The Torah orders the establishment of a system of administration of justice for all the cities of the country. Our text demands the location of the Shoftim, the judges, in the Shaar, the portal of the city. Apparently this Shaar was not a simple gate, but a specific place where a set of community institutions that performed various functions were located. The functions performed in the Shaar include the administration of justice. (In the biblical book Ruth, we read that Boaz, the wealthy relative of the family of Ruth’s late husband, goes to the Shaar, that is, to the religious authorities that are in that place) to claim his right to betroth her.
The concept of justice is an essential factor in biblical teaching. Our Chachamim in the Talmud echo the fundamental importance of this idea, stating that the world is anchored on three pillars. Justice being one of them. For some, the emphasis on justice assumes a manifestation of severity or lack of feeling of love, implying that Judaism is uncompromising and inflexible. Those of us who live in nascent democracies where justice does not yet constitute a power entirely independent of the other political interests of society, know how compromised judicial decisions can be. Can there be justice when equality before the law does not exist?
An arbitration commission is included in the management positions of many Jewish communities, which serves to resolve differences between their members. Isaac Bashevis Singer refers to various individuals who came to the Beit Din Shtibl, the special room in the house of his father, a Rabbi in Warsaw, which was used to attend the demands and complaints of the litigants. For centuries, in villages and cities, the homes of the Rabbis served as courts of justice.
The biblical King Shlomo, who stands out for his keen intelligence, is the prototype of the referee and judge who seeks a just solution in conflictive situations. We recall the sagacity of Shlomo in the case of a newborn that two mothers claimed as theirs.
According to the Yalkut Shimoni, one of the Midrash type texts that compiles commentaries on the sacred scriptures, there were six steps in front of the throne of King Shlomo. When Shlomo began his ascent to the throne, one of the ordinances of our text was announced on each of the steps.
On the first step was inscribed Mishpat, which means, you will not distort your judgment. According to the Talmud, falsehoods and half-truths drive away and exile the Divine Presence from among us. One of the basic characteristics of the Supreme Being is truth. Jewish tradition affirms that, Chotamo shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Emet, the Seal of God is Truth. We take note of the fact that a seal is applied only once. A stamp does not require a process, such as writing of a word that has a beginning and a development in time, in order to reach the complete word or sentence. A stamp is put on paper with one energic movement. The same happens with Truth. It has to be total and immediate. There are no half-truths, which are revealed as time passes.
When climbing the second step, Shlomo listened to the admonition, lo takir panim, you will not make exceptions among people. Everyone has to be equal before the Law and before the judges. Our folklore tells that on one occasion a woman told her husband that she was going to take the servant to the Rabbi because she suspected she was stealing, the husband replied that he would accompany her. The wife argued that it was not necessary because she knew how to defend herself. The husband replied that his purpose was rather to protect the servant, who might feel intimidated in the presence of the Rabbi. It is reported that in the room used by Rabbi Shmelke Nickelsburger for his decisions in litigation cases, a cane and a bag were hung on the wall. These objects were present at all times, as palpable evidence that the incorruptible Rabbi was willing to leave the city at any moment, rather than allow the merchants of power to influence his decisions.
Lo tikaj shochad, you will not take bribes, was the exhortation on the third step. Our text warns that no judge escapes the consequences of accepting a gift from one of the parties, ki hashochad yeaver einei Chachamim, because bribery blinds the eyes of the wise. (In the Midrash we find the opinion of a judge who receives shochad, was turned blind before he died. (With reference to this assertion, shochad a comic anecdote is related about the inhabitants of a certain village who questioned the Midrash because the local judge who had a reputation for acting dubiously had become deaf. The contradiction was resolved by pointing out that our judge had not received shochad; they had only promised it). The Talmud suggests that the word shochad comes from the root chad, which means sharp, which implies that the shochad cuts and lacerates both the one who offers it and the one who receives it.
The ascent to the fourth step corresponded to the proclamation of the tita lecha ashera, which means, do not plant (in relation to idolatry) any tree (next to the altar). According to the treatise Sanhedrin, which is the volume of the Talmud from which our previous quotations come, the election of a judge who is unprepared for his role is tantamount to fostering idolatry in the community. In the vision of our Chachamim, idolatry is identified with arbitrariness and chance. The Torah, on the other hand, is the manifest will of God, it is immutable, it does not depend on whims and does not allow ignorance. Every ruling must be based on clear and transparent rules. Presenting strong arguments, based on Halacha, may lead to the revision of a previous decision.
Velo takim lecha matsevah, “and you shall not erect statues (or monuments)” is the exhortation of the fifth step. Perhaps it teaches that a judge must insert himself into the prevailing conditions of the society that surrounds him and place himself in that environment. In order to understand what the litigation is about, it is necessary to identify with and live the reality of the times. At the time of the worship of the Egel hazahav, the Golden Calf, God suggests to Moshe that from the heights of Mount Sinai he cannot appreciate the real situation of the Hebrew people. God commands him, lech rehd, “go and descend,” because only by knowing and living in the midst of the situation, then, will Moshe be able to decide what action to take.
In the sixth and last step it was announced, the tizbach laShem Elohecha … kol davar rah, which means, you will not sacrifice to the Eternal your God … anything bad (defective). This is a wake-up call to remember that in Jewish tradition the end does not justify the means. The ruling cannot be used to alleviate suffering and ailments, or to correct other ills of society. All judgments must be fair and correct for the parties involved.
Our chapters list different additional laws that are necessary to regulate relationships between members of a community. Although compassion, understanding and sensitivity to the evils that afflict others are moral qualities of the highest caliber, justice and equity are unparalleled and imperative, essential for coexistence, harmony and the material and spiritual development of every society.