cities of refuge are addressed. This Torah portion then begins discussing the war regulations, that will be continued in the next Torah portion, ‘Ki Teitzei le Milhama’ (meaning: ‘when you go out to war’).

Parashat Shoftim concludes with an interesting law of the heifer whose neck is broken (‘Egla Arufa’).The Talmud’s ‘tractate Sotah’, explains this very impressive ceremony that is performed by the sages, judges and elders, meaning: the leaders and men of influence from the town, closest to the site of the unsolved murder.The ‘Egla Arufa’-commandment is somewhat obscure and needs to be explained. Yet, once the meaning becomes clear, the commandment is actually very interesting.

Through this ceremony, the people of the town clear themselves from their guilt due to an unsolved murder. This was in case a body was discovered, but it was unknown who had committed the killing, or the murder, and there were no signs or evidence at the crime scene.

The judges and police that are mentioned at the beginning of this Torah portion, have no lead. What should they do in such a case?

They behead a heifer, a cow. I find this commandment very special, because it displays the understanding that a human life is very precious - since the very beginning of the Scriptures.

According to this commandment, in case of an unsolved murder, we should bring in our best judges and sages, to take a look at the case and analyze it. Much like an official committee of inquiry headed by a senior judge.

In case the investigation comes to a dead end - without evidence nor an idea of how to proceed in order to find the perpetrator - the committee of inquiry then heads out to the nearest city to the crime scene. Then the ceremony begins in the presence of all the town elders:

Does this statement address the sages’ suspicion whether the elders of that village or town actually shed the victim’s blood?

Clearly not.

Then why do they state that their hands did not hurt the victim? That their hands did not shed the blood and that their eyes did not see anything? In other words, these wise men testify not having to do anything with the murder.

However, the message of the leaders and elders of the town is different. They say that, regardless if the victim is from their own town or just a stranger passing by; nevertheless, they did not neglect the victim's safety. The leaders did not deny the victim any food, nor a place to rest. Likewise, the safety of the area was not disregarded.The elders, which are the local leaders, publicly swear that they did not even allow this terrible crime to happen indirectly. They swear they did not abandon the victim to become a defenseless prey for criminals.

These leaders swear that their justice system does not go easy on those that are violent, nor on murderers or rapists.Those same respected elders are obligated to check their legal and policing system, to make sure that they have indeed done everything they could to prevent a crime against an innocent citizen.

Only then they wash their hands and declare:

Also today, every mayor and the president of every company and factory, should ensure that the safety regulations are in place, so that none of the workers could get hurt on their area, whether that harm would be physical, mental or by means of harassment.

Surely, our legal system should incorporate this concept, too. Even if a judge himself does not shed blood, nor does he sexually harass or break into someone’s home; nevertheless, if the legal system releases criminals quickly, or without an adequate punishment, the system cannot say:

Similarly, in case the policemen who patrol the city gates, perform their duties with negligence; or, in case the police force does not enforce the law, nor ensures the public order: due to their lack of determination - as elected officials - their hands are guilty of this bloodshed.

This brings us back to the beginning of Parashat Shoftim (meaning: judges). We are commanded to appoint judges and police officers, in order to provide public order and safety for the people. This brings us back to the resonating words of Moses, at the beginning of this Torah portion:

Moses simultaneously asks and proclaims:‘Do you want to live in the Promised Land?’ Understandably, God demands justice and a righteous legal system.

Such justice might seem obvious; and yet, in many parts of the world, one can ‘buy’ a court verdict or bribe the police. In fact, in many countries of the world, police officers use these methods to increase their income, where it is possible to pay a policeman a ‘reduced’ fine in cash.

At the end of the line, the law enforcement, including the police and the justice system, consists of elected representatives of the public and should therefore safeguard the peace and the people.

Actually, the Word of God demands such an order. It requires us to appoint an organized and orderly justice system; simultaneously, the law enforcement is meant to safeguard the laws and justice that the judges prescribe.We are commanded to pursue justice, but who decides the definition of justice?

In my opinion, the answer is based on two foundations. The first one is based on Yeshua’s teaching, and is based on ‘measure for measure’. It means that, on the one hand, every judge should be fair and imagine the one standing trial, as if it were himself or his own son or daughter.Meaning: if he himself were guilty, what punishment would he give himself?

