Parshas Shoftim - upholding the halacha

The passuk says at the beginning of this week’s sedrah (16:18)

שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת הָעָם מִשְׁפַּט צֶדֶק

Judges and magistrates you shall appoint for yourselves in all your gates that Hashem is giving you, for each shevet, and they shall judge the people with a righteous law.

• It would seem that it is difficult to understand why the passuk says אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ. Since we know that Hashem gives Eretz Yisrael to the benei yisrael it would seem that the passuk could simply have said שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת הָעָם מִשְׁפַּט צֶדֶק?

The passuk continues (16:19)

לֹא תַטֶּה מִשְׁפָּט לֹא תַכִּיר פָּנִים וְלֹא תִקַּח שֹׁחַד כִּי הַשֹּׁחַד יְעַוֵּר עֵינֵי חֲכָמִים וִיסַלֵּף דִּבְרֵי צַדִּיקִם

You shall not judge unfairly, you shall show no partiality and you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous.

Rashi explains that the word צדיקים does not refer to people who are righteous but rather refers to words that are righteous:

דברי צדיקם: דברים המצודקים, משפטי אמת

Words that are righteous, true judgements.

The Gur Aryeh explains that it is not possible to say that the passuk means that the bribe will pervert the words of the dayan who has taken the bribe, because if so the dayan is no longer a tzaddik.

• Nevertheless, according to Rashi, it would seem that the passuk should have said ויסלף דברים צדיקים, and not דברי צדיקים?

The next passuk (16:20) says

צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ

You shall surely pursue justice in order that you should live and you should inherit the land that Hashem is giving to you.

Rashi comments on this passuk

למען תחיה וירשת: כדאי הוא מנוי הדיינין הכשרים להחיות את ישראל ולהושיבן על אדמתן

The mitzva to appoint dayanim is sufficient to ensure the survival of klal yisrael and to ensure that they are not exiled from Eretz Yisrael.

According to Rashi, the words לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ refer back to the mitzva of the beginning of the parsha of שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ. In that case however, it seems that the first passuk in the sedrah could have saidשֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ .

• Why did the passuk wait till the end of the parshah in order to announce the reward for the mitzva of מנוי הדיינים which is stated at the beginning of the parshah?

The Divrei Yoel explains as follows:

Returning to the first passuk in the sedrah (16:18)

שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת הָעָם מִשְׁפַּט צֶדֶק

Judges and magistrates you shall appoint for yourselves in all your gates that Hashem is giving you, for each shevet, and they shall judge the people with a righteous law.

Rashi explains

ושפטו את העם וגו': מנה דיינין מומחים וצדיקים לשפוט צדק

Appoint judges who are experts and who are tzaddikim, to judge righteously.

The Mizrachi explains

פירוש האי ושפטו אתתן לך שהוא המנוי קאי כאילו אמר מנה לך שופטים שישפטו את העם משפט צדק וזה כשיהיו מומחים וצדיקים מומחים שידעו הדינים וצדיקים שלא יעוותו הדין. לא צווי לדיינים שישפטו צדק דאם כן הוה ליה למכתב ושפטתם דומיא דלא תטה משפט לא תכיר פנים ולא תקח שוחד שכלם לנכח.

The word ושפטו refers to the words תתן לך, which is the appointment of the dayanim. So that it is as if the passuk said, “Appoint for yourselves judges so that they should judge the people righteously.” And this will occur when the judges whom you appoint are experts and tzaddikim. Since they are experts, they will know the halachah, and since they are tzaddikim, they will not pervert the halachah.

The passuk does not mean that it is commanding the dayanim to judge correctly, because if so the passuk should have said ושפטתם – you should judge… in the second person plural.

It is evident from the Mizrachi that the requisite state of affairs in which the dayanim will judge משפט צדק, wells automatically from the obligation of the benei yisrael to appoint dayanim. That means to say, that the source of the truth and justice that is provided by the beis din does not initially reside in the dayanim, but rather springs from the kehilla who appoint the dayanim.

Similarly, the Rambam says in Hilchos Kiddush Ha’chodesh (153)

אילו הנחנו דרך משל שבני ארץ ישראל יעדרו מארץ ישראל, חלילה לאל מעשות זאת כי הוא הבטיח שלא ימחה אותות האומה מכל וכל, ולא יהיה שם בית דין ולא יהיה בחוצה לארץ בית דין שנסמך בארץ, הנה חשבוננו זה לא יועילנו כלום בשום פנים, לפי שאין לנו לחשב חדשים ולעבר שנים בחוצה לארץ אלא בתנאים הנזכרים, כמו שביארנו כי מציון תצא תורה.

Were it to be possible that there would be no Jewish people left in Eretz Yisrael…, and there would be no beis din there and there would not be in chutz le’aretz a beis din that had received semichah in Eretz Yisrael, in that case the pre-calculated calendar that we observe would not be effective [and there would be no kiddush ha’chodesh and there would be no Yamim Tovim].

Because we cannot determine the months and the leap years in chutz le’aretz, only in Eretz Yisrael, as the passuk says כי מציון תצא תורה.

According to the Rambam, if there would not be a minyan of Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael, then the fixed calendar for kiddush ha’chodesh would no longer apply. It is evident from the Rambam that the power of beis din to pasken is a function of the yishuv of the benei yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. Or in other words, it is the yishuv of the benei yisrael in Eretz Yisrael which formulates that basic truth that is subsequently applied le’halachah by beis din.

According to this understanding, we can answer the previous questions as follows:

• The reason that the first passuk says שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ, and not just שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ, is because it is exactly because the benei yisrael dwell in Eretz Yisrael as the land that was given to them by Hashem, that provides the Divine source of truth to those who live in Eretz Yisrael, and which then enables them to appoint the beis din as their executors to judge משפט צדק.
  
• The reason that the second passuk says דברי צדיקים and not דברים צדיקים is because the word צדיקים here refers to the benei yisrael who appointed the dayanim. Even although Rashi explains that the passuk means דברים המצודקים, that only means that the words of judgement are דברים המצודקים, but those words are representative of the kehilla of צדיקים who appointed the dayanim initially.

• The reason that the third passuk places the reward of לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ at the end of the parshah, instead of in the first passuk, is because the Torah means that if the benei yisrael live in Eretz Yisrael in a truthful and honest way whereby the truth that emanates from their yishuv ha’aretz will be exemplified by the משפט צדק of the dayanim whom they appoint, then they will be guaranteed not to go into galus.
  
  In other words, the mitzvos of going after a good beis din and etc. which are mitzvos that are incumbent on the benei yisrael, are part and parcel of the ability of the kehillos in Eretz Yisrael to appoint dayanim who will represent them in upholding the halacha.

In other words, the mitzvos of going after a good beis din and etc. which are mitzvos that are incumbent on the benei yisrael, are part and parcel of the ability of the kehillos in Eretz Yisrael to appoint dayanim who will represent them in upholding the משפט צדק that they hold dear.