Shoftim 5782
On Wednesday this week we took our nephew visiting from Israel to see Matilda the musical in the west end. Roald Dahl’s story of a small, smart, and brave girl who stands up against her parents, her headteacher, and all manner of injustices that they inflict upon her and others with the refrain of ‘that’s not right’ is incredibly compelling and inspiring- whether you meet it in book, film, or stage format. The theatre was, as it has been every time I have seen it, filled with young girls who are drawn to Matilda's feisty spirit and incredible attitude.
Matilda declares, ‘that's not right, and if that’s not right, you’ve got to put it right’, and put it right she does. Through small acts of guerilla resistance, and some ingenious detective work, she ensures justice is done for her teacher Miss Honey, and banishes the evil headteacher/evil aunt figure of Miss Trunchball from the town.
On some level, this tiny crusader feels like she should be a shining example of living out the verse on our ark that is also found in this week’s portion shoftim of the instruction ‘tzedek tzedek tirdof’, justice justice you shall pursue, but reading the verse in its context in our sedra this week shows us that though this is a commandment addressed to individuals, it does not speak of individual crusades or tiny rebellions, but rather of individual responsibility within a judicial system.
Tzedek tzedek tirdof is sandwiched between two seemingly unrelated sets of instructions- to appoint judges who will judge fairly, and to not set up a post/sacred pole beside the altar of God or plant a tree to be used in idol worship. In tractate sanhedrin of the Babylonian Talmud, Reish Lakish connects the two commandments. He teaches that to appoint an unfit or incompetent judge over a community is akin to planting a tree for the purposes of idolatry. What’s the relationship between the two?
An idol is in essence a false promise. It claims to be something that it isn’t. We most commonly use the term to refer to idols that are worshipped as if they are themselves divine, which is why translators use the terms false gods and idols somewhat interchangeably. Idols claim, or are claimed to be, something that they are not, and so they make a false promise to the person using them. An improperly resourced judicial system is similarly a false promise- if a court is not properly equipped then it cannot carry out the task that it has been established to.
The commandment tzedek tzedek tirdof is connected to judicial justice- not vigilante justice. It comes in the middle of a parasha which deals at length with what it means to be a witness, to have a proper court, to pass a fair judgement, to refer to others when a case is too difficult, to avoid corruption and to ensure that cases are given a good hearing. The Talmud develops the ideas in shoftim at length, specifying a system of courts that goes from a small court of 3- a beit din- to a court of 23 for capital and libel cases and a court of 71 for some of the most complicated and contested crimes. The commandment to pursue justice can’t be read outside the system it was designed to be read within, one where justice is upheld and protected through a careful legal structure that ensures its integrity, and the integrity of all of those who come before it- whether defendant or litigant- is maintained.
What distinguishes a just society in this model is the ability of people who have been wronged to pursue justice in a system that is fit for purpose. A system that dignifies their cases, and that establishes a framework for dealing with social issues that treats everyone fairly, someone can’t get a better deal in the system because they know the judge or are wealthier, as we heard in the section Judith read earlier- that’s why structures like legal aid which were set up with the intent to ensure those who need it have access to proper legal support are important Jewish.
Matilda might be brave and inspiring, but she is also in a place where there is a total breakdown of any of the systems that should be there to protect her- she only has vigilante tactics at her disposal because the representatives of authority do not discharge their responsibility towards her. This is not how things are supposed to work.
When the judicial system doesn’t work- when it is not properly resourced, it is akin to facilitating idol worship- because of the false promise it makes to people. Reading this week of a 13 year old girl who will wait three years for a suitable judge to hear the case against her rapist, knowing of the impact of legal aid cuts on the members of our community who have made it their life’s vocation to be active participants in the judicial system, I find myself reading this week’s parasha with new eyes.
If we take the commandment to pursue justice seriously, then its incumbent upon us to take interest in the health of the judicial system and its ability to function. If a judicial system is not properly resourced, then it cannot do its job.
There are three commandments in Judaism that are described as ye'hareg v'al ya'avor- that it’s better to be killed than to transgress them. They are the prohibition on murdering someone, on incest and bestiality, and on idol worship. The equation of something to idol worship in rabbinic thought is thus quite a serious statement- it suggests that we should treat anything that is described in that way as something that it would be preferable to die than to be asked to do. One of those things- if we are to follow Reish Lakish’s logic- is to allow someone to face an inadequate legal system. It might not be life threatening in the most obvious sense, but we’re talking about meeting people at some of the most vulnerable and difficult moments in their lives, about moments that have the potential to shape and direct another person’s entire future. It’s an impossible and unjust ask to make of someone, to know that they cannot do the job they need to do properly, or to do enough of it for the number of cases that need attention. We’re talking about lives put on hold, and about asking professionals to make increasingly impossible decisions in the pursuit of justice.
In this month of elul as we make our way towards yom hadin, rosh hashannah, the day of judgement. We pray for a strong and strengthened judicial system, for the wellbeing of those individuals whose skill and commitment to justice upholds the sanctity of all, and for the fulfillment of the verse in our portion through the nurturing of our legal system
צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף לְמַ֤עַן תִּֽחְיֶה֙ וְיָרַשְׁתָּ֣ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃
Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may thrive in the land that your God יהוה is giving you.