As Yeshua says:

Whereas, on the other hand, he should judge, as if he himself were the victim. Meaning: if one of my family members or I myself, were hurt how would I react? What would my verdict be, if my son or my daughter were the victim of this crime?

The delicate balance between these two opposites must be found.

The second foundation for the justice system is the Word of God, the Torah. The Torah itself is based on the need for judges and a police force. This real need to appoint judges arose immediately after the Exodus from Egypt, when the burden of justice became too heavy for Moses.

In the governmental system that the Bible pictures, a judge could also be a leader, one who governs the lifestyle of people. He could be both the judge and the legislator. The Book of Judges gives a few examples using the phrase for the leaders: “and he judged Israel so and so years”.Another example can be found in our Torah portion:

So, in addition to the rule of the judges, such as Gideon or Jephthah from Gilead, we find that priests can rule, such as Eli the Priest or Samuel the Prophet.

This Torah portion raises the possibility to crown a king. An exalted and magnificent king, like those of the other nations. Much like a king on a white horse, who wears a golden crown and a red velvet robe…

And yet, such King of Israel would have to keep certain rules:

To appoint a king whom the Lord your God chooses;do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite, who is not your brother;he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt to get more horses;he must not take many wives for himself;he must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold;he is to write a copy of the Law for himself on a scroll (…) it is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life;not to consider himself better than his fellow Israelites(this is all from Deuteronomy 17:15-20)

The king must be chosen by God. In the Bible that was only the case with Saul, David, Jehu and Joash. All our other kings inherited the throne from their parents.

I presume that would be a natural choice, as the Israelites approached Gideon during the time of the judges, urging him to establish a permanent rule, with Gideon and his sons as the leaders:

Actually, Abimelech, a son of Gideon, tried to establish a monarchy back in the days of the judges. For that purpose, Abimelech killed and murdered no less than seventy of his brothers. He did that In order to get rid of the competition for the crown, Abimelech managed to kill all but one, in one day. All except for little Jotham, who managed to hide.This was the same Jotham who later made his speech at the top of Mount Gerizim. The words of Jotham are also known as the Jotham’s Parable, or the Parable of the Thornbush (Judges chapter 9).

Our Torah portion deals with the government and the public. In addition to being private individuals, people are also part of a collective, of a public. As such, the collective should be accountable to the government - be it a priest, a judge, a prophet, a king or a president. The public should obey the laws of the land, as Parashat Shoftim prescribes:

As believers in Israel, we are part of the Jewish collective. In addition to the fact that we have a lot to contribute to the public, and we really are an active part of the public, that contributes and volunteers. But Regardless of our contribution, we are a branch of Judaism.

We are here to stay and to cause a positive influence from within. After all, the New Testament shares great wisdom to better understand the rest of the Scriptures. As a matter of fact, the New Testament teaches a lot about customs, religious laws, prophecies and interpretations from the Jewish world.

As disciples of Yeshua and of the New Testament, we have something to contribute from a spiritual and theological point of view, as well!

This brings us back to the beginning of our Torah portion and to the simple requirement to:

The role of the judge is to investigate and to determine the truth, and not to be biased by accepting the narrative of one of the parties involved. The same conduct is required of all of us in matters of faith and understanding of the Scriptures.

Let’s take Isaiah 53, for example. As a matter of fact, that passage really begins in chapter 52 verse 13, and continues until the end of chapter 53. This prophecy of Isaiah is often quoted in the New Testament, and is one of the central Messianic prophecies that point towards the Messiah.

the ancient Jewish interpretation, from before Rashi, viewed Isaiah 53 as a Messianic prophecy. Only from the time of Rashi on, Judaism began to interpret this text as a prophecy concerning Israel, with the goal to distance the people from the New Testament and from Yeshua.

Here we need to declare who is right.

For that purpose, we have to do some research. We start by reading the passage from Isaiah 53, and looking for commentaries that precede Rashi and even precede the New Testament. Then we search whether our sages interpreted this text of Isaiah as a hint to, and a prophecy relating to the Messiah.

If the answer is ‘yes’, we move on to the next step. Who is this messiah? The New Testament attributes Isaiah 53 to Yeshua the Messiah.

Let’s take a look at another example, from Zechariah 9:9 chapter 9:

Who is this King, righteous and having salvation, riding the foal of a donkey? That is the King Messiah!

This is what the New Testament says:

I belive Yeshua is the messiah, Yeshua is my Lord and Savior.